Archive for month: January, 2014

 

“Claim:  17-Year-Old Russian Behind Malware Used to Hack Target” by Beth Stebner at NY Daily News.  “A 17-year-old Russian national from St. Petersburg was responsible for the malicious programing that allowed for data from Target and Neiman Marcus to be compromised, according to a California-based security firm.  IntelCrawler said in a blog post Friday that it identified the creator, who they said wasn’t responsible for the security breaches of the two retailers, but rather sold the software to cybercriminals throughout Eastern Europe.”  Read more

 

“NY Judge:  Tiffany Can’t Kill Costco’s “Tiffany Setting” Trademark Claim” by Bill Donahue at Law 360 (Registration required).  “A New York federal judge ruled Friday that Costco Wholesale Corp. could proceed on its claim that that “Tiffany setting” is now a merely generic term name for a type of engagement ring, not a trademark of Tiffany & Co.”  Read more

 

“Amazon says it can ship items before customers order” by William Welch at USA Today via CNBC.  ” (Amazon) gained a patent last month for what it calls “anticipatory shipping,” the Wall Street Journal reports.  Amazon, the Journal reported, says it may box and ship products that it expects customers in a specific area will want, based on previous orders and other factors it gleans from its customers’ shopping patterns, even before they place an online order.”  Read more

 

“New Home Depot Store Opens in Minot, ND” by Jill Hambek at Minot Daily News.  “Some unique aspects to the Minot Home Depot store include an additional 96,000 square feet that will be added as an outdoor lumber yard later this year, as well as offering boom delivery of sheet rock and shingles and offering Penske moving truck rentals on site.”  Read more / See the pics

 

“Pictures From Sears, and They’re Not All Pathetic” by Rocco Pendola at The Street.  “Rewardable had its people visit 120 JCP and 80 Sears stores across the country last weekend…14% of respondents say they’ll visit Sears more over the next three months than they have in the previous three months.  78% will visit Sears the same amount over the next three months.  8% will visit Sears less.”  Read more / See the pics

 

” ‘Depot the Cat’ Kicked Out of Its Home – a Home Depot store – after 13 years; Online Petition to Keep Reaches 750 Signatures” by Elizabeth Rawlins at WSFA 12 NBC.  “Being an animal lover, I’d get rid of management before I’d get rid of the cat,” said Bogenrief.  There is even a petition that was started online that has reached more 750 signatures. But according to Home Depot officials, they aren’t kicking her to the curb until they find someone to adopt her.”  Read more / See the video

 

“Broncos Fans Rush Dick’s Sporting Goods Stores” by Jaclyn Allen at ABC 7 News.  “Broncos fans are rushing sporting goods stores to get their AFC Championship shirts, and printing shops are working overnight Sunday to keep up with demand.  “We’ve already run out of some of the styles,” said Brandon Yergey with Dick’s Sporting Goods in Belmar. “Crowds rushed in right after the game to snatch them up. We should be re-stocked by (Monday).”  Read more / See the video

 

“PR headache:  Walmart under fire after customer takes photos of tanks full of dead and dying fish” by Alex Greig at Daily Mail Online.  “Donna Lohmeyer was with her young grandson when the pair went to look at the live fish at the Flanders Walmart outlet.’Most [of the fish] were dead, and rotting in the tanks… Many were still swimming — starving, freezing, choking on foul water full of ammonia and algae’.  Read more

 

“How Peapod plans to beat Amazon and Wal-Mart” by Brigid Sweeney at Chicago Crain’s (Registration required).  “Peapod, a unit of Dutch retail conglomerate Royal Ahold NV since 2001, also is starting to deliver office supplies and other bulk orders to businesses. He says the Skokie-based service ultimately wants business-to-business deliveries to account for as much as 30 percent of overall revenue.”  Read more

 

“Retailers finding booming market buying used electronics” by John Ewoldt at Star-Tribune.  “So many sites will pay cash to people who mail in used devices (Gazelle.com, Buybackworld.com and Nextworth.com) that aggregators such as Usell.com have popped up, listing bids from multiple resellers.  In fact, an hour after Apple CEO Tim Cook debuted the iPhone 5s and 5c models on Sept. 10, Gazelle was getting 600 offers per second on earlier models, according to Anthony Scarsella, chief gadget officer at Gazelle.com.”  Read more

 

“Dad gets OfficeMax mail addressed ‘Daughter Killed In Car Crash’ “ by Matt Pearce at LA Times via Chicago Tribune.  “It was addressed to “Mike Seay, Daughter Killed In Car Crash.”  Strange as that sounds, the mail reached the right guy. Seay’s daughter Ashley, 17, was killed in a car crash with her boyfriend last year. OfficeMax somehow knew…In a statement, OfficeMax said the mailing “is a result of a mailing list rented through a third-party provider” and offered its apologies to Seay…The company, however, had not personally called Seay to apologize.”  Read more

 

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“Costco Taiwan:  Pending Legislation Could Force Kirkland to List Product Manufacturer on Label (and Coke to Reveal its Secret Recipe)” by Lauly Li at China Post.  “The newly amended food safety regulations stipulate that food companies must label all food additives on their products…(today) Costco’s Kirkland does not have to reveal the manufacturers of its products to the public, Chang said, noting that according to trade secret norms, the company cannot tell the public which manufacturers signed a contract with it… however, if Costco has to “survive” in Taiwan, then it must follow the MHW’s regulation.”  Read more

 

“Costco’s Web Page Download Time Second Only to Apple; Over Twice as Fast as Walmart.com” by Jon Love at Internet Retailer.  “Costco.com also finished in second place in Internet Explorer tests at 0.54 seconds, followed by Amway.com (1.30 seconds), Walmart.com (1.31) and Dell.com (1.57).”  See the Chart Ranking 22 Retailers

 

“Breaking:  Best Buy’s Holiday Same-Store Sales Slip .9%”  “Joly added, “However, our holiday revenues were negatively impacted by a number of factors, including: (1) the aggressive promotional activity in the retail industry…(2) supply constraints for key products; (3) significant store traffic declines between “Power Week” and Christmas; and (4) a disappointing mobile phone market.”  Read more

 

“Senate panels fight for a piece of Target” by Jessica Meyers and Kevin Cirilli at Politico Pro.  “At least three Senate committees want a piece of the recent catastrophe…Lawmakers, who have failed repeatedly to pass data security legislation, see an opportune moment to revisit the controversial topic. And more important, it offers Congress a well-publicized chance to play the good guys. “There’s an awful lot of turf consciousness, which is really sad because it’s such a profound safety subject for America,” Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) said in an interview.”  Read more

 

“J.C. Penney closures: Could more be on the way?” by Danielle Abril at Dallas Business Journal.  “I would think it would’ve been much more than that,” McGough said. “They have a lot more marginal locations.”  McGough said this could be just the first announcement of 30 or more store closures that could come within the next year or so.”  Read more

 

“Walgreen CEO, Greg Wasson, Presents at J.P. Morgan HealthCare Conference”  See his PowerPoint presentation

 

“Sears Canada to cut 1,628 jobs” by Marina Strauss at Globe & Mail.  “The cuts will leave Sears with just over 20,000 staff, down from about 24,000 a year ago and 31,000 two years ago as the retailer finds new ways to operate more efficiently, spokesman Vincent Power said.”  Read more

 

NLRB complaint against Walmart overblown in Media?  Walmart claims: “is just a procedural step” by Kim Souza at The City Wire.  “Wal-Mart has said that about 117 workers were fired or disciplined for participating in the last year’s strike on Thanksgiving Day. Wal-Mart spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan previously told The City Wire that it acted within the law.  “We take this very seriously. We believe our actions were legal and justified,” she said.  On Wednesday Buchanan continued the theme, adding that the “merits of the complaint” have not been debated and that the NLRB action “is just a procedural step.”  Read more

 

“Toronto’s Eaton Center:  Goodbye Sears…Hello Nordstrom!” by Hollie Shaw at Post Media News via Vancouver Sun.  “Department store retailer Nordstrom has inked a deal to open a store at Toronto’s Eaton Centre, a move seen as inevitable after current tenant Sears announced it will vacate the site next month.”  Read more

 

“NFL Coach with $25 Million Contract Wears $8 Walmart Khakis During Games” by Ryan Glasspiegel at The Big Lead “Jim Harbaugh wears pleated khaki pants, a fashion trend that died a couple decades ago. His wife is not a fan of them. Actually, she’s embarrassed for him.”  Read more / See the Walmart pic

 

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“Costco has ‘limited exposure’ to card breaches: Former CEO” by Jeff Morganteen at CNBC.  “Obviously, I’m sure that Target and Neiman Marcus had taken the precautions that were necessary,” Costco co-founder James Sinegal said on “Squawk on the Street.” “We have a limited exposure to credit cards because we only accept American Express at our warehouses.” See the interview / Read more

 

“Top 25 ‘U.S. Buzz Brands’: Amazon #1 overall, Lowe’s #1 brick & mortar” at BrandIndex.  “Brands were rated using YouGov BrandIndex’s Buzz score which asks respondents, “If you’ve heard anything about the brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word of mouth, was it positive or negative?” The Buzz Rankings chart shows the brands with the highest average Buzz scores between January and December 2013.”  See the Top 25 List

 

“Target Runs Full-Page Newspaper Ads to Apologize for Data Breach” by John Vomhof Jr. at Minn./St. Paul Bus. Journal.  “The ad appeared Monday morning in The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post and USA Today. It’s also appearing in local papers in the top 50 U.S. markets either Monday or Tuesday, depending on those papers’ schedules for ad submissions, Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder said.”  See the Ad / Read more

 

“Deloitte Announces Top 10 Retailers in ‘2014 Global Powers of Retail’ report (Costco #3, Home Depot #8…)”  See the Top 10 list

 

“Lowe’s turns to data aggregator for sales boost” by Ely Portillo at News Observer.  “Lowe’s is rolling out a partnership with Porch.com at about 140 stores in the Carolinas… Porch.com collects information on contractors and plots it on a map. That lets users, for whom the service is free, see what kind of home projects are in their neighborhood, and which contractors are doing them. People can also review and endorse contractors, and those professionals can pay Porch.com to advertise.”  Read more

 

“Lowe’s/Porch In-Store Signage Pics (and more)” by Rebecca Greenfield at Fast Company.  See the pics / Read more

 

“Amazon Fresh wooing potential San Francisco customers with free food” by Blair Hanley Frank at Geek Wire.  “Twitter has lit up with reports from around the city that Amazon is delivering bags of food to the doorsteps of city residents, as a promotion for its grocery delivery service…Re/code said that the common thread between all of the customers they’ve encountered is an Amazon Prime subscription.”  Read more

 

“REI’s new CEO ready to sharpen its retail edge” by Amy Martinez at Seattle Times.  “Three months after taking the helm at REI, Jerry Stritzke looks every bit the part of CEO at the Northwest’s popular outdoor-equipment retailer.  Stritzke, 53, walks the grounds of REI’s Kent headquarters sporting a three-day stubble and none of your typical CEO attire. Jeans, flannel shirt and Patagonia vest have replaced the suit and tie he wore as president and chief operating officer at posh New York-based handbag-maker Coach…”  Read more

 

“IBM Study:  Showrooming left in the dust as shoppers go online” by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC.  “Although the number of shoppers who showroomed last year ticked slightly higher—to 8 percent from 6 percent in 2012—the spending attributed to the practice was drastically lower. While nearly 50 percent of online purchases in 2012 came as a result of the practice, that number fell to 30 percent in 2013.”  Read more

 

“Family Dollar Presents at 2014 ICR XChange Conference”  Listen to the Webcast / See the PowerPoint

 

“The rise of Walmart, in one animated map” by Daniel Ferry at Washington Post.  See the GIF

 

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“Walmart:  Internal 10-Page Memo Obtained – Outlines Key Leadership & Org Changes” by Kim Souza at The City Wire.  “Wal-Mart Stores Inc. outlined a long list of leadership and organizational changes for its growing global retail operations. Notice of these changes were given to corporate employees on Thursday (Jan. 9) via a 10-page internal memo, that was also obtained by The City Wire.”  See the changes

 

“Target Tries to Find Its Place in the Big City” by Susan Berfield at Businessweek.  “Target’s cheap-chic cachet would seem to make it a natural fit in any big city’s shopping district. But Target is often a cautious company. Wal-Mart Stores has been experimenting with smaller stores for more than a decade; Target opened its first smaller city store 18 months ago in Chicago.”  Read more

 

“Target redesigning electronics section to pump up sales” by Salvador Rodriguez at LA Times.  “Target rolled out the new electronics look late last year at a few of its stores in its home state of Minnesota. The company plans on expanding the design to 17 more stores across the U.S., including those in Burbank, Ontario and Alhambra.”  Read more / See the video

 

“Home Depot: Designers Create Concept Store for Young/Urban Shoppers” at SEGD.  “The Home Depot Design Center is the next-generation store concept by the venerable big-box retailer. In this innovative concept, the second-largest retailer in the world aimed to shed its unrefined warehouse image, suitable for contractors and hard-core do-it-yourselfers, in favor of a more polished look to attract a younger, urban demographic.”  See the Concept

 

“Walgreen:  More Fancy Stores & Beauty Products Coming” by Brigid Sweeney at Crain’s.  “(Walgreen’s) operates 13 (fancy) stores in nine markets from New York to Los Angeles. Mark Wagner, Walgreen’s president of operations and community management, said the company wants to open additional stores in the next 16 to 24 months in cities including Miami, San Francisco, Houston and more in Los Angeles.”  Read more

 

“Family Dollar Returns to Everyday Low Pricing; ‘Undercover Boss’ Fired” by Ely Portillo at Charlotte Observer.  “Heavy promotions have hurt Family Dollar, Levine said. “You get caught up in a habit of continuing to run circulars” to advertise various sales. “We ran 11 events in a 13-week period in the first quarter. Our model is not built to sustain that level of promotional activity.”…Levine added that Family Dollar will tweak its merchandise assortment, but did not give details.”  Read more

 

“Family Dollar: PowerPoint from Q1 2014 Earnings Call (It’s Not Pretty)”  See the PowerPoint

 

“Supervalu’s Save-A-Lot Chain Sees First Positive Comp Since 2012”  by Mike Hughlett at Star-Tribune.  “Supervalu’s national Save-A-Lot chain, a discounter along the lines of Aldi, had a 1.7 percent increase in same-store sales.  It was the first time since 2012’s fourth quarter that Save-A-Lot’s same-store sales were positive. Analysts are betting on Save-A-Lot for Supervalu’s future growth.”  Read more

 

“Sears Fights Off Haters on Company Blog” by Meredith Derby Berg at Ad Age.  “With its earnings continuing to tank and its future called into question, Sears Holdings Corp. on Wednesday turned to an old standby for a company pleading its case to the media, analysts and consumers: the corporate blog…Sears said Thursday year-to-date same-store sales are down 3.9% and quarter-to-date comps dropped 7.4%.”  Read more

 

“St. Louis Based Schnuck’s Names New CEO” by Kavita Kumar at St. Louis Post  Dispatch.  “Todd Schnuck, 55, will succeed his brother Scott in March as chief executive officer of the family-owned-and-operated grocery chain with 100 stores in five states…“While we’re not knocking the doors down, we’re running even to slightly above last year,” Todd Schnuck said of the company’s sales.” Read more

 

“Marsh Supermarkets (Indiana/Ohio) to shut down 8 stores by end of month” by Scott Olson at Indy Bus. Journal.  “Following the closings, Marsh will operate 78 stores in Indiana and Ohio.  Closing such a large amount of stores at one time is unusual for Marsh.”  Read more

 

“Defending the Single-Use Plastic Grocery Bag” by Quentin Fottrell at Marketwatch.  “Some reusable bags need to be used over 100 times before they’re better for the environment than single-use plastic bags…Another problem: Many reusable bags being sold at the country’s major retailers are imported. Wal-Mart sells reusable bags with slogans like “A little green goes a long way.” In fact, many have also come a long way—over 7,000 miles. Wal-Mart’s standard reusable bag (50 cents) is made in China.”  Read more

 

“Bottled Water Flying Off the Shelves in W.Va – Residents Told to Not Drink Water Due to Chemical Spill” by John Raby at AP.  “Once word got out about the governor’s declaration, customers stripped store shelves in many areas of items such as bottled water, paper cups and bowls.  As many as 50 customers had lined up to buy water at a convenience store near the state Capitol in Charleston.  “It was chaos, that’s what it was,” cashier Danny Cardwell said.”  Read more

 

“How Tim Theriault helped turn Walgreens from a loyalty-program follower to a leader” by Kate MacArthur at Blue Sky.  “He launched his Walgreens 2.0. agenda to upgrade and centralize customer data systems across 8,000 stores, catch up to rivals with a massive loyalty program, make employees more mobile through wireless devices and install cloud-computing systems. Theriault explains how he quieted skeptics and motivated teams around ambitious deadlines…”  Read the interview

 

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