"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 [...]

   "Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2014; Wegmans #12, Whole Foods #44"  See the Top 100 Rankings   "Heads up Walmart Express, Here Comes TargetExpress; Target to Test Smallest Store Yet @ 20,000-square-feet" by Elizabeth Harris at NY Times.  "The first TargetExpress will be in the most urban of spaces, at the base of an apartment building called the Marshall, which is under construction near the University of Minnesota campus. The test store is scheduled to open July 27...Even the name, TargetExpress, will sound familiar to some.Walmart’s smallest stores are called Walmart Express...Mr. Griffith said Target was [...]

  "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   [...]

  "Top Democrat in House: Turn your attention to Target Breach (and away from Healthcare.gov)" at Chicago Tribune. "Representative Elijah Cummings said the committee's focus since October has been investigating the security of the federal government's health insurance website, HealthCare.gov, which has not been breached. He urged the committee chairman, Republican Darrell Issa, to turn his attention to Target." Read more   "Kantar Price Study: Wal-Mart beats Amazon as low price leader" by Kim Souza at The City Wire. "Analysts noted that these two retailers are seeking the same consumers with two different strategies. Kantar Retail ShopperScape, found that Wal-Mart [...]

  "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 [...]

  "Target CEO appears on CNBC for in-depth interview; 'still shaken' by the data breach, vows to 'make it right' " by Becky Quick and Matthew Belvedere at CNBC.  "For Target Chairman and CEO Gregg Steinhafel, December 15 started out as a normal Sunday. He was at home, having coffee with his wife. That's when he got the first call about the cyber security breach at the retailer, which would to date put the personal information of as many as 110 million customers at risk.  "My heart sunk," Steinhafel reflected."  See the Video interview / Read more   "Target Updates [...]

  "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. [...]

  "Costco Beats Street - December Same-Store Sales Up 3%" at CNBC.  "Costco's December same-store sales beat analysts' expectations, helped in part by online sales in the United States and Canada.  Sales at stores open at least a year rose 3 percent in the five weeks ended Jan. 5, including the impact of fuel sales and foreign exchange.  On that basis, analysts expected same-store sales to rise 1.8 percent for the month of December, according to a Thomson Reuters poll." Read more   "Costco:  Net Sales Have Increased $2 Bil+ in 18 Weeks ended 1/5/14" from Company Release.  "For the eighteen [...]