"Walmart ‘Pickup Grocery’ site preps for grand opening" by Kim Souza at The City Wire. "The retailer has named the test format Walmart Pickup Grocery...amid a flurry of activity as the 15,000 square-foot grocery center is being stocked with 10,000 fresh and dry grocery products – everything from cereal, chips and bread to fresh produce, meat and milk. Wal-Mart told The City Wire that several tests will be conducted before the online grocery service opens to the public early this fall. Walmart declined to provide a specific date or share who will be allowed to test the service." Read [...]

"Dollar General Q2 Comp Sales +2.1%" "CEO: 'In regards to our proposal to acquire Family Dollar, we remain firmly committed to the acquisition. The financial benefits of our offer to Family Dollar shareholders are indisputable, and the proposed combination would unlock tremendous value for Dollar General shareholders. We continue to believe the potential antitrust issues are manageable and that our transaction as proposed is both superior and achievable.' Read the release   CNBC Headline: "Dollar General says committed to Family Dollar deal" "Dollar General, the No.1 U.S. deep discount retailer, said it remained committed to acquiring rival Family Dollar and reported [...]

  "Target & Nordstrom make Instagram shoppable" by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC. "Target and Nordstrom are teaming up with Curalate, a visual marketing and analytics firm, to launch Like2Buy, a platform that seamlessly allows Instagram users to make purchases when they see an item they like on their feeds." Read more   "Soggy start: Burning Man crews stuck at Wal-Mart" by Scott Sonner at The Tribune (Reno, NV). "Turned back at the gate to the Black Rock Desert after rare showers on Monday turned the ancient lake bottom to a muddy quagmire, hundreds of "Burners" were forced to overnight on the [...]

  Walmart's Duncan Mac Naughton Next Out the Door? by Kim Souza at The City Wire. "Some close watchers of the Wal-Mart corporate world say Mac Naughton may follow Bill Simon, former Walmart U.S. CEO, out the door. Simon was not picked to be Wal-Mart CEO, and Mac Naughton was considered a candidate for the Wal-Mart U.S. CEO job to which Foran was promoted." Read more   "Costco leases 177,000-square-foot building for growing HQ staff" at Seattle Times. "Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti said the lease gives Costco more room for part of its information technology staff and other operations. [...]

  "Amazon at odds with Germany over strong union tradition" by Jay Greene at Seattle Times. "As the protesting workers grill bratwurst and listen to a guitarist playing union songs, the rants aren’t the hot-button issues that often fuel strikes in the United States...Sure, the workers here want better pay and job security for zipping off boxes of books, shirts, razors and more to customers. But often, the first complaint these Amazon strikers raise is simply that the company doesn’t respect their rights as Germans to form a union and engage in collective bargaining." Read more   "Sneak peek inside [...]

  "Home Depot Names Retail Chief Craig Menear As CEO" by Shelly Banjo at WSJ.  "Mr. Menear, who will take the helm Nov. 1, will become the third CEO to run the country's fourth-largest retailer by revenue...The CEO appointment settles the top job but raises questions about how long Mr. Ellison and Ms. Tome, both well-regarded executives who were also considered possible successors to Mr. Blake, will remain with the company." Read more   "Costco's Galanti: Minimum wage hike probably won't mean price hike" by Rachel Lerman at Puget Sound Bus. Journal. "Whenever there’s any type of cost increase, whatever [...]

  "Family Dollar CEO Said to Guard Job" by Shelly Banjo at WSJ.  "Dollar General said the chief executive of Family Dollar Stores, Howard Levine, shrugged off multiple requests to pursue a merger between the country's two largest dollar chains out of fear he would have to step down as CEO, according to a letter sent to Family Dollar's board of directors late Wednesday." Read more   WSJ: "Shopper Malaise Hangs Over Target" by Paul Ziobro & Anna Prior. "Target posted a 62% drop in earnings for the fiscal second quarter ended Aug. 2, as losses in Canada continued and [...]

  "Lowe's Q2 Comp Sales +4.4%" "Lowe's reported net earnings of $1.04 billion for the quarter ended August 1, 2014, a 10.4 percent increase over the same period a year ago...Fiscal Year 2014 outlook:  total sales are expected to increase approximately 4.5 percent, comparable sales are expected to increase approximately 3.5 percent, expects to open approximately 10 home improvement and 5 hardware stores." Read the release   CNBC's Headline: "Lowe's profit tops estimates; trims sales guidance" "Lowe's delivered second-quarter earnings that topped Wall Street's expectations, but the retailer trimmed its outlook for full-year sales growth. Lowe's shares sank in premarket trading following the report." [...]