Friday Tipsheet: Wmart Closes 30 in Japan | Christmas Starts Sat.

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“Wal-Mart Weighs Matching Online Prices” by Shelly Banjo at WSJ. “Wal-Mart executives are discussing whether to go ahead with the price-matching program, which would expand its one for local brick-and-mortar competitors, according to spokeswoman Deisha Barnett. Under consideration is how much Wal-Mart might lose if the program were to go nationwide, people familiar with the matter said.” Read more (Subscription)

 

“Black Friday Deals Start Saturday” by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC. “Although many consumers plan to extend their Halloween celebrations past Friday, Wal-Mart on Saturday will shift its focus from orange and black to red and green, when it kicks off its first round of holiday deals. The world’s largest retailer joins the likes of Amazon, Office Depot and OfficeMax, which are also launching their first holiday deals over the weekend.” Read more

 

…Walmart Stores Will be Decked Out in Christmas Decorations by Saturday Morning by Phil Wahba at Fortune. “It doesn’t start on Black Friday, it starts right now,” Steve Bratspies, executive vice president of general merchandise for Walmart U.S. told reporters on a holiday strategy briefing. “We’re expecting to see a highly competitive environment throughout the holiday season.” Read more

 

The Hill: “Home Depot breach costs doubled Target’s” by Kevin Cirilli. “Credit unions spent $60 million following the data security breach at Home Depot in September — twice as much as the recent Target data breach, according to a survey published Thursday.” Read more

 

Kantar Study: Walmart prices 5% more expensive at Supercenters vs. Wal-Mart.com by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC. “It’s a complete 180 from last year, when Kantar found that the Supercenter’s basket was 7 percent cheaper. Amazon’s basket was more expensive than both those from the Supercenter and Walmart.com—by 12 percent and 17 percent, respectively.” Read more

 

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“Home Depot breaks ground on new Calgary Rapid Deployment Centre” by Mario Tonegozzi at Calgary Herald. “The 425,000-square-foot centre, located in the Shephard industrial area at 6325 106th Ave. S.E., will be a fast-flowing Canadian Pacific rail-served distribution centre sending products directly to 70 stores located across Western Canada.” Read more

 

“Family Dollar CEO could receive $13.6M in a Dollar General acquisition” by Jennifer Thomas at Charlotte Bus. Journal. “Other executives to receive payouts if Dollar General buys Family Dollar include: Mary Winston, chief financial officer, $2.4 million.Barry Sullivan, executive vice president of store operations, $2.1 million. Jason Reiser, executive vice president and chief merchandising officer, $1.6 million.” Read more

 

“Nordstrom’s Canada roll-out attracts mixed reviews, comparisons to Target” by Glen Korstrom at Business Vancouver. “The initial things I’ve heard … is that [Nordstrom] feels like a bit of a letdown,” said Silvera, who was on a panel at the October 29 Vancouver Real Estate Leasing Conference.” Read more

 

“Walmart Reveals Its Holiday Plans but 5 Lingering Problems Loom Large” by Brian Sozzi at The Street. “Unfortunately for Walmart, it also has a host of bizarre problems to deal with that even Santa may not be able to correct by the end of the year.” Read more

 

“Wal-Mart to close 30 underperforming stores in Japan” at Reuters. “Wal-Mart said the 30 stores operate under the Seiyu brand, and the closure is part of a revamp that will include remodels and other investments. The closures represent 7 percent of Wal-Mart’s 434 stores in Japan.” Read more

 

“Food Lion Gets Third Chief in Two Years” by Ely Portillo at Charlotte Observer. “Meg Ham, president of Bottom Dollar Food, will replace Newlands Campbell, effective Saturday. Ham told the Observer she plans to continue many of the changes already put in place by Newlands Campbell.” Read more

 

“Tuesday Morning posts strong 10 percent sales gain” by Maria Halkias at Dallas News. “Rouleau, a former CEO of Michaels Stores, came out of retirement in March 2013 to turn around Tuesday Morning. The chain of 801 stores had no debt but was struggling to increase sales and profits. About 30 stores have closed in the last year.” Read more

Thursday Tipsheet: Target Cuts 80 @ HQ | Jelinek Q&A | Fortune on Blake’s Legacy

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“Target Lays Off 80 at HQ” by Kavita Kumar at Star-Tribune. “In addition to the layoffs, another 40 open positions at Target will not be filled, said Molly Snyder, a company spokeswoman. “We routinely evaluate our business to ensure we are positioned for profitable growth,” Snyder said in a statement. “As we open fewer general merchandise stores nationwide and focus more on smaller formats, we have made the decision to centralize our architecture, construction, engineering and facilities management teams to best meet the needs of the business going forward.” Read more

 

“How Home Depot CEO Frank Blake kept his legacy from being hacked” by Jennifer  Reingold at Fortune. “So how did Blake react? Let’s start by thinking about what he could have done. He easily could have handed off the problem to his successor…Blake didn’t do any of that. Instead, he acted the same way he has acted for the past seven-plus years when faced with a challenge: He took full responsibility, empowered his team to fix the problem, and kept the focus where it needed to be, squarely on the customer.” Read more

 

“Grocery Chain Sues Clorox For Refusing To Sell Bulk-Pack Products” by Ashlee Kieler at Consumerist. “According to the complaint, officials with Woodman’s say a representative from Clorox informed them that the company had created a “Differentiated Products Offering” and that the grocery store – which operates like a warehouse store – would be lumped in with other general market retailers, losing the ability to sell large quantity packs of products and, thus, losing business.” Read more

 

“Retailers Like Lowe’s Are Getting a Jump on the Holidays” by Stuart Elliot at NY Times. “Lowe’s, which has in recent years used social media platforms like Pinterest to advertise its coming Black Friday sales, plans to use Vine to tease shoppers about what is in store for Black Friday 2014. A dozen Black Friday Vines — scheduled to be released one a day, starting on Monday — will advertise deals on merchandise like DeWalt tools, Dyson vacuums, home safes and artificial Christmas trees.” Read more

 

“Lysol Bought The Top Google Search Ad For The Word ‘Ebola,’ And Then Changed Its Mind” by Lara O’Reilly at Business Insider. “But now, perhaps fearing a backlash from consumers accusing the brand of distastefully piggybacking on the public interest and concern around the deadly infectious disease, Lysol appears to have aborted the marketing campaign.” Read more

 

“Wal-Mart Expands Savings Catcher to Toys for Holidays” by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “CEO Doug McMillion did not provide any details to The City Wire when asked recently about the possibilities of an expanded scope to include general merchandise during the holiday period. His response were merely, “Thanks for the suggestion.” Read more

 

“Q&A With Costco’s CEO, Craig Jelinek” at Consumer Reports. “Over the past year, we have tested apparel items in plus sizes in about 60 percent of our U.S. warehouses; moving forward, we have decided to focus on expanding plus-size assortments on Costco.com.” Read the Q&A

 

“Apple Pay alternative CurrentC has been breached” by Wendy Lee at SF Gate. “An MCX spokeswoman told the Chronicle that the CurrentC app “was not affected” and that many of the e-mail addresses taken were from “dummy accounts used for testing purposes.” She did not immediately reply to questions on how the e-mail addresses were obtained.” Read more

 

“The 10 highest sales-generating malls in the U.S.” by Phil Wahba at Fortune. See the list

 

“Kroger CEO sees organics as ‘billion dollar brand’” by Steve Watkins at Cincinnati Bus. Courier. “It was introduced two years ago, and this year it will be a billion dollar brand,” CEO Rodney McMullen said of Kroger’s Simple Truth natural and organic brand. “When you think about a brand reaching that level in its second full year, not many companies can say that.” Read more

 

“Kroger leaders aren’t worried about Amazon in online grocery battle” by Steve Watkins at Cincinnati Bus. Courier. “We’re not fixated by it,” Kevin Dougherty, Kroger’s group vice president of digital and Vitacost, said of Kroger’s take on Amazon. “A decade ago, we decided we have to play our game and focus on our strengths. They may succeed, but what we do has worked for decades.” Read more

 

“Kohl’s Holds First Investor Conference in Seven Years” by Alison Bauter at Milwaukee Bus. Journal. “(CEO Kevin) Mansell said the company’s stores have “been efficient, but pretty short on inspiration.” The new agenda pushes the idea that engaging customers digitally on a very personal, granular level and in-person through an elevated in-store environment will provide the hook to keep customers coming back.” Read more

 

…Kohl’s CEO Sits Down for Interview “I don’t know if you know, but the University of Wisconsin-Madison is the single largest campus in the United States from which we recruit — we get more interns, we get more trainees. We have a massive internship program each year.” Read the Q&A

 

“Saks Backs Off Snaks 5th Avenchew Cease-and-Desist Order” by Teresa Novellino at New York Bus. Journal. “The news came as a big relief to Sarabella, whom we caught up with by phone this morning. “I’ve only been in business since June, and this wasn’t the kind of exposure that I wanted” Read more

 

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Eye-on-Retail is a daily tipsheet read by thousands of Retail Merchants & Executives every weekday morning. Eye-on-Retail is unique because it’s timely, smart and fun. It’s created early AM every weekday and delivered between 7-8 am CST. We love data, earnings reports, executive presentations and stories off the beaten path that get at what’s happening in the world of retail. Contact us @ info@shiftmarketinggroup.net.

 

Wednesday Tipsheet: Target’s Jeff Jones Iview | Alibaba Market Cap Passes Wmart

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Deloitte: 56% of consumers will do holiday shopping at retailers that have experienced a data breach at CNBC. “The consumer’s now somewhat desensitized [to breaches],” said Rod Sides, principal at Deloitte Consulting. This is particularly true among higher-income households, according to the CreditCards.com report…only 31 percent of households earning $75,000 or more annually said they were likely to avoid affected stores, compared with 56 percent of those with an annual income of less than $30,000.” Read more

 

Time: “This Is How Walmart Can Win Its War With Apple” by Jacob Davidson. “Apple Pay supporters have a point. CurrentC is clunky—at least in its current beta state—and Apple Pay certainly wins on privacy by keeping all transaction data away from merchants. But as hard as it is for Walmart detractors to admit, CurrenC also also has some advantages over Apple Pay.” Read more

 

Forbes: Interview with Target’s Jeff Jones by John Ellett. “There’s a simple question that we ask that can guide people really easily, which is, “Are we doing something for our guest or to our guest?” And if we’re doing something for our guests it implies that there’s a value exchange: In return for information we are giving them something of value.” Read the interview

 

“Retailers Banning Apple Pay Are Taking a Big Security Risk” by Jason Del Rey at Recode. “That’s because the mobile payments app that they’re backing, called CurrrentC, won’t launch until sometime next year, leaving customers with the same old clone-friendly credit cards they’re using now.” Read more

 

India: Target aims to put start-ups on accelerator at Economic Times. “The new batch includes Torch Technologies, which has developed a hardware plug-in device for brick and mortar stores to make data-driven decisions on store opening hours, staff assignments, product placements and promotion strategies. Other solutions include tools to sell ads on a smartphone’s lock screen (Twiddly), platforms to help companies create 3D ads and apps (Visarity), a visual search engine for e-commerce (Wazzat Fashion), and tools for augmented reality (Whodat Spaces).” Read more

 

“Will Family Dollar’s shareholders play it safe?” by Jennifer Thomas at Charlotte Bus. Journal. “Family Dollar’s stock was trading at $77.78 at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday — hovering between the two bids. That signals the stock market believes Family Dollar remains in play, with a deal with Dollar General or a bidding war possible, says Brian Yarbrough, an equity analyst with Edward Jones. “I just don’t think by the way the stock’s trading they’re going to get enough votes to approve the (Dollar Tree) deal,” he says.” Read more

 

“Video of Lowe’s New ‘OSHbot'” by Mae Anderson at AP via Mercury News. See the video

 

“Having built out Home Depot Canada, Annette Verschuren turns to energy storage” by Zoe McNight at Financial Post.”I’m an entrepreneur. I’m a serial entrepreneur. I love building. So I loved Home Depot but I built it out. There was no growth left. I just said, “I’m still young. There’s something more.” So I went around the world with my husband to 17 countries. I took a year off. Water, energy, food: around the world, I saw that as the three big issues.” Read the interview

 

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“Alibaba’s market cap passes Wal-Mart” by Tom Huddleston Jr. at Fortune. “Wal-Mart’s status as the world’s largest retailer is on shaky ground today after a bump in Alibaba’s share price drove the Chinese e-commerce giant’s market capitalization to $251 billion, compared with roughly $246 billion for Wal-Mart.” Read more

 

Dallas: 4th Nebraska Furniture Mart Expects to Draw 8 Million Customers per Year by Maria Halkias at Dallas News. “Grandscape is a project being built by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway that’s estimated to cost a whopping $1.5 billion. The first of two phases, including the 560,000-square-foot furniture and appliance store, will cost more than $400 million and opens next year…Rock & Brews, will also be in the first phase. It was co-founded by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of Kiss. Rock & Brews serves American comfort food and has a pet-friendly patio.” Read more

 

“Grocers piling in to Fenway amid new urban competition” by Taryn Luna at Boston Globe. “In the past, there weren’t buildings in sight that were appropriate for these kinds of grocery or Target stores because they had very exact physical requirements,” Shen said. “These are brand-new buildings that are tailored specific to grocery stores and that is making it attractive.” Read more

 

“No one really wants a “smart” washing machine” by Drew Harwell at Washington Post. “We’re a little bit of a hammer looking for a nail right now,” Chris Quatrochi, Whirlpool’s global director of user experience and connectivity…It’s a big concession from one of the most notable champions of the buzzy “Internet of Things,” in which even our humblest household devices gain web-enabled powers of their own.” Read more

 

“Tesco’s Downfall Is a Warning to Data-Driven Retailers” by Michael Schrage at HBR. “The harsh numbers suggest that all this data, all this analytics, all the assiduous segmentation, customization and promotion have done little for Tesco’s domestic competitiveness since Leahy’s celebrated departure. As the Telegraph story further observed, “…judging by correspondence from Telegraph readers and disillusioned shoppers, one of the reasons that consumers are turning to [discounters] Aldi and Lidl is that they feel they are simple and free of gimmicks.” Read more

 

“Here’s What Amazon’s First Customer Bought” at Business Insider.  Read more

 

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Eye-on-Retail is a daily tipsheet read by thousands of Retail Merchants & Executives every weekday morning. Eye-on-Retail is unique because it’s timely, smart and fun. It’s created early AM every weekday and delivered between 7-8 am CST. We love data, earnings reports, executive presentations and stories off the beaten path that get at what’s happening in the world of retail. Contact us @ info@shiftmarketinggroup.net.

Tuesday Tipsheet: Lowe’s Likes Robots & NYC | Retailer “Hack” Results | F.Dol Vote 12/11

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“Lowe’s to open two stores in New York City next year” by Ken Elkins at Charlotte Bus. Journal. “It plans to open the two Manhattan stores during the second half of 2015. Each will measure about 30,000 square feet…The stores will be located at 2008 Broadway at West 68th Street and at 635 Sixth Ave. at West 19th Street.” Read more

 

“Lowe’s ranked the best, Home Depot the worst in “fake hack” contest” One major retailer actually listed their employee schedule on Instagram. Of course, this type of information would allow for a very personalized attack on staff. One contestant found a confidential document with the signature of the CEO. One major retailer had posted a document that openly listed their password policy as the first three letters of their company + first three letters of the employee last name and a two digit code.”  See the 9 retailers ranked

 

“Family Dollar shareholders to vote Dec. 11 on $8.5B merger with Dollar Tree” by Jennifer Thomas at Charlotte Bus. Journal. “The meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Harris Conference Center on the Harris Campus of Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, according to the filing.” Read more

 

“New Call of Duty video game out next week, Wal-Mart sells a day earlier than GameStop, Amazon” at Star-Tribune. “Wal-Mart Stores Inc. says the game will be available at its stores starting at 12:01 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 3 for $60.” Read more

 

…Walmart Starts Selling Used Games Next Week by Jenna Pitcher at IGN. “Walmart will begin selling pre-owned games on November 3 in 1,700 stores across the U.S., the retail giant announced today.” Read more

 

“Newest Workers for Lowe’s: Robots” by Rachel King at WSJ. “The OSHbot will greet customers, ask if they need help and guide them through the store to the product. Besides natural-language-processing technology, the 5-foot tall white robot houses two large rectangular screens—front and back—for video conferences with a store expert and to display in-store specials. The head features a 3-D scanner to help customers identify items.” Read more (Subscription)

 

“Chip-based cards targeted after Home Depot hack” by Cory Bennett at The Hill. “Security researcher Brian Krebs first reported Monday that financial institutions had flagged tens of thousands of dollars of fraudulent chip-enabled credit and debit card transactions. “ Read more

 

“Ballmer: Amazon won’t be a ‘real business’ until it makes money” by Rachel Lerman at Puget Sound Bus. Journal. “In my world, you’re not a real business until you make some money,” Ballmer said. “I mean, I have a hard time with businesses that don’t make money at some point. I get it if you don’t make money for two or three years but Amazon’s — what — 21 years old and not making money.” Read more

 

“Radio Ad Round-up” at Radio Ink. “The Home Depot, with just over 35,000 commercials (last week), was second. No major surprises this week as Rite Aid finished third with just under 28,000, Walgreens was fourth with 25,745, and Macy’s rounded out the top five with 24,145.” Read more

 

“Sam’s Club Really, Really Wants You to Renew Your Membership” by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “Consumers often have a ‘not that I would, but I could’ mentality with products and services. Most Sam’s members will never take advantage of the health and legal services but it’s nice to know that they could if they wanted to,” Long said.” Read more

 

“Marissa Mayer Trying to Poach Top Amazon Sales Exec” by Kara Kwiser at Recode. “And among those she has been trying to entice, according to sources close to the situation, is Amazon’s head of global advertising sales Lisa Utzschneider. The well-regarded exec has been at the e-commerce giant for six years and, previous to that, she worked for a decade at Microsoft.” Read more

 

“Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s Stores to Open in Abu Dhabi in 2018” The Macy’s (205,000 square feet on four levels) and Bloomingdale’s (230,000 square feet on four levels) stores will offer a merchandise assortment, ambience and customer service similar to each brand’s shopping experience in the United States.” Read the release

 

“IL Pols Make Timely Pre-Election Amazon Announcement” “Governor Pat Quinn, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin and Amazon.com, Inc. today announced plans to create more than 1,000 full-time jobs and $75 million in investment in Illinois. Amazon is beginning site selection activities and it plans to open its first facility in Illinois next year.” Read the release

 

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Eye-on-Retail is a daily tipsheet read by thousands of Retail Merchants & Executives every weekday morning. Eye-on-Retail is unique because it’s timely, smart and fun. It’s created early AM every weekday and delivered between 7-8 am CST. We love data, earnings reports, executive presentations and stories off the beaten path that get at what’s happening in the world of retail. Contact us @ info@shiftmarketinggroup.net.

 

Monday Tipsheet: Apple Pay Funeral? | DIY Down in UK | Alibaba Likes Seattle

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“Why CVS and Rite Aid are blocking Apple Pay” by Phillip Elmer-DeWitt at Fortune. “I don’t know that CVS and Rite Aid disabling Apple Pay out of spite is going to drive customers to switch pharmacies” writes Gruber. “But I do know that CurrentC is unlikely to ever gain any traction whatsoever.” Read more

 

….Apple Pay Down to 25 Retail Partners by Jim Edwards at Business Insider. “A quick look at Apple’s website explaining the service highlights just 34 retail partners that support the system. Eight of those are different flavors of Foot Locker. One is Apple itself.” Read more

 

“Traffic At Los Angeles Ports Backed Up For 2 Weeks, Threatens Holiday Season” at Inquisitr. “This is really a perfect storm,” Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka told the Los Angeles Times…it’s made worse this year by the use of massive container ships. These larger vessels can be up to one-third larger than Los Angeles and Long Beach ports have the capacity to handle. The root of the problem, though, is likely due to a shortage of trucking equipment.” Read more

 

“The $1-billion fright economy: How Canadians are now outspending Americans on Halloween” by Hollie Shaw at Financial Post. “A recent survey from digital couponing site RetailMeNot.com found that 68% of Canadians now celebrate Halloween…“In the past three years, the Halloween holiday has just gone viral in Canada — we have just seen it shoot up,” said Diane Brisebois, the Retail Council’s president and CEO. “Adults have really, really gotten into it. Now it’s adults and their pets.” Read more

 

“Costco Still Refuses To Ruin Thanksgiving” by Emily Cohn at HuffPo. “Sam’s Club, the Walmart-owned bulk goods retailer, will also be closed on Thanksgiving day, according to Sarah McKinney, a company spokeswoman.” Read more

 

“Target thinks outside the (big) box” by Phil Wahba at Fortune. “The discount retailer has exclusively told Fortune that it plans in 2016 to open a CityTarget store in the City Point development in Brooklyn, New York.” Read more

 

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“Obama plans executive actions to strengthen U.S. manufacturing” at Reuters via Yahoo. “The White House said NASA and the departments of Defense, Energy and Agriculture would invest more than $300 million in the emerging technologies of advanced materials including composites and bio-based materials, advanced sensors for manufacturing, and digital manufacturing.” Read more

 

“Bricks-and-mortars aim to gain on Amazon pain” by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC. “This holiday versus a year or two ago, Amazon, in terms of online sales, is facing a much higher competitive bar,” said Craig Johnson, president of research firm Customer Growth Partners. “Bricks-and-clicks store-based retailers have stepped up.” Read more

 

“Alibaba ramps up recruiting for Seattle office” by Rachel Lerman at Puget Sound Bus. Journal. “Rumors have been swirling for months that the company was preparing to launch a Seattle office, which would be its second U.S. office, in addition to a Silicon Valley location. Alibaba has been recruiting this week for engineers in Seattle, job postings on LinkedIn show.” Read more

 

“USPS gets approval to test grocery-delivery with Amazon in San Francisco” by Kate Taylor at Entrepreneur via Fortune. “The Postal Regulatory Commission approved a plan to deliver groceries between 3 a.m. and 7 a.m. The two-year market test of what it calls “Customized Delivery” is currently restricted to San Francisco, but may someday expand into a national program.” Read more

 

“UK: DIY is in decline because today’s men are too soft” by Martin Daubney at The Telegraph. “The dismal fact that a mere five per cent of 18-24s would attempt to unblock a sink doesn’t bode well for humanity – unless you’re a plumber. Although the UK DIY sector is still worth a healthy £7.3 billion per year, that’s its lowest annual worth since 1999, and if it continues to decline at the current rate of 13 per cent per annum, there will be no DIY sector at all by 2040.” Read more

 

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Eye-on-Retail is a daily tipsheet read by thousands of Retail Merchants & Executives every weekday morning. Eye-on-Retail is unique because it’s timely, smart and fun. It’s created early AM every weekday and delivered between 7-8 am CST. We love data, earnings reports, executive presentations and stories off the beaten path that get at what’s happening in the world of retail. Contact us @ info@shiftmarketinggroup.net.

Friday Tipsheet: Bullseye Flies 1st Class | Wmart: New Shopper Framework | Cabela’s Comp -11.2%

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“Walmart Unveils New Shopper Marketing Framework” by Patrycja Malinowska at Path to Purchase. “Andy Murray called on brands to retire the “stop, hold and close” approach to in-store activation. Instead of disrupting shoppers, he said brands should seek to inspire and engage them. In terms of displays and PDQs, the retailer wants more value-added messaging at the shelf. P-O-P materials should have a very clear value proposition. Beyond just communicating value, they should create it, actually delivering a benefit.” Read more

 

“Wal-Mart global operations are a testing lab for Walmart U.S. stores” by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “Walmart International operates in 15 core formats — compared to three, maybe four in the U.S. (David) Cheesewright said those formats range from a big builders chain in South Africa to small kiosks in Japan and everything in between. “Around a third of our stores are under 25,000 square feet, so much more average size and quite a lot of small stores in our portfolio,” Cheesewright said.” Read more

 

“Bullseye hits the Target, flies first class” by Marney Rich Keenan at The Detroit News. “She was curled up and on a red Delta blanket in her own seat and was incredibly docile with her head resting on the arm rest in full makeup and wearing a bright red collar with the Target logo repeated in bright sparkly rhinestones. Kids called out to their parents as if they were in the presence of a boy band. Several of the flight attendants had their pictures taken with her.” Read more

 

“Wall Street may finally be giving up on Amazon” by Cadie Thompson at CNBC. “The company posted a huge earnings miss for its third quarter on Thursday, reporting a loss of 95 cents a share versus the street’s estimate of 74 cents. And that big miss may be the last straw for investors, analysts said.” Read more

 

“Amazon Employees, Not Investors, Will Have to Pressure Jeff Bezos to Slow Down” by Brad Stone at Businessweek. “Employees unsettled by Amazon’s steadily depreciating stock price are probably the only thing that can force Bezos to slow down. Amazon workers are compensated heavily with stock grants, which are parceled out over four year periods. Promises of great stock rewards motivate employees to stick around amid a grueling work environment.” Read more

 

“Amazon hired 40,000 employees in a year, now has 150,000 worldwide” by Rachel Lerman. “That doesn’t even include the contractors that staff its massive warehouses or the 80,000 holiday employees it said it would hire on a temporary basis this year.” Read more

 

“Target has more options in Canada than you think” by Jonathan Ratner at Financial Post. “If Target stays: “No other Canadian retailer is materially impacted unless Target can actually double their store productivity.” If Target goes: “If Target were to simply pull out, pay the penalties, and let the stores go dark, it’s very good for Wal-Mart, pretty good for Canadian Tire and Loblaw, and not bad for everybody.” Read more

 

“Cabela’s Q3 Comp Sales Down 11.2% (Cycling against Firearms/Ammunition surge from last 2 years)” “For the quarter, total revenue increased 4.1% to $886.0 million; Retail store revenue increased 8.7% to $598.7 million.” Read the release

 

“Etsy Wants a Cut at the Craft Sale” by Jason Del Rey at Recode.”The dongles, which can be plugged into a smartphone or tablet, will be used in conjunction with an Etsy app to allow sellers to accept credit card and debit card purchases while hawking their wares at craft fairs and in other retail settings.” Read more

 

“Walmart grocery pickup test off to a good start” by Carol Angrisani at Supermarket News. “It’s doing well,” Andy Murray, SVP of Creative at Walmart Marketing, said during a keynote presentation Thursday at the Shopper Marketing Conference & Expo in Minneapolis.” Read more

 

“In online sales, could Wal-Mart ever top Amazon?” by Mike Kwatinetz at Fortune. “Given the fact that Amazon is adding sales (in dollars) at 5 times the rate of Wal-Mart online, the question is whether it has enough inherent advantages to continue to significantly outpace Wal-Mart. The answer is yes.” Read more

 

“Ron Johnson’s Startup ‘Enjoy’ Will Offer Online Shoppers Help in Choosing Products” by Daisuke Wakabayashi at WSJ. “Mr. Johnson is keeping most of Enjoy’s plans and strategy secret to avoid tipping off rivals. But he said Enjoy aims to help shoppers develop a connection with new products, in the way that Apple Stores let shoppers try its products. For example, Mr. Johnson said it is hard for customers to understand the capabilities of a new product like a GoPro camera from shopping online.” Read more (Subscription)

 

“Sears disputes report of layoffs, store closings” by Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz at Chicago Tribune. “A published report Thursday said Sears Holdings is laying off about 6,000 workers as it closes 110 stores within the next few months, many before Christmas, according to Seeking Alpha, a content service for financial markets.” Read more

 

“WalMart India names Murali Lanka as Chief Operations Officer” at The Hindu. Read more

 

“South Park (San Diego) residents oppose plans for TargetExpress” at Fox 5 News. “Saad Hirmez, who owns the property, said residents had requested higher-end markets like Trader Joes or Whole Foods to fill the space. “It was available for all of them, it was marketed and they apparently passed on,” said Hirmez. Of all the retailers that were interested, Hirmez said Target was the clear choice.” Read more

 

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Eye-on-Retail is a daily tipsheet read by thousands of Retail Merchants & Executives every weekday morning. Eye-on-Retail is unique because it’s timely, smart and fun. It’s created early AM every weekday and delivered between 7-8 am CST. We love data, earnings reports, executive presentations and stories off the beaten path that get at what’s happening in the world of retail. Contact us @ info@shiftmarketinggroup.net.

 

 

Thursday Tipsheet: Lowe’s CMO Iview | Target ‘Overstocking’ Canada | Video: Wmart’s Quinn

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“Target Canada to experiment with overstocking in turnaround effort” by Marina Strauss at Globe & Mail. “The chain is quietly experimenting with ordering more merchandise than its systems think it needs for five of its best performing stores while “over-investing” in strong selling inventory at its top 20 outlets, Mr. Schindele said during a tour of Target’s Toronto Stockyards mall location, one of its premier stores.” Read more

 

“Analyst: Target could sell Canadian assets to Wal-Mart” by Marina Strauss at Globe & Mail. “Will troubled discounter Target Canada stay in Canada or leave? That’s the burning question that retail analyst Perry Caicco at CIBC World Markets asks in a report on Wednesday. It may do either, but probably won’t make a decision until the end of 2015, he concludes. If it leaves, it may sell its assets to savvier rivals, he says. Discount giant Wal-Mart Canada Corp. would be the most likely buyer, Mr. Caicco suggests.” Read more

 

“Inside Costco: A look at the first store in Upstate New York” by WSYR-TV. “For Central New Yorkers, a passport is required to get to the nearest store, more than 150 miles away in Canada. That changes Friday when Camillus’s Costco opens to customers, what the store calls members. It will be the first store in Upstate New York, before cities like Rochester, Albany and Buffalo.” See the in-store video

 

Forbes: Interview with Lowe’s CMO Tom Lamb by Jennifer Rooney at Forbes. “Tom Lamb has been CMO at Lowe’s for 15 years, an unheard-of tenure for a chief marketer. But that longevity has provided him with a unique view on what works and what doesn’t in building the home-improvement brand. Core to all of his efforts these days, of course, is data, and he and his team are using it in myriad ways to ensure that customers experience a consistency across all Lowe’s touchpoints” Read more

 

“Video: Walmart CMO Quinn Upbeat on Holidays” by Jack Neff at Ad Age. “To keep up with the demand for thousands of pieces of content, largely video, the retailer has established a single “holiday hub” for producing all of its holiday work, led by Senior VP-Creative Andy Murray, Mr. Quinn said.” See the 2 minute video

 

“Online shopping yields different prices” by Callum Borchers at Boston Globe. “Conducted this spring, the Northeastern study examined the e-commerce websites of 16 well-known outlets and found nine, including Orbitz, Travelocity, and Home Depot, that sometimes delivered different results to different customers, even those who used the same search terms.” Read more

 

…Home Depot Responds by Elizabeth Dwoskin at WSJ. “Home Depot Inc. shows mobile-device users products that are roughly $100 more expensive than those offered to desktop-computer users…Home Depot didn’t dispute the accuracy of the findings, but the home-improvement retailer wasn’t “intentionally steering search results,” said company spokesman Stephen Holmes. Many factors could influence what a customer sees on the company’s sites, Mr. Holmes said, including prior browsing and purchase history, the location of the store, and whether the customer is on mobile or not.” Read more (Subscription)

 

“Who needs Black Friday? Retailers already cutting prices” by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC. “Janney Capital Markets analyst Adrienne Yih-Tennant said in a note to investors on Wednesday that last weekend was the most promotional to date in the third quarter, with many apparel retailers offering deeper discounts than one year ago.” Read more

 

“Tractor Supply Q3 Comp Sales +5.6%”  “Comparable store transaction count increased 3.3% and average ticket increased 2.2%.” Read the release

 

“Wal-Mart Becomes Agile But Finds Some Limits” by Rachel King at WSJ. “Over the past two years, parts of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. have begun to embrace a methodology known as Agile for rapid and flexible software development. Still, the methodology, now gaining ground beyond its core base of technology company practitioners, can’t be applied to everything, said a Wal-Mart employee at a conference in Silicon Valley.” Read more (Subscription)

 

“U.K. Retail Sales Fall More Than Forecast as Clothing Drops” at Bloomberg. “The volume of sales including auto fuel fell 0.3 percent from August, with clothing and footwear sales dropping 7.8 percent, the most since April 2012…Economists forecast a 0.1 percent decline.” Read more

 

“​Investor group wants Walgreens to postpone an acquisition following CFO lawsuit” at Chicago Bus. Journal. “​A union-backed investor group is urging Walgreen Co. to postpone its $15.3 billion buyout of Alliance Boots Holdings Ltd. pending the results of a defamation lawsuit filed by its former chief financial officer.” Read more

 

“Recap of Changes Coming to Walmart’s Neighborhood Markets” by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “I want to be able to walk in to the store and I want to be able to see what we want to sell to the customer. … If you’re going there at the moment, you expect to see apples because it’s the beginning of the apple season. I don’t want to have to stumble over two pallets of Coca-Cola and three point of sale signs directing me to buy Halloween candy when I want to walk in to produce,” Greg Foran said.” Read more

 

NY Times: “Tesco Chairman to Step Down as Overstatement of Profits Grows” by Jenny Anderson. Read more

 

“Orchard Supply opens mysterious vault in old San Jose store” by Joe Rodriguez at San Jose Mercury News. “For a very long time, nobody at Orchard Supply Hardware knew what was inside a tall, mysterious vault on the second floor of the old flagship store near downtown. On Wednesday afternoon, a locksmith surrounded by news reporters and fidgety company officials took a drill to the old safe and found….”We were hoping for $205 million in gold bars,” OSH President Richard Maltsbarger joked, referring to the price Lowe’s Home Improvement paid to acquire the company out of bankruptcy.” Read more

 

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Eye-on-Retail is a daily tipsheet read by thousands of Retail Merchants & Executives every weekday morning. Eye-on-Retail is unique because it’s timely, smart and fun. It’s created early AM every weekday and delivered between 7-8 am CST. We love data, earnings reports, executive presentations and stories off the beaten path that get at what’s happening in the world of retail. Contact us @ info@shiftmarketinggroup.net.

Wednesday Tipsheet: Target CEO Iview | Wmart’s New IT Plan | HBR’s Top 100 CEO’s (Bezos #1)

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“Target puts focus back on ‘cheap-chic’ with eye on winning back holiday shoppers” by Phil Wahba at Fortune. “If we go back during the last few years, during those recessionary periods, we probably played harder on the ‘pay less’ side than on the ‘expect more’ side, ” Brian Cornell, Target CEO since August, told Fortune. “We’re going to continue to focus on bringing that balance to life.” Read more

 

….Faux Fur Vest for Under $35 by Matt Townsend at Bloomberg. “At a design studio in Manhattan, Kathryn Tesija, executive vice president of merchandising, highlighted the goods that the company expects will win back shoppers this Christmas. There were $20 hand-sewn pillows, a faux fur vest for less than $35 and an exclusive collection of items from feel-good shoe brand Toms.” Read more

 

“Target to offer free shipping for online orders through holidays” by Kavita Kumar at Star-Tribune. “Starting Wednesday, Target will offer free shipping on any online purchase — no matter the size — through Dec. 20. In doing so, Target is taking an aggressive stance early on in the holiday season. Typically, retailers require a minimum purchase amount before shipping becomes free.” Read more

 

Harvard Business Review: The Best-Performing CEOs in the World (Jeff Bezos #1)  See the Top 100 list

 

“Wal-Mart Changes the Way it Prioritizes IT Projects” by Rachel King at WSJ. “Wal-Mart is in the midst changing the way it prioritizes information technology projects and funds them by channeling all IT projects through the office of its CIO. The idea, which hinges on the flexible application of IT talent, is to eliminate duplication of IT projects, make sure the company’s goals are met and use resources as efficiently as possible, said Mark Tallman, the Wal-Mart employee who created the plan.” Read more (Subscription)

 

“Family Dollar meets FTC’s request for additional info tied to $8.5B Dollar Tree deal” by Jennifer Thomas at Charlotte Bus. Journal. “Family Dollar continues to believe, based on its discussions with the FTC staff, that the FTC review of the Dollar General tender offer will continue well into 2015, ” the statement says.” Read more

 

“USA Today Speaks with Target CEO Brian Cornell” by Hadley Malcom.  See the video / Read more

 

“Big, bad Amazon” at The Economist. “The digital economy does present some very tricky market power questions, and regulators will have their hands full in coming decades managing them. Probably best for them to stay out of this battle for now.” Read more

 

“Taylor Swift Previews New Song in Target Commercial” by Thomas Chau at Pop Crush. “Taylor Swift and Target have teamed up to give Swifties a taste of a new song titled ‘Never Go Out of Style’ that will be on the ’1989 (Deluxe Edition)’ available exclusively in Target stores beginning on Oct. 27.”  See the 30 second spot

 

“Home Depot #1 in Radio Ads Last Week (Rite Aid #3)” at Radio Ink.  “The home improvement big box nudged GEICO from the top spot by airing 319 more commercials, according to Media Monitors.” Read more

 

“Sneak-Peek Inside Publix’s 3rd Charlotte Location (See the British Section)” by Jennifer Thomas at Charlotte Bus. Journal.  See the 17 pics

 

“Target Closes Day Two at World MasterCard Fashion Week” “Day two of World MasterCard® Fashion Week in Toronto ended with a bang tonight thanks to Target’s 42-model ensemble, led by none other than the beloved bull terrier mascot, Bullseye.” Read the release

 

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Eye-on-Retail is a daily tipsheet read by thousands of Retail Merchants & Executives every weekday morning. Eye-on-Retail is unique because it’s timely, smart and fun. It’s created early AM every weekday and delivered between 7-8 am CST. We love data, earnings reports, executive presentations and stories off the beaten path that get at what’s happening in the world of retail. Contact us @ info@shiftmarketinggroup.net.