Archive for year: 2014

“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 shares half (51%) of its past four-week shoppers with Amazon, and Wal-Mart shoppers are twice as likely to frequent Amazon (19%) on a weekly basis than Walmart.com (9%).” See the Price Comparisons

“Visa Sues Home Depot” by Carla Caldwell at Atlanta Business Chronicle. “Visa filed the lawsuit Tuesday in New York. The credit card company wants a declaration that Home Depot lacks standing to recoup any damages stemming from Visa’s alleged collusion with MasterCard and a group of banks to artificially inflate the fees charged to the merchants who take their credit cards, the website said.” Read more

“NRF: Holiday Sales Increased 3.8%” “Total holiday retail sales, which include November and December sales, increased 3.8 percent to $601.8 billion…In addition, non-store holiday sales, which is an indicator of online and e-commerce sales, grew 9.3 percent to $95.7 billion.” Read more

“Target: Blogger Who Broke Breach Story Skeptical of Free Credit Monitoring” by Jim Hammerand at Minn./St. Paul Bus. Journal. “(Target) is offering one-year of Experian credit monitoring to anyone who shopped at Target’s U.S. stores…Brian Krebs, the blogger who first broke news of the data breach, noted the Target deal with Experian Tuesday and pointed to a story he wrote last year about an Experian subsidiary that sold personal data to an online ID theft service. “What could go wrong?” he tweeted sarcastically.” Read more

“Target Lawsuit Tally: 68 (so far)” by Joel Schectman at WSJ. “Customers and small banks have filed 68 class action suits, in 21 states and Washington, D.C., alleging Target didn’t take proper steps to protect consumer data, according to Tina Wolfson, an attorney at Ahdoot & Wolfson P.C., who is bringing one of the cases. Ms. Wolfson provided a document tracking the cases, which was reviewed by the Wall Street Journal.” Read more

“Walgreen’s CEO Appears on Mad Money; Cramer Sees ‘Tailwind’ for Stock” by Lee Brodie at CNBC. “I was skeptical,” Cramer admitted “I didn’t realize Walgreen was trying to become more than a drug store. But because of the changes it has made, Walgreen has moved from the $300 billion drug store market they’re currently in, to the multi-trillion dollar health care market.” That’s big opportunity.” See video interview / Read more

“Happening Today: Walgreen’s CEO Presents at J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference at 10am PT” Listen to Webcast

“Pricing Survey at 485 Walgreen/CVS/Rite Aid Stores” via Market Watch. “Walgreens stores in a single market were up to five times more likely than a competitor to charge different prices for the same item…In every market, Walgreens had the greatest percentage of products that cost at least 10 percent more than the market’s lowest price.” Read the report

“Jewel-Osco president stepping down” by Robert Channick at Chicago Tribune. “Jim Rice, who was named vice president of operations for Jewel-Osco in August, has been elevated to run the 180-store grocery chain on an interim basis.” Read more

“Catch of the day: Home Depot employee saves falling baby with amazing last-minute catch” at Happy Place. “Dale Strickland’s brother Chris deserves a medal, or at least a 3-minute interview on Today, after saving a baby in an amazing last-second catch.” See the 10 second video

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“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 Q4 Sales Expectations:  Sees Same-Store Sales Down 2.5% vs. Prior Guidance of Flat”  “The updated sales expectation reflects:  Stronger-than-expected fourth quarter sales prior to the Company’s December 19, 2013, announcement of a payment card data breach; Meaningfully weaker-than-expected sales since the announcement, which have shown improvement in the last several days, and;  A comparable sales decline of (2)% to (6)% for the remainder of the quarter.” Read more

“Colorado’s Marijuana Business:  Mom & Pop for Now, But How Long Until Larger Chains Move In?” by Steve Raabe at Denver Post.  “The investment and expansion climates could change dramatically, she said, if banking laws are reformed to allow marijuana businesses access to accounts and loans, and if cannabis eventually is legalized under federal law.  Gehring said investment and ownership by big corporations is “pretty much a certainty” under those scenarios.  “We’re approached by millionaires every day who want a piece of the action,” said Robin Hackett of BotanaCare.”  Read more

“Virtual reality transforms real-life shopping in stores” by Heather Somerville at San Jose Mercury News via Charlotte Observer. “In early 2014, Matterport will start publicly selling software that can create a 3-D rendering of the inside of a house. People can view the rendering on a computer screen, explore the house as though taking a video tour and add objects to rooms. Matterport is selling the technology to home improvement and furniture retailers; Crate and Barrel founder Gordon Segal is an investor.”  Read more

“Target’s profitability in Canada now ‘years away’ ” by Marina Strauss at Globe & Mail.  “While Target had initially predicted it would be in the black in Canada by the fourth quarter of 2013, its latest results suggest “profitability for the chain there is years away,” Rob Wilson, president of Tiburon Research Group in San Francisco, said.”  Read more

“QR Codes Are Alive and Well and Living in China” at Ad Age.  “QR codes have been called many names. Ugly. Has-been. A failure. Marketing expert Scott Stratten even has a book out called “QR Codes Kill Kittens.”  But not so fast: In China, those checkerboard-like codes are enjoying a renaissance.  That’s thanks to WeChat…”  Read more

“$15 Minimum Wage Rally in Seattle; 350-400 Show up, Sit through ‘Socialist-Movement’ Speeches” by Eric Lactis at Seattle Times.  “The crowd included those with a familiar look to longtime Northwesterners — the guy with the goatee, the earnest-looking young woman passing out leaflets, the bearded older guy with a beret.  The crowd contained a fair number of those middle-aged and older.  “I don’t see that many young people, either,” said Dave Ortiz, a communications professor at Cascadia Community College in Bothell.”  Read more

“What Insurance Company is on the Hook for Target’s Breach?  None – Target is Self-Insured” by Thomas Lee at Star-Tribune.  “The financial hit for credit card breach could run into hundreds of millions of dollars for the self-insured retailer.” Read more

“If You Work For Sears, Quit and Find a New Job, NOW” by Rocco Pendola at Dallas News.  “Last week, I received the following message from a Vice President at a major corporation:  “I refuse to go on the record, but let’s just say your work this past week has confirmed that one of my decisions last year was the right one.”  Even though I can still see the turnip truck’s brake lights, I can read between the lines quite well. This person interviewed for a job at Sears Holdings and turned it down. Clearly, this person made the right choice.”  Read more

“Walmart & Tractor Supply CEO’s Named to NRF Board of Directors” ‘The new board members include:  Beall’s CEO Steve Knopik;  J.C. Penney Corporation, Inc. CEO Myron “Mike” Ullman;  SAP Senior Vice President and Head of the Global Retail Industry Business Unit Lori Mitchell-Keller;  Tractor Supply Company President and CEO Greg Sandfort;  Utah Retail Merchants Association President Dave Davis;  Walmart U.S. President and CEO Bill Simon.”  Read more

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“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 weeks ended January 5, 2014, the Company reported net sales of $38.33 billion, an increase of six percent from $36.26 billion during the similar period last year.”  Read the Release

“Family Dollar Same-Store Sales Down 2.8% in Q1; President Has Left the Company”  “Comparable stores sales for December decreased about 3%, driven primarily by a decline in customer transactions. In addition, we reacted to softness in discretionary categories by leveraging promotions more than we originally planned,” said Levine. “Reflecting our December results…we have lowered our earnings expectations for the second quarter of fiscal 2014 and the full year.”  Read more

“Home Depot:  Radio’s #1 Advertiser in 2013 with 2.2 Mil spots, Walmart #6 with over 850K spots”  at Radio Ink.  “In 2013, according to Media Monitors, for the second year in a row, The Home Depot was radio’s number one advertiser, airing over 2.2 million commercials on radio stations all over the United States.”  Read more

“Claim:  Walmart, Sam’s & Costco Increased Prices on Black Friday for certain Products; Walmart Challenges” by Herb Weisbaum at CNBC.  “At Target, prices dropped significantly, by as much as 12 percent in some cases.  Wal-Mart challenges the report’s conclusions. Sarah McKinney, Wal-Mart’s director of communications, told CNBC that “as a low price leader, nobody pays a premium for a product at Walmart—especially on Black Friday.” She said the company dropped the prices on some of its most popular Black Friday items.  “Once again, more than 22 million customers chose us because we had the prices and products they were looking for,” McKinney wrote.”  Read more

“Walmart’s New GRS Inventory System:  Wait a Year Until the Bugs are Worked Out” by Kim Souza at The City Wire.  “Wal-Mart did not return a request for comment on its global replenishment system, that is now in test mode with a few larger suppliers who say there are still bugs to be worked out.  GRS will eventually replace a system known as Inforem, which was created by IBM and last updated in 2007. Inforem uses an upward forecast modeling system, the complete opposite from the downward forecasting model used in GRS.”  Read more

“Groupon Purges Top E-Commerce Exec from Walmart” by Thad Rueter at Internet Retailer.  “Sri Subramaniam becomes Groupon’s vice president of engineering for smart deals. He had worked as vice president for @WalMartLabs, a job he started in March 2011, according to his LinkedIn profile. While there, he oversaw the retail chain’s development of a new site search tool for Walmart.com.”  Read more

“Family Dollar Names Jason Reiser as Chief Merchandising Office”  “Mr. Reiser joined Family Dollar after a 17 year career with Walmart Stores Inc. in a variety of roles, most recently serving as Vice President, Merchandising, Health and Family Care for Sam’s Club. Mr. Reiser holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Pharmacy from Northeastern University.”  Read more

“Target:  Hero Employee Helps Save Kidnapped 7-Year-Old” by Bob Fredericks at NY Post.  “An employee at a California Target store helped cops find a man accused of snatching a 7-year-old girl from her home last week.  Security specialist Roxanna Ramirez said she spotted a suspicious man in the Pittsburg, Calif., store on Friday, and cops busted the creep later that night on a suspected kidnapping charge.”  See the video / Read more

“Holiday store traffic drops 15%, but that’s not the whole story” by Courtney Reagan at CNBC.  “According to ShopperTrak, foot traffic at the nation’s retailers fell 14.6 percent this holiday season compared to the year prior, though in-store sales rose 2.7 percent in November and December…growth in online shopping, and online browsing, means shoppers don’t window shop in stores as much. Instead, they do it online…In 2007, shoppers made an average of 4.5 to five store visits per shopping trip. Now, they average three to 3.5 stores.”  Read more

“Calling Target to Gripe?  Better Get Comfortable” by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC.  “StellaService callers were disconnected from the line during three separate calls it made on each of two days. In two other instances, the caller waited on hold for 20 minutes before ending the call…”This is just a major lesson to retailers that if they don’t have a fire drill policy in place for this type of event,” said Ty McMahan, StellaService’s director of content.  Despite the long wait times, McMahan commended the company for making an effort to staff up and connect with customers.”  Read more

“Macy’s cuts 2,500 jobs, five stores nationwide” by Alexander Coolidge at Cincy Enquirer.  “Among the 2,500 jobs lost:  Many of the more than 800 Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s stores each will trim a few, undisclosed number of positions. Macy’s will consolidate its Pittsburgh-based Midwest and Chicago-based North regional operations, costing Pittsburgh more than 20 positions. Macy’s is eliminating district-level planners across the country who focus on soft home categories like bedding and towels, cutting almost 70 jobs.”  Read more

“Canada:  Sobeys (#2 Grocer) Puts the Screws to Suppliers after Safeway Purchase” by Marina Strauss at Globe & Mail.  “The country’s second-largest supermarket chain, which added 213 stores in Western Canada when the (Safeway) deal closed, in early November, has told suppliers of food and other merchandise they will have to shave their prices by 1 per cent, retroactive to Nov. 3 – a move that observers say could prompt rival grocers to follow suit.”  Read more

“Amazon Stats:  Customers purchased enough shoes to stretch heel to toe from Earth to the Hubble Telescope over 5 times”  “More than a billion units worldwide were ordered from Marketplace Sellers, including local businesses of all sizes, on Amazon during 2013.  The number of active Marketplace Sellers using the Fulfillment by Amazon service grew more than 65 percent year-over-year worldwide.”  Read the Release

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“Kroger:  Breaks Sales Record in ‘Perfect Storm’ “ by Alexander Coolidge at Cincy Enquirer.  “Activity at many of the 110 Greater Cincinnati Kroger stores surpassed the crowds seen in the rushed days just before Christmas, she said…Kroger ordered more than twice the normal amount of in-demand items like milk, bread, cereal, beer and snacks in anticipation of the heavy traffic.” Read more

“Walgreens December Sales Increase 7.2%” at WSJ.  “Calendar 2013 sales were $73.72 billion, an increase of 4.5 percent from $70.52 billion in 2012.  Fiscal 2014 year-to-date sales for the first four months were $25.54 billion, up 6.3 percent from $24.03 billion in the comparable period in fiscal 2013.”  Read more

“Salmon Diaries:  Walmart Execs Make Long Trek to Alaska to Appease Governor” by Mike Mason at KDLG-Alaska.  “Top executives with Wal-Mart will be in Alaska on Wednesday to discuss how to get Alaska salmon on store shelves. The issue that has prompted the visit by the Wal-Mart executives is a decision by the company to only stock seafood products labeled as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council.”  Read more

“No Dip for You: Velveeta Shortage Could Lead to Empty Shelves” by E.J. Schultz at Ad Age.  “Given the incredible popularity of Velveeta this time of year, it is possible consumers may not be able to find their favorite product on store shelves over the next couple of weeks,” Kraft spokeswoman Jody Moore said in an email. “Our retail customers are aware of the situation and we expect it to be a short-term issue…When pressed for details, Ms. Moore said: “I can tell you there is a combination of factors involved, but the driver is really the high demand.” Read more

“Wal-Mart seeks to win China through the middle class” by Kim Souza at The City Wire.  “Foran said Sam’s Club is now exceeding Walmart expectations within China. He said the membership fee is not an obstacle for the middle income shoppers it targets and some 90% of shoppers to Sam’s Club arrive in a car, giving them the ability to stock up and buy more volume.  “This 90% of car shoppers at Sam’s Club compares to as low as 10% at a Walmart China Supercenter,” Foran said recently.”  Read more

“Lowe’s Claim: “In the future, every electrical device we sell” will be Internet-ready and controllable by an app” by Ely Portillo at Charlotte Observer.  “Lowe’s executives are in Las Vegas this week for the annual Consumer Electronics Show, demonstrating the newest Iris products…Lowe’s executives are confident the technology will catch on.  “I’ve often heard the argument this will never take off,” Kevin Meagher, vice president of Lowe’s Smart Home, said by phone from Las Vegas. “I believe, absolutely, it will become ubiquitous.”  Read more

“Party Time:  New Walmart Express at Univ. of  Missouri Technically Not on Campus So Can Sell Liquor” by Roselyn Adams at Missourian.  “The new store is modeled after are three other Walmart mini stores — called Walmart on Campus — located on campuses in the U.S.: at Arizona State University, the University of Arkansas, and the Georgia Institute of Technology. Because the Columbia store is not technically on campus, it will sell beer and wine, unlike Walmart’s other campus stores.”  Read more

“U.S. Marine’s Sneer at Amazon Drones” by Marcus Wohlsen at Wired.  “If Jeff Bezos really wants to launch his own delivery drones, he might take a look at the flying bots that are already making deliveries for an even larger operation: the U.S. Marines. …He’s clearly got an axe to grind about the attention lavished upon Bezos, venture capitalists, and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs at the expense of the defense industry engineers who invented aerial drones. He derides the tech set as “a bunch of millennials playing on iPads and eating pizza in Palo Alto.”  Read more

“Chicagoland:  Trader Joe’s Poised to Grab More Business after Dominick’s Closure” by Micah Maidenberg at Chicago Crains.  “Grocery chain Trader Joe’s is making a play for shoppers in Schaumburg, which faces a void in its grocery market after the closure of two Dominick’s stores there.  Trader Joe’s signed a lease to open a 12,500-square-foot store in the Woodfield Village Green shopping center, at the northeast corner of Golf and Meacham roads in the northwest suburb.”  Read more

“This Could Be the Biggest Amazon Package Ever” by Jamie Condliffe at Gizmodo.  “Amazon is well-known for its habit of delivering small items in gigantic packages. But this parcel has to be perhaps the biggest that Bezos & Co. have ever had to ship.”  See the pic

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