UPS CEO: 'Very comfortable' with Amazon relationship by Tom DiChristopher at CNBC. "Current and former unnamed executives told the Journal they believe UPS' hub-and-spoke system...is becoming obsolete...Responding to that claim, (CEO David) Abney said UPS' business "has changed a lot" (and) "I absolutely do not agree that that is a concern." Read more / See the video   INSTACART'S CRAZY-GROWTH DAYS MAY BE COMING TO AN END - Instacart, the $2 Billion Grocery Delivery Startup, Lays Off 12 In-House Recruiters by Jason Del Rey at Recode. "Instacart also used the holidays to bury the announcement that it was raising both its minimum [...]

  Meet Wish, the $3 Billion App That Could Be the Next Walmart by Jason Del Rey at Recode. "The company has taken the direct-to-consumer fad to the extreme, connecting buyers directly to Chinese manufacturers who ship to customer’s doors from factories, cutting out middlemen and markups along the way. That helps explain the dirt cheap prices, from $7 sweatpants to $15 smartwatches, but also the long delivery times of two to three weeks." Read more   Whole Foods Will Pay $500,000 to End New York Pricing Investigation by Craig Giammona at Bloomberg. "The company said that there was no [...]

  U.S. holiday retail sales grow a 'solid' 7.9 percent: MasterCard at Reuters. "Online sales grew 20 percent in the holiday season this year, MasterCard Advisors, which tracks customer spending, said in a report on Monday." Read more   How an emerging labor movement in China’s Wal-Mart stores threatens expansion ambitions of all Western retailers by Linda Van Der Horst at Financial Post. "Their dispute is part of an emerging labour rights movement, and the consequences are far reaching. “In five to 10 years, (Chinese) workers will be able to reclaim the union through collective bargaining, and that [would be] [...]

  NY Times: Target’s Dog Mascot Learns New Tricks in Marketing Blitz by Hiroko Tabuchi. "We started thinking about how to bring Bullseye to more people,” said Jeff Jones, Target’s chief marketing officer. “It’s a fun dog, so scrappy and fearless.” Read more   Cincinnati: Thieves crash van into Downtown Saks Fifth Avenue store by Patrick Brennan at Cincinnati Enquirer. "Two vehicles approached the store at about 6:01 a.m., Cincinnati police said. A minivan twice rammed the gate and glass doors in order to get inside." Read more   Ex-PetSmart Exec Joins Under Armour by Ryan Sharrow at Baltimore Business [...]

  Kroger launches a new fresh food concept by Steve Watkins at Cincinnati Business Courier. "It will open its first Main & Vine shop in the Seattle-area town of Gig Harbor, Wash...The store will offer customers “fresh, affordable” local produce and meat and local craft beer and wine." Read more   Whole Foods Forms Crisis Response Team by Will Anderson at Austin Business Journal. "It's very difficult to prove your innocence in the court of public opinion when people want to believe what they want to believe," co-CEO and Whole Foods founder John Mackey told the Austin American-Statesman." Read more [...]

  Toys ‘R’ Us CEO banking big on ‘Star Wars’ success by Josh Kosman at NY Post. "If (CEO David) Brandon can turn around the financial fortunes of the deep-in-debt toy chain, hit certain financial benchmarks and put it in position for an IPO...he can pocket a whopping $100 million over his five-year contract, sources familiar with the executive’s deal told The Post." Read more   Bezos Takes Hands-On Role at Washington Post by Lukas I. Alpert & Jack Marshall at WSJ. "When Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos received an email from a reader complaining about the time it took [...]

  ’60 Minutes’ Goes Inside Apple HQ for a Peek at the Apple Store of the Future by Dawn Chmielewski at Recode. "The “60 Minutes” segment, to air at 7:30 pm Sunday, gains access to Jony Ive’s “secret” design studio at Apple’s Cupertino headquarters. It also gives Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook a platform to discuss encryption, corporate taxes and manufacturing products in China." Read more   Reports: Amazon is starting its own air cargo operation, wants to use 20 Boeing freighter jets by Taylor Soper at GeekWire. "The Seattle Times also reported about Amazon’s plans on Thursday, but noted [...]

  Thieves Have Been Stealing Credit & Debit Card Info at Safeway Stores by Martha C. White at Time. "Shoppers who visited Safeway stores in California and Colorado found their bank accounts emptied after cybercrooks infiltrated the checkout terminals in card “skimming” scams. “Safeway confirmed it is investigating skimming incidents at several stores,” cybersecurity expert Brian Krebs wrote on hisKrebs on Security blog." Read more   ...Krebs: Skimmers Found at Some Calif., Colo. Safeways Read the report   Organic groceries go discount as Walmart Canada rolls out new label by Jamie Sturgeon at Global News. "Walmart Canada has quietly launched a new [...]