By Jason Long, jlong@eyeonretail.net   J.C. Penney tapping tech to claw back billions in lost sales by Phil Wahba at Fortune. "Marvin Ellison...told the WWD Apparel and Retail CEO Summit...that the retailer has moved past the phase of “patching holes” from a turnaround strategy that could have put Penney out of business and is now in rebuilding mode...“We are heavy on art and not good at science,” as Ellison put it. And his plan calls for balancing that out." Read more   Wireless veteran John Stanton is the newest member of the Costco board by James Risley at GeekWire. [...]

  By Jason Long, jlong@eyeonretail.net   Walmart's top woman abroad heads to Chico's by Erika Fry at Fortune. "Prior to joining Walmart, (Shelley) Broader served as COO and President of Michael’s, the arts and crafts superstore, and held a number of leadership positions with the Delhaize Group, the Brussels-based food retailer." Read more   Costco Sparks Excitement in Madrid as Spaniards Spend Again by Maria Tadeo & Sharon Smyth at Bloomberg. "The Costco opening, along with a Primark store launch earlier in the month, reflects a more buoyant consumer backdrop in Spain, where unemployment is slowly declining and the economy [...]

  By Jason Long, jlong@eyeonretail.net   Walgreens to Acquire Rite Aid for $17.2 Billion in All-Cash Transaction "Walgreens will hold a one-hour conference call to discuss its fourth quarter results and today’s acquisition announcement beginning at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time 28 October 2015." Read the release   Walgreens Q4 Comp Sales Increase "Total sales in comparable drugstores increased 6.5 percent compared with the same quarter a year ago. Comparable retail sales increased 0.4 percent in the fourth quarter with an increase in basket size partially offset by lower customer traffic." Read the release   Target CEO says fancier in-store presentation [...]

  By Jason Long, jlong@eyeonretail.net   Walmart Exec: ‘Anarchy’ Coming in Holiday Transition to Chip Credit Cards by Jason Del Rey at Recode. "In a panel discussion at the Money 20/20 payments conference in Las Vegas on Monday, (John) Drechny said the October deadline for merchants to switch over to equipment that can accept new chip cards will cause chaos during the holidays. “We’re forcing anarchy” on the payments world right now, Drechny said." Read more   REI rebels against Black Friday by Angel Gonzalez at Seattle Times. "REI is opting out of the annual doorbusting frenzy on the Friday after [...]

  By Jason Long: jlong@eyeonretail.net   WHO to reveal red meat cancer scare via Yahoo News. "Eating processed meat can cause bowel cancer in humans while red meat is a likely cause of the disease, World Health Organization (WHO) experts said on Monday...The France-based International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), part of the WHO, put processed meat like hot dogs and ham in its group 1 list, which already includes tobacco, asbestos and diesel fumes, for which there is "sufficient evidence" of cancer links." Read more   ...Industry set to reject WHO's processed meat carcinogens ruling by Clive Cookson [...]

  By Jason Long @ jlong@eyeonretail.net   J.C.Penney cuts nearly 9% of workforce at HQ by Maria Halkias at Dallas Morning News. "J.C. Penney laid off 300 of its 3,400 headquarters employees in Plano Thursday...In the reorganization, some people are being offered different jobs with lower-ranking titles. Some could face pay cuts, Avilas said. People who don’t want to take new jobs will be offered severance packages." Read more   Amazon’s sales rise 23% by Allison Enright at Internet Retailer. "Amazon.com Inc. has pulled in $25.36 billion in revenue in the third quarter, up 23.2% from $20.58 billion a year earlier. [...]

  By Jason Long (jlong@eyeonretail.net)   Target now shipping to Canada, but shoppers dismayed by cost by Sophia Harris at CBC News. "Considering Target's track record in this country, marketing expert, Mandeep Malik doesn't believe the site as it exists now will win any hearts in Canada. "My instinctive reaction [is] that this is something that we will collectively laugh about, like really?" says the McMaster University professor." Read more   Tractor Supply Q3 Comp +2.9% at MarketWatch. Read more   King's Hawaiian Bakery sues grocery giant Aldi for ripping off its sweet rolls by David Allison at Atlanta Business [...]

  Walmart removes "Made in USA" logos from website after government inquiry by Phil Wahba at Fortune. "Walmart’s big push to appeal to patriotic shoppers was just delivered a setback. The giant retailer was forced to remove “Made in the USA” logos from its e-commerce site after an inquiry by the Federal Trade Commission into its labeling." Read more   ...The FTC said in a letter to Walmart‘s associate general counsel that it would not pursue action against Walmart because the retailer had taken voluntary steps to “prevent consumer deception" Read the FTC letter   Target resale program creates online buzz [...]