Monday Tipsheet: Wmart Grocery Shake-up | Target Layoff Hints? | Amazon = ‘Startup’

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Wal-Mart Shakes Up Grocery Management in Bid to Improve Food by Renee Dudley at Bloomberg. “Jack Sinclair, who has been executive vice president of the U.S. grocery division since 2007, will retire on March 20, according to a note that the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company sent to U.S. employees. Senior Vice President Tony Airoso, who runs the dairy and fresh-food strategy, will become a California-based senior vice president of global food sourcing.” More changes

 

Target hints at more layoffs to come by Tom Webb at Twin Cities/Pioneer Press. “Asked Friday whether the layoffs are finished, Target responded with a Zen-like statement: “We see Target’s transformation as not a moment in time, but an ongoing journey. As a part of that, we will continue to review opportunities to fuel our growth.” Read more

 

Amazon’s CTO got hilariously shut-down at SXSW panel when he tried to describe the company as a startup by Jillian D’Onfro at Business Insider. “When he started asking (Jordan) Krechmer about his hiring practices, the fun began:  “How much time do you spent time on hiring?” (Amazon’s Werner) Vogels asked. “At Amazon, of course, we’re a 20 year-old startup by now —” “Uh… startup?” Kretchmer interrupted. The crowd burst into laughter. Vogels stuck with his description: “Ehh, startup,” he said over the crowd, “We’re still a startup! “Awww, that’s really cute,” Kretchmer fired back in a faux-sweet voice.” Read more

 

As Whole Foods ventures to Englewood (Chicago), many eyes on Detroit store by Lolly Bowean at Chicago Tribune. “This has really never been done before, so our store will be a prototype. We’re about to be the model that allows Whole Foods to see how to come into an underserved community and help us help ourselves.” Read more

 

Wal-Mart will be Exclusive U.S. Seller of Premium-Priced German Laundry Soap Persil by Serena Ng at WSJ. “A war is bubbling up in the laundry aisles at Wal-Mart…it has stacked the brand, Persil, on store shelves right next to the reigning champion of high-end laundry detergent: Tide. Expanding its premium-priced offerings may seem a puzzler given Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s ultra-frugal customer base. But it makes more sense in the context of Tide maker Procter & Gamble Co.’s lock on the laundry business.” Read more (Subscription)

 

Feds move to stop fishing crimes by tracking seafood imports at LA Times. “U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Bruce Andrews announced the initiative at the Seafood Expo conference in Boston on Sunday, describing an action plan to stamp out imports of illegally caught fish.” Read more

 

Target Canada to permanently shut down 16 stores through 3/22/15 at Toronto Star. “Ontario is home to half of the stores that have been notified of closures between March 18 and 22. The remainder include three in Alberta, two in B.C., two in Quebec and one store in Manitoba.” Read more

 

…See the list/location of stores at Financial Post. Read more

 

Dollar Tree outlines risks, benefits to its pending purchase of Family Dollar by Jennifer Thomas at Charlotte Business Journal. “There’s a chance the transaction could close as soon as April, but the Federal Trade Commission has yet to approve the deal, according to the SEC filing.” Read more

 

Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores Q4 Comp -7.7%  Read the release

 

Wayfair Announces 2015 Trade Tastemaker Award Winners Read the release

 

Blue Bell products recalled, three deaths reported by Olivia Pulsinelli at Houston Business Journal. “Five adult patients at one hospital in Kansas were infected with similar strains of the bacteria, and four of them were served ice cream from Blue Bell’s prepackaged, single-serving products or milkshakes.” Read more

 

Meth lab found in Muncie Walmart restroom by Douglas Walker at The Star Press. “The ISP release said meth cooks “are now often leaving behind the deadly explosive chemicals in public places to return later to get the finished product,” rather than risk explosions and contamination of their own homes.” Read more

 

Dispute over prime Costco parking spot lands 80-year-old man in court by Steve Mayes at Oregon Live. “The push forced her back a step and caused pain in her neck and an ankle, Gabriel said. Kathleen Elesha, the woman driving the van, said Schricker took the parking spot before she had finished backing out. Elesha stopped. “I sat there because I was in shock,” she testified. “He had to have seen she was waiting.” Read more

 

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Eye-on-Retail Tipsheet is read worldwide by Retail Merchants & Executives and created early every weekday morning. 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 at info@shiftmarketinggroup.net.

Friday Tipsheet: Lowe’s @ SXSW | Feb Sales Disappoint | D.Gen Plans 730

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Lumber Liquidators to pay for safety testing of flooring by Michael Felberbaum at San Jose Mercury News. “Lumber Liquidators said the indoor air quality test kits that customers will receive are the same quality used by federal officials to test workplace exposure. So far, less than 1,000 customers have requested the testing kit. If tests show high levels of formaldehyde, the company said it will pay for further testing and may pay to reinstall flooring.” Read more

 

Iconic Target design partner Michael Graves dies by Jim Hammerand at Minn./St.Paul Business Journal. “Graves and Target started working together in 1998 with a line of housewares, but Graves said he had never stepped foot in a Target store before the partnership.” Read more

 

February Retail Sales Disappoint, As Winter Chill Cooled Shopper Spending by Barbara Thau at Forbes. “But there were some bright spots. February sales at sporting goods, hobby, and book and music stores rose 2.3% from January, and increased 3.3% year-over-year.” Read more

 

Tractor Supply Company CEO Greg Sandfort on creating the ‘Home Depot’ for farmers at Fox Business.  See the video

 

Shoppers complain Target Canada jacked prices ahead of sales by Jamie Sturgeon at Global News. “It’s not fair, you don’t raise prices then tell people it’s 10 to 30 per cent off, when it’s not,” Brzezinski said. “It’s probably a deceptive consumer practice.” Read more

 

Is Walgreens about to go shopping again? at Fortune. “The next big one will probably be in the U.S. because it is such a big market. It is a fascinating market,” (Stefano) Pessina, acting chief executive of Walgreens Boots, told the Retail Week Live conference.” Read more

 

Lowe’s: Kyle Nel, VP of Innovation Labs, Presents at SXSW Today  “Topic – How SciFi Drives Marketing In the Exponential Age.” See the schedule

 

Alibaba scoops up Seattle-area Amazon employees by Emily Parkhurst at Puget Sound Business Journal. Read more

 

Dollar General to Add 730 Stores this Year by Phil Wahba at Fortune.  Read more

 

Loblaw launches Naturally Imperfect program to sell undersized, blemished produce at Financial Post. “Bags of Naturally Imperfect apples and potatoes are already being sold in select grocery stores across Ontario and Quebec and cost up to 30% less than other fruits and vegetables.” Read more

 

Ontario: Large grocers will get wine, beer under Liberals’ plan by Martin Regg Cohn at Toronto Sun. “Grocery executives have been called in by a government-appointed panel to discuss “liberalizing the distribution of beer and wine in this province,” according to David Wilkes, a vice-present at the Retail Council of Canada. The discussions made it clear the government wants to “enhance choice and enhance convenience.” Read more

 

CVS says biotech drug copies may bring price cuts of 40-50 pct at CNBC. “The comments by CVS Health Chief Medical Officer Troyen Brennan suggest U.S. drug benefit managers will be pressing for much steeper discounts on new biosimilar drugs.” Read more

 

Hibbett Sports Q4 Comp +5.4%  Read more

 

Walt Disney announces ‘Frozen 2’ by Daniel Miller at LA Times. “No release date was revealed….Fans looking for a “Frozen” fix will have a chance to see their favorite characters on the big screen starting Friday. A new short film, “Frozen Fever,” will screen ahead of all showings of Disney’s live-action remake of “Cinderella.” Read more

 

…’Star Wars: Episode VIII’ snags a May 2017 release date at SF Gate. “Episode VIII” will take place after the events of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” which opens Dec. 18.” Read more

 

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Eye-on-Retail Tipsheet is read worldwide by Retail Merchants & Executives and created early every weekday morning. 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 at info@shiftmarketinggroup.net.

Thursday Tipsheet: D.Gen Comp +4.9% | L.L. Bean Wants 100 | Target’s 7 Centers

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Dollar General Q4 Comp Sales +4.9% “As we look ahead, we have exciting operating plans that build on our competitive strengths. For 2015, we are forecasting a year of strong growth including a total sales increase of 8 to 9 percent, same-store sales growth of 3 to 3.5 percent.” Read the release

 

...Dollar General CFO Retires “Dollar General Corporation announced today that David Tehle, executive vice president and chief financial officer, will retire from Dollar General effective July 1, 2015.” Read the release

 

Target “Centers of Excellence” Restructuring by Kavita Kumar at Star-Tribune. “By the end of the week, many Target corporate workers will be assigned to one of seven new “centers of excellence” in an effort to streamline and centralize work. No one seems to understand yet exactly what that means and how the centers will play out. Katie Boylan, a Target spokeswoman, said conversations are underway this week to better explain to employees what these centers are and how they will operate. Not everyone will be assigned to a center. But those that do will work will work directly with employees from other departments — something that wasn’t always easy in the previous configuration of headquarters staff.” Read more

 

Amazon launches new ‘Shark Tank,’ Kickstarter marketplace – holds exclusive rights to products by Rachel Lerman at Puget Sound Business Journal. “Amazon Exclusives…will sell new products from “up-and-coming” companies, that have done well in pitch competitions or crowdfunding campaigns…Amazon will hold exclusive third-party rights to the products on the site, meaning the companies can sell the items on their own sites but not on any other outside site or in outside physical stores.” Read more

 

How do Target and Walmart stack up in the e-commerce wars? by Phil Wahba at Fortune. “In a research note on Wednesday by Cowen & Co, analyst Oliver Chen and his team gave Target a slight edge over Wal-Mart thanks to its lead in mobile commerce (shopping and purchasing done via a smartphone) though he warned Wal-Mart was a strong competitor.” Read more

 

Another shutdown at Port of Oakland by Thomas Lee at SF Gate. “The official reason behind the closure was a “staffing dispute” between workers and port operators, said Port of Oakland communications director Mike Zampa. He did not offer further details. The closure impacted the staging and gate areas at the facility, where truck drivers drop off and pick up cargo from container ships.” Read more

 

***A message from Eye Dig It Safety Sunglasses: Don’t Sacrifice your Safety for Style. Set your sights on this pair of chic sunglasses to find the best of both worlds. Maximum visual perception and shatter/scratch-resistant protection, Eye Dig It helps protect eyes from debris and provide UVA and UVB protection…and women love the stylish look and feel. Available in Black and Tortoise Shell. See the sell sheet. For merchandising information contact info@shiftmarketinggroup.net

 

Add this store to a mall and sales rise 10% by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC. “Citing data from Green Street Advisors, the Wall Street Journal reported that the draw of Apple stores not only allows the iPhone maker to negotiate low-rent deals for itself, but drives rents higher for neighboring stores. Whereas a typical mall tenant can pay rent up to 15 percent of its sales per square foot, Apple pays 2 percent of this metric, tops, industry executives told the paper.” Read more

 

L.L. Bean to triple stores by 2020 at Chicago Tribune. “(L.L. Bean) will open four stores this year before accelerating growth with a goal of “at least 100″ by 2020, President and CEO Chris McCormick told workers in a memo Wednesday.” Read more

 

…the new L.L.Bean stores will be between 15,000 and 20,000 square feet. A quarter of the space will be devoted to outdoors equipment. Active apparel will take up 15 percent, and the rest will be filled with footwear, boots, and casual apparel by Taryn Luna at Boston Globe. Read more

 

Powdered Alcohol Nearly Retail Ready by Tripp Mickle at WSJ. “Palcohol will come in several varieties—a vodka and a rum, and in three cocktails—Cosmopolitan, Lemon Drop and Powderita, which is designed to taste like a margarita. It has shown the powder in foil pouches that hold the equivalent of one shot of alcohol and can take six ounces of liquid.” Read more (Subscription)

 

Charlotte: Camping out for Cabela’s by Jennifer Thomas at Charlotte Business Journal. “Cabela’s says the first customers at its Charlotte-area store near Fort Mill started camping out in the parking lot on Tuesday. The store opens Thursday at 10 a.m.” Read more / See the in-store pics

 

….in-store video via Charlotte Observer.  See the video

 

Amazon exec tires of ‘helping ship brown boxes,’ joins Seattle Police as CIO by Rachel Lerman at Puget Sound Business Journal. “Russell will make $180,000 annually at the new job, a 65 percent pay cut from his Amazon position, according to King 5. But the former Amazon exec wanted to make a larger impact with his work.” Read more

 

Sears: Seattle Tech Office Scheduled to Open in May by Matt Day at Seattle Times. “The office, expected to open in May, would develop applications and analytic tools in an effort to make its appliance repair business more efficient and user-friendly for customers. Sears hired former Amazon.com employees Ian Clarkson and James Coyle to run the operation last year, (Arun) Arora said.” Read more

 

India’s ‘Amazon’ courts the mobile shopper by Jacob Pramuk at CNBC. “India is a very, very mobile-centric economy,” Punit Soni, chief product officer at online marketplace FlipKart, said Wednesday on CNBC’s “Squawk Alley.” See the video / Read more

 

Walmart Launches “Women Owned” Logo In-store & Online  Read the release

 

Amazon’s streaming-video service making gains on Netflix by Jay Greene at Seattle Times. “A new report suggests that Amazon’s streaming-video service, Prime Instant Video, is now twice as large as Hulu, and gaining ground on Netflix…Nielsen…found that 13 percent of all U.S. television households use Prime Instant Video, Amazon.com’s subscription video-on-demand business, compared with 36 percent for Netflix.” Read more

 

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Eye-on-Retail Tipsheet is read worldwide by Retail Merchants & Executives and created early every weekday morning. 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 at info@shiftmarketinggroup.net.

Wednesday Tipsheet: Can. Tire’s Testers | Target’s Tough Day | Costco Employee Surprise

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Target Workers Axed in Groups by Adam Belz at Star-Tribune. “The calendar invitations landed in inboxes across Target just after sunrise. Workers who’d arrived to find the offices stacked with white boxes were to report to conference rooms for simultaneous but separate 8:45 a.m. meetings…The job cuts — 1,700 people — came in one fell swoop, all at the same time, by department. In the words of one employee who kept her job, “at least the Band-Aid is going to rip fast and this won’t be drawn out.” Read more

 

…elevator was filled with co-workers crying by Tom Webb and Katie Kather at Twin Cities / Pioneer Press. “It’s crazy that this was my dream, and it was ripped away from me,” the woman, who did not give her name, said Tuesday morning through tears. “It’s such a great company. That’s the worst part”….There were layoffs in marketing, in merchandising, in technology, in financial services, in human resources, in design and in departments large and small throughout Target headquarters.” Read more

 

Wal-Mart officials descend on NC sock maker to celebrate reshoring initiative by Ken Elkins at Charlotte Business Journal. “Peds Legwear, will cut the ceremonial ribbon on a small sock-making operation in the Burke County town on Wednesday morning… Cindi Marsiglio, vice president of U.S. manufacturing at Wal-Mart, will be at the ribbon-cutting to talk about the retailer’s buy-American program.” Read more

 

Rite-Aid Announces First New Store Since 2010  Read the release

 

***A Message from CLUG.  The CLUG Bike Clip is the world’s smallest bike rack that is targeted at the urban cyclist and the casual enthusiast who are short on storage space for their bikes.  CLUG is a patent pending, high quality product that made the list of 2014 Best Stuff by GQ Magazine in their December 2014 issue.  CLUG is ready for retail with its 100% recyclable, high volume packaging.  See the video.  See the sell sheet. Contact info@shiftmarketinggroup.net to request a product sample.

 

Canadian Tire taps customer testers for a hands-on marketing tool by Hollie Shaw at Financial Post. “From a list of 75,000 who applied — Canadian Tire was bombarded with applicants and soon closed the portal, recalls chief operating officer Allan MacDonald …“We wanted to make sure [the panel] represented different interests, different demographics, different age groups, different parts of the country and so on,” Mr. MacDonald said. “Now we have 15,000 active product testers.” Read more

 

Massachusetts: Suit says grocers let minors buy lottery tickets by Jack Newsham at Boston Globe. “The Stop Predatory Gambling Foundation sued Star Market Tuesday…after a Cambridge city councilor, Craig Kelley, filmed his 14-year-old son buying lottery tickets…in September. The foundation said it filed suit after being unable to get Star to block access to the vending machines for minors…The group made a similar request of Stop & Shop after the same teenager bought a lottery ticket at a vending machine at the chain’s Arlington store Monday.” Read more

 

Robbins Geller Says SEC Sitting On Wal-Mart Bribery Docs by Jonathan Randles at Law 360. “The SEC has maintained that all the documents related to its Wal-Mart investigation are exempt from Robbins Geller’s Freedom of Information Act request because disclosure may interfere with the commission’s ongoing investigation.” Read more (Subscription)

 

Costco employee with terminal cancer gets surprise vacation from customers by John Sasaki at Fox 2 KTVU. “Arlie (Smith) is such a beloved figure that some customers heard about the cancer and decided to do something nice for him. At 1 p.m. on Tuesday, they invaded the store. “We’re all here today because we love you so much,” said customer Bridgette Loughnane to Arlie. They raised some $2,500 to send Arlie and his wife on a vacation.” See the video / Read more

 

GNC: 4th round of testing shows herbal supplements safe by Paul J. Gough at Pittsburgh Business Times. “This additional round of tests leaves no doubt that our products are not only pure but are in full compliance with all regulatory requirements,” said GNC CEO Michael G. Archbold in a statement released Tuesday afternoon.” Read more

 

The Surprising Winners And Losers Of The Retail Revolution by Sean Silverthorne at Forbes. “(Home Depot) looked strategically at all aspects of their offering across the various channels they have at their disposal to maximize customer satisfaction and the return they get on their TIPS (Technology, Inventory, People, Space) assets. For example, if your toilet blows up, you aren’t going to wait two days for delivery for a part from Amazon Prime.”  Read the Q & A

 

Lumber Liquidators Provides Agenda For 3/12 Business Update  Read the release

 

Why this CEO wants to save SkyMall by Michelle Fox at CNBC. “Scott Jordan wants to save the in-flight catalog SkyMall, but right now the airlines are not returning his calls, he told CNBC.” See the video / Read more

 

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Eye-on-Retail Tipsheet is read worldwide by Retail Merchants & Executives and created early every weekday morning. 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 at info@shiftmarketinggroup.net.

Tuesday Tipsheet: Recruiters Like Target | Walmart.horse | Loblaw Adds 50

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Layoffs begin at Target; Dayton meets CEO Cornell by Adam Belz & Patrick Condon at Star Tribune. “One employee who declined to be identified said that probably a couple of dozen upper managers were let go Monday and gone by lunch. The employee said broader cuts were expected Tuesday. “The mood is pretty somber, about what you would expect,” the employee said.” Read more

 

…Brian Cornell met Gov. Dayton for about 45 minutes Monday at the governor’s Summit Avenue residence. Also present were Lt. Gov. Tina Smith and top Target executives Jodee Kozlak, chief of human resources, and Tim Baer, chief legal officer.

 

HappyFresh Is Bringing Instacart-Style One Hour Grocery Delivery To Southeast Asia by Jon Russell at TechCrunch. “Insane pretty much describes the value proposition that we bring to the table,” HappyFresh co-founder and Executive Chairman Tim Marbach told TechCrunch in an interview. “Our goal is to have the full selection of offline stores — we see ourselves as a marketplace to connect retailers with customers.” Read more

 

Walmart Displeased With Walmart.Horse, Wants It Taken Down by Chris Morran at Consumerist. “There is currently no reason whatsoever to type the URL Walmart.horse into your web browser, but if you go there, you get pretty much exactly what you’d expect — a picture of a horse and a Walmart store. Walmart is not amused at the use of its name on this site and has sent a cease-and-desist notice to its creator, Jeph Jacques, creator of the Questionable Content comic.” Read more

 

Safety agency expected to announce potential Lumber Liquidators action today by Michelle Celarier at NY Post. “Last year, about 11 percent of Lumber Liquidator’s $1 billion in sales were in laminate flooring made in Chinese factories, which it insists is compliant with California’s standard.” Read more

 

Canada: Loblaw Will Build 50 New Stores by Hollie Shaw at Financial Post. “Loblaw will build 50 new stores, under its own banners and that of Shoppers Drug Mart, to boost its network of 2,300 locations across the country and will also renovate more than 100 stores. Loblaw estimates the projects will create about 5,000 jobs at its corporate and independently owned grocery outlets.” Read more

 

HuffPo Hits Walmart: Walmart Puts Green Label on Products it Doesn’t Even Claim Are Green by Stacy Mitchell. “I searched the bubble wrap’s product page high and low for its secret sauce…but found no explanation. It turns out that the key to this mystery lies in a remarkable disclaimer tucked into the middle of the home page of Walmart’s sustainability shopping portal: “The Sustainability Leaders badge does not make representations about the environmental or social impact of an individual product.” Read more

 

World’s Most Ethical Companies (Petco, Marks & Spencer)  See the list

 

Macy’s CEO to headline Global Retailing Conference by Travis Arbon at Phoenix Business Journal. “It’s a unique conference in that you can get right up close to these industry giants,” Brooke said. “These are the big guys. You’re in a position because it’s such a small and intimate conference to be able to walk up to Kip Tindell, CEO of container store or Jerry Stritzke, CEO of REI, and have a conversation with them.” Read more

 

‘Fearful’ Target Employees Receptive To Recruiters at WCCO 4 CBS. “If you are a growing company in town, or in or region, and Target has a profile of employees you are looking for, I don’t know why you wouldn’t be reaching out to folks,” he said. “I had a conversation with an IT friend of mine last week. She had about six inquiries in the first three hours.” See the video / Read more

 

WinCo Foods Announces Opening of New Store In Chandler, Arizona “WinCo Foods LLC announced today that it will open its first store in Chandler and its sixth discount supermarket in the State of Arizona at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, March 12th.” Read the release

 

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Eye-on-Retail Tipsheet is read worldwide by Retail Merchants & Executives and created early every weekday morning. 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 at info@shiftmarketinggroup.net.

Monday Tipsheet: Rally Opposes Target Express | Salon Hits Amazon | Lowe’s in India

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Rally held opposing Target Express in South Park at ABC 10 San Diego. “About 100 people rallied in South Park on Sunday to oppose a planned Target Express store in the neighborhood…”It’s going to take shopping away from the locally-owned businesses, from the people who have lived here for a long period of time that do run those locally-owned businesses that need that income,” said Christina Maida, who opposes the store.” See the video / Read more

 

Lowe’s opens its global innovation center in Bengaluru, India by Anshul Dhamija at The Times of India. “It will employ approximately 500 people by the end of 2015. Robert Niblock, chairman, president & CEO of Lowe’s Companies Inc. said, “We are very excited about the Global Innovation Center here in Bengaluru, which will bring to fruition a valuable part of our analytics and technology potential.” Read more

 

Target faces a future of more modest growth by Kavita Kumar at Star-Tribune. “Cornell doesn’t want to set out these grandiose expectations like Steinhafel constantly did and then miss them,” said Brian Yarbrough, an analyst with Edward Jones. “They were a little bit out of touch. They were too bullish.” Read more

 

Walmart India appoints Ashwin Mittal as new Chief Financial Officer at India Today. “Mittal will be replacing Jill Anderson who is currently the CFO of Walmart India. Anderson will be repatriated back to Walmart US.” Read more

 

WSJ Discovers Pirate Joe’s in Vancouver by Chester Dawson. “This thing is basically a pop-up store that has gone on too long,” Mr. Hallatt said. Once a week he makes a half-day round-trip to haul some US$6,000 of merchandise to Canada packed into a white Dodge van with the words “Grocers without Borders” scrawled across one side.” Read more (Subscription)

 

***A Message from CLUG.  The CLUG Bike Clip is the world’s smallest bike rack that is targeted at the urban cyclist and the casual enthusiast who are short on storage space for their bikes.  CLUG is a patent pending, high quality product that made the list of 2014 Best Stuff by GQ Magazine in their December 2014 issue.  CLUG is ready for retail with its 100% recyclable, high volume packaging.  See the video.  See the sell sheet. Contact info@shiftmarketinggroup.net for more information.

 

Two Target execs out as company shakes up ranks by Nick Halter at Minn./St.Paul Business Journal. “Tim Mantel, who had been senior vice president of merchandising, grocery, also left the company. In a Twitter message, he said he couldn’t comment on his departure.
“I hope the best for the people there,” he said.” Read more

 

Same-Day Delivery Startup Deliv Snags Former eBay Product Exec by Jason Del Rey at Recode. “Deliv, which has raised more than $12 million, runs a crowdsourced network of delivery people who handle same-day deliveries for brick-and-mortar stores and their e-commerce properties behind the scenes.” Read more

 

Fortune: The 25 coolest offices of the 100 Best Companies: Whole Foods employees work on laptops in ‘swings’  See the coolest offices

 

Minivan at Walmart has more Facebook friends than you by D.S. Woodfill at AZ Central. “Just curious, any way to see how many golden van selfies have been taken in the past 24 hours? I’ve never seen anything like this!” wrote one commenter. The answer, according to another poster, was that nearly 200 people had taken their picture with the car as of Sunday.” Read more

 

Salon Hits Amazon: Jeff Bezos relies on lowly grunts like me: Life as a cog in the Amazon machine by Steven Barker.  Read more

 

Canada: Retailers expect to raise prices, feeling pinch of weak loonie by Marina Strauss at Globe & Mail. “The research found 70 per cent of respondents said last month they would have to raise retail prices by between 1 and 5 per cent, “with most mentioning increases toward the top end of the range,” the report said.” Read more

 

Mall of America owners thinking bigger mall in Miami by Tom Webb at Pioneer Press. “The proposed “American Dream — Miami” would have hundreds of stores, along with a covered seven-acre lake, an indoor ski slope (with artificial snow), submarines, an ice stadium, a sea lion show and an amusement park.” Read more

 

Dallas: Nebraska Furniture Mart is taking practice runs by Maria Halkias at Dallas News. “The Omaha-based retailer asked employees to invite their friends and family to shop there Wednesday and Thursday. Now the store is emailing small groups of people to shop at private events.” Read more

 

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Eye-on-Retail Tipsheet is read worldwide by Retail Merchants & Executives and created early every weekday morning. 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 at info@shiftmarketinggroup.net.

Friday Tipsheet: Costco Call Highlights | Amazon ‘Humbled’ | Top 100 Employers | Top 30 on Net

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Fortune: Humbled Amazon turns to rival Alibaba for help in China by Scott Cendrowski at Fortune. “Yesterday, Chinese reporters discovered that Amazon had opened a store on rival Alibaba Group Holdings’ Tmall platform..Amazon didn’t publicize the news of its store on Alibaba’s site, maybe because it doesn’t make Amazon look very strong in the world’s largest e-commerce market.” Read more

 

Kroger Q4 Total Sales +8.5%  Read the release

 

Costco working to end use of human antibiotics in chicken by Nathan Layne at Reuters. “We are working towards, and working with our suppliers and the regulatory agencies… to see how we can get rid of shared-use antibiotics in animals,” Craig Wilson, vice president of food safety at the Issaquah, Washington-based retail giant, said in a phone interview.” Read more

 

WSJ: Apple Pay Stung by Low-Tech Fraudsters by Robin Sidel & Daisuke Wakabayashi. “Apple Inc.’s new mobile-payment system has been hit by a wave of fraudulent transactions using credit-card data stolen in recent breaches of big retailers, including Home Depot Inc. and Target Corp. , people familiar with the matter said.” Read more (Subscription)

 

Under Armour set to open on Michigan Avenue by Corilyn Shropshire at Chicago Tribune. “It is the largest store the company has opened, twice the size of its location in SoHo in New York, as Under Armour sets its sights on growing its direct-to-consumer business, which is about 30 percent of total sales, according to Chief Executive Officer Kevin Plank.” Read more

 

Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work for (Wegman’s #7, Whole Foods #55)  See the Top 100 list

 

Target opens Kailua, Hawaii store with no plastic bags — nor liquor by Lorin Elini Gill at Pacific Business News. “By evening, the store was charging 99 cents per bag.” Read more

 

The 30 Most Influential People on the Internet at Time.  See the Top 30 list

 

First Look: Inside Sephora’s New Innovation Lab by Evie Nagy at Fast Company. “The Innovation Lab itself is a converted warehouse near San Francisco’s Mission Bay district…the lab includes a full model of a Sephora store, including display windows.” Read more

 

Fresh Market Q4 Comp Sales +3%  Read the release

 

Zillow says homes close to a Starbucks rise in value more quickly by Patrick May at Mercury News. “Between 1997 and 2014, homes within a quarter-mile of a Starbucks jumped by 96 percent, on average, compared with 65 percent for all homes in the United States.” Read more

 

Rite-Aid February Comp Sales +3.3%  Read the release

 

Amazon Plans Store #2 at Purdue by Charlotte Tuggle at The Exponent. “After the initial success of the Amazon store that opened in the Krach Center in February, a second location is scheduled to open in the Purdue Memorial Union over the summer.” Read more

 

Dayton schedules meeting with Target CEO to discuss layoffs at KAUS 1480 AM. “Governor Mark Dayton says he’s scheduling a face-to-face meeting early next week with Target CEO Brian Cornell, after talking briefly by phone yesterday.” Read more

 

Made in the USA push gets boost from ports debacle by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC. “According to a new study by consulting firm BDO, although the cost of manufacturing remains lower in overseas regions such as Asia, 43 percent of retail chief financial officers said that North America provides the most attractive sourcing opportunities for 2015. That’s a substantial increase from last year, when only 30 percent of respondents chose North America.” Read more

 

Costco Q2 2015 Earnings Call Highlights

Richard Galanti, CFO

Excluding gas our reported 4% U.S. comp sales increase in Q2 would have been plus 8.

For our four week month of February…came in at plus one consisting of a plus two comp in the U.S.

Average transaction decrease of a little over minus 3%. But again taking gas out of that number the average transaction increase would have been plus.

Year-to-date shopping frequency is up a little over 5%.

Midwest, Southeast and Northeast regions were the strongest.

Comps:

* Within Food and Sundries overall in the mid single-digits Candy, meat, daily, beer and wine were the relative standout.

* Electronics and consumer electronics was up in the mid single-digits.

* Within mid single-digit softlines comps domestics and apparel were standouts.

Costco Online, we continue to operate it into four countries, U.S., Canada, UK and Mexico….sales were up 23% in the quarter.

We’ll be at 28 net new units for the year or about 4.5% square footage growth.

Q: “Do you think you can get to a 1,000 (stores)?”

A: “Well we haven’t gone out that far as yet yes if we added 30 year for 10 years around a sense there so yes I think so but certainly not out of the relm.”

In this crazy world there are some items that we have online where we’ve agreed not to show the price unless you are a member.

E-com sales: It’s about 3% of our total.

# of online sku’s: around 8,000.

Read the full transcript via Seeking Alpha

Thursday Tipsheet: Costco Beats Street | WMT & TGT Mtg Highlights | Dick’s Stumps Trump

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Costco Q2 Comp +2% / Excluding Gas Price & Foreign Exchange +8%  “Net sales for the quarter increased four percent, to $26.87 billion, from $25.76 billion last year. Net sales for the first half increased six percent, to $53.16 billion, from $50.22 billion last year.” Read the release

 

CNBC: Costco’s quarterly profit tops estimates on tax benefit  See the video / Read more

 

Jim Cramer: Target cuts are the right moves at CNBC “There’s 13,000 employees at [Target’s] headquarters, which is 12,975 more than what Warren Buffett has at his headquarters,” Cramer said, adding that Cornell is leaning toward placing Target stores closer to college campuses. “I’ve been talking to him about the notion to have Target next to every single university.” See the video / Read more

 

Report: Gov. Mark Dayton, whose family founded Target, wants to meet with Brian Cornell to discuss coming layoffs by Tom Scheck at MPR News. “Dayton told reporters Wednesday that Target officials did not give him any notice of the job cuts and he’s concerned about the well being of those who will lose their jobs…”He’s relatively new here,” Dayton said of CEO Brian Cornell.” Read more

 

…Gov. Dayton: “I think this could have and should have been handled differently” by Patrick Condon at Star-Tribune.  Read more

 

***New Product Spotlight – Orchard Road Launches Series of Decorative Canning Products.  The decorative series of canning caps features three custom designs: Wild Daisy, Fruit and Gingham.  Finally something unique to drive incremental sales in the home canning and storage categories!  Come see us this weekend at the Housewares Show in booth S3920.  See the new line for the first time here.  For more information: info@shiftmarketinggroup.net.

 

Dick’s Sporting Goods has Donald Trump Stumped by Jessica Golden at CNBC. “I don’t get what Dick’s is doing,” Trump said. “It’s a store that sells cheap stuff. Golf should be an aspirational game. I think if they look at golf as something other than that, then they are making a big mistake.” See the video / Read more

 

Wal-Mart, Google Part Ways Over Local Shopping Ads by Alistair Barr & Rolfe Winkler at WSJ. “After Wal-Mart pulled out of the Local Inventory Ads, Google ad executive Sridhar Ramaswamy called Neil Ashe, head of Global eCommerce at Wal-Mart, to ask why. The two men met in February, according to one of the people, but the results of the meeting aren’t known.” Read more (Subscription)

 

Hispanic Millennials Really Like Target by Sarah Halzack at Washington Post. “While just 38 percent of Target shoppers overall identify the store as their favorite, some 54 percent of Hispanic millennials said it was their favorite.” Read more

 

Kathleen McLaughlin outlines Wal-Mart focus on business responsibility in society by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “Her nearly 75-minute talk to about 150 students and faculty focused on six key success factors for how a business can work toward strengthening the private sector…” Read more

 

Dick’s CEO walks back comment about Adidas by Matthew Kish at Portland Business Journal. “(CEO Ed) Stack had said the company would remove some Adidas products from its shelves to make room for apparel from Carrie Underwood’s new Calia brand…”The idea that we are kicking Adidas off the shelves, nothing could be further from the truth,” he said” Read more

 

Howard Levine sells 1.8 million shares of Family Dollar stock at Katherine Peralta at Charlotte Observer. “Levine now owns 4.6 percent of the Matthews-based discount retailer, down from a previous 6.2 percent before the sale, according to a securities filing Thursday.” Read more

 

Canadian Tire’s Dean McCann named CFO of the Year by Marina Strauss at Globe & Mail.  Read more

 

Black Enterprise’s 50 most powerful women in corporate America at New Pittsburgh Courier. “Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, EVP & Treasurer – Walmart…Rosalind G. Brewer, President & CEO, Sam’s Club – Walmart…Ann-Marie Campbell, President, Southern Division – The Home Depot…Mary A. Winston, EVP & CFO – Family Dollar Stores.” See the Top 50 list

 

Nordstrom treads carefully with launch of second Canadian store by Marina Strauss at Globe & Mail. “Nordstrom is treading carefully in Canada, opening its second store on Friday – in Ottawa – another one in the fall in Vancouver and six in all by 2017.” Read more

 

Walmart greeter shares his ‘blessed day’ at Georgia state capitol by Chris Shaw at Fox 5 Atlanta. “He was a like a rock star walking around the state capitol. House Speaker David Ralston invited him to the house floor so lawmakers could meet him. “Yea, I give autographs,” James told FOX 5. “But you probably can’t read it when I write it,” he joked.” See the video / Read more

 

Elderly Dog Battling Cancer Gets a New Ride from Home Depot by Sid Garcia at ABC 7 Los Angeles. “‘Let me give it some thought and I’ll call you later,” Feldman said. That employee — Ernesto Moran — did think about it. Along with his co-worker Justin Wadman, the pair came up with a solution. They custom-built a wagon to Ike’s size. It includes a small ramp to make it easier for him to climb up…Feldman was so touched, she reached out to Eyewitness News to share her story.” See the video / Read more

 

Happened on 3/3/15: Target’s Financial Community Meeting  Read the full transcript via Seeking Alpha

 

Tractor Supply: Bank of American Merrill Lynch 2015 Consumer & Retail Conference  See the PowerPoint

 

Walmart Presents at Bank of America Merrill Lynch Consumer & Retail Conference

Charles Holley, CFO

Gas price declines: I think with our customer what we (saw) is some portion they did (save), some was to pay down debt, but they also used a portion to — across food. Food was one of the top-item of what they used their savings for.

We’ll end up with well over 10 million SKUs online by the end of this year.

(We’ve got) to do a better job in our dairy areas and our bakery areas, and our meat areas those are critical, I think we’ve upgraded some of those, but I think they have a longer way to go.

We’re very pleased with what our Canadian operations and where they are, they had one of the better years this last year. Very good profitability and their sales were very good, their food business continues to be an uptick.

Savings Catcher: It’s been an incredible success.

UK: I think that we have the strongest operation of the four large retailers, but make no mistake, it’ll be very tough for them this year.

China: Our best club in the world is in China. Our best Sam’s Club is in China in Shenzhen and it’s actually our very first club in Shenzhen.

* We’re really focused on the Southern part of China and the middle part of China, where we’re very successful.

* We’re very bullish on China going forward.

Brazil: still is a work in process…just a very difficult working environment.

Mexico: We’re very pleased with what our self-service formats have been doing except for Sam’s Club.

* We brought down the head operator at Sam’s Club U.S. is now over the Sam’s Club in Mexico we’re seeing definite improvement.

On mobile pay: we’re talking to most of the players who are trying to figure it out with the players and partnerships and even in our own apps that we might have.

Read the full transcript via Seeking Alpha

 

Target Presents at Bank of America Merrill Lynch Consumer & Retail Conference

John Mulligan, CFO

There’s a significant opportunity over the next couple of years to take out $2 billion of expense, 25% of that in cost of goods, the rest of it in SG&A.

We’re going to continue to hire data and analytics individuals, engineers and technology, places we have to invest, there are some places in risk we need to continue to invest, but net-net when all is said and done, we will have a smaller, leaner, more agile headquarters and central operation to support both our channels.

Food: Frankly classic mistake right? We sit in the middle. We’re not really special and we’re not a full grocery and so we’re sitting in the middle of no man’s land.

* We did a lot of research, lots of conversations with our guests (on food) and the clear message is, look we expect Target to be specialized, just like the rest of the store.

* We’re not going to be the broad line grocery store in most of our formats, SuperTarget a little bit different.

* A lot of testing is going on and Kathee talked yesterday about testing in Chicago. There’s a couple of other markets where we’re doing some tests around supply chain that’s sits behind our food offering.

* 2016 you’ll start to see changes and that’s a several year journey to improve our food offering.

REDperks test:

* We just put it in the Raleigh-Durham market in late January, so it’s only been there five, six weeks or something like that, so we’re very early. And there is great take up which we’re excited about.

* There’s a fair bit of testing that we’re going to need to do here and I wouldn’t expect to see us doing anything dramatic certainly before next year because I think we have a lot of work to do.

I think our merchants got put through a lot of rigor when they want to change the way they are presenting things or they want to bring in product that was a little bit different.

I went and met with Bob Ulrich, who was our CEO about seven or eight years ago and he talked a lot about letting the merchants just do some things and forcing them to do some things.

Brian, he was in Florida a week ago and he saw a run of mittens and hats and it’s like, well it’s already 75 degrees down there.

Today we do 30 planograms for whatever set we need to do 500 planograms.

We think the primary really that will grow through time is probably TargetExpress.

TargetExpress: are relatively capital light. We could do 50 of those and it will be $300 million to $400 million.

Food: a little bit more than 20% of our sales.

Read the full transcript via Seeking Alpha

 

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