Fortune: World’s Most Admired Companies 2015 (Amazon #4, Costco #16, Walmart #38…)  See the Top 50 list

 

…Target falls 19 spots from No. 29 to No. 48 by Nick Halter at Minn./St.Paul Business Journal  Read more

 

Yesterday: Walmart CEO Appears on CNBC  “We make wage adjustments all the time. We just decided this is a really good moment to be more bold,” Doug McMillon said in a “Squawk Alley” interview. “Right now we want to make sure everybody is crystal clear how vital our store experience is to our future.” See the video / Read more

 

Wal-Mart Q4 Earnings Call Transcript  Read the transcript

 

Target Has a New CEO: Will He Re-Energize the Retailer? by Phil Wahba at Fortune. “The Target executives were taken aback. They had just learned that their new CEO, Brian Cornell, had been out on his own with customers, incognito, exploring one of the company’s stores. It was a big departure from the way the process-heavy discount retailer had always operated. Store visits, ostensibly intended as intelligence-gathering missions, were meticulously planned affairs, only slightly less formal than, say, a presidential visit. Every relevant national manager and local functionary would be notified in advance, each step choreographed, the “regular shoppers” handpicked and vetted. About the only thing missing was a brass band playing “Hail to the Chief.”…” Read more

 

Best Buy follows Target in testing Curbside shopping by Nick Halter at Minn./St.Paul Business Journal. “Best Buy is testing the service at four Bay Area stores. Target is testing it in 11 Bay Area stores.” Read more

 

West Coast terminal operators bypass union leaders – make contract offer directly to dock workers by Emily Parkhurst at Puget Sound Business Journal. Read more

 

NY Times: Trappings of Chinese New Year Left at Sea by West Coast Port Dispute by Hiroku Tabuchi & Alexandra Stevenson. “There’s not enough sticky rice to make the dumplings. We don’t have holiday cookies or mung bean cakes. We’re running out of soy sauce,” said Jacklyn Sher, manager of H. C. Foods.” Read more

 

Amazon Two-Hour Deliveries Come to Prime Members in Brooklyn by Jason Del Rey at Recode.  Read more

 

Haberman hires Target alum as creative director by Clare Kennedy at Minn./St.Paul Business Journal. “Haberman Inc. has hired its new creative director from Target Corp. Jeff Berg joined Minneapolis-based marketing agency in January.” Read more

 

P&G: Expect most deals to sell brands by summer by Alexander Coolidge at Cincinnati Enquirer. “P&G chief financial officer Jon Moeller told Wall Street analysts the impact of total divestitures will reduce the company’s annual sales by 14 percent, up from a previous figure of 10 percent. P&G officials said the change was a “refinement” of their brand-shedding plan.” Read more

 

Target Canada steps up discounts by Hollie Shaw at Financial Post. “On Thursday, Target was specific in its e-mail blast to customers — the 40% off cuts applied to goods including magazines, books, CDs and DVDs and paper products. Groceries and household products such as cleaning supplies and diapers are now 20% off.” Read more

 

Eataly Charms the World With Italian Fare and Flair by Austin Carr at Fast Company. “Eataly’s business is booming. This location, across from Manhattan’s Madison Square Park, is doing $85 million in annual revenue. Its even larger counterpart in Chicago, which opened in late 2013, is on pace to hit $50 million this year, nearly matching the gross sales of its flagship store in Turin, Italy. And that’s on top of the 15 other Eataly locations in Italy; the 11 in Japan; and the large-scale outposts soon opening in London, Hong Kong, Moscow, Munich, Paris, São Paulo, Sydney, and Toronto, among other cities.” Read more

 

Celebrate This Terrible Winter With The Highlights Of Amazon’s Summer Preview by Anthony Ha at TechCrunch. “Amazon.com hosted a summer preview event in New York City today, and I’ll be real honest: I thought there was going to be more tech stuff.” See the video / Read more

 

Rite Aid Announces First-Ever Innovation Challenge “If a product idea is chosen, the creator will be receive a $2,500 advance along with ongoing royalties from product sales and be named as the inventor on any patent issued. There is no limit to the number of ideas that may be selected.” Read more

 

Nordstrom Q4 Comp Sales +4.7%  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 created and delivered early AM every day.  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.

 

Wal-Mart de Mexico net profit surges at Market Watch. “Retailer Wal-Mart de Mexico reported a 42% surge in fourth quarter net profit Tuesday…The company, which accounts for around 6% of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s annual sales…reported quarterly net profit of 10.4 billion Mexican pesos ($698 million), as total revenue increased 4.3% to 129.44 billion pesos.” Read more

 

Amazon’s One-Hour Delivery Service Goes Live Across Manhattan by Jordan Crook at TechCrunch. Read more

 

2015 Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index:

#1 Price Clubs: Costco

#1 Discount: Walmart

#1 Home Improvement: Home Depot

#1 Sporting Goods: Dick’s Sporting Goods

See the winning brands in each category

 

American Customer Satisfaction Index Rips Walmart by Catey Hill at Market Watch. “Walmart tied with armed forces store Exchange as the worst-rated department or discount store, in recent past years, it’s been the single worst-scoring store.” See the 13 discount stores ranked

 

Plans for TargetExpress in St. Paul take shape by Kavita Kumar at Star-Tribune. “Target’s newest and smallest stores are turning out to be kinda like snowflakes – no two will be exactly the same. That is becoming increasingly apparent as plans take shape for the second TargetExpress location in the Twin Cities, slated to open in July in St. Paul’s Highland Park.” Read more

 

Walmart Labs: Why we chose OpenStack for Walmart Global eCommerce written by Amandeep Juneja, Sr. Director of Cloud Operations and Engineering. Read more

 

New platform taps do-it-yourself sports merchandising by Benny Evangelista at SF Gate. “Coveroo has an exclusive deal with Major League Baseball…and has licensing agreements with the NBA, NHL, Major League Soccer, the Canadian Football League and the NCAA. Coveroo CEO Christopher Boone says the service taps into “the creative genius of the crowd,” without running afoul of the law. “As you would imagine,” Boone said, teams “were initially very hesitant.” Read more

 

CVS fights cost of new cholesterol drugs by Cynthia Coons at SF Gate. “Express Scripts has about 30 percent of the U.S. pharmacy benefits management market, and CVS about 27 percent, according to Robyn Karnauskas, an analyst with Deutsche Bank.” Read more

 

What toys won over the toughest critics at Toy Fair? by Christina Cheddar Berk at CNBC.  Read more / See the video

 

Home Depot to Present at Raymond James 36th Annual Conference  9:50 a.m. ET on March 3, 2015

 

Tennessee: Kroger Marketplace swapping furniture for clothes at The Tennessean “We are replacing furniture with apparel in our Marketplace stores,” (Melissa Eads, spokeswoman for Kroger) wrote in a recent email to the Gallatin News Examiner. “We will carry brands such as Carhartt, Fila, Champion, Dickies, Signature by Levi Strauss & Co., Jockey Activewear, Hanes Classics and Gloria Vanderbilt.” Read more

 

Cabela’s to Open First North Carolina Store on April 16th by Amanda Jones Hoyle at Triangle Business Journal. Read more

 

The cop who forced Target to drop their Irish t-shirts by Seamus Palmer at Irish Central. “The designers of the t-shirt saw fit to adhere to the British viewpoint that the northernmost six counties are not part of the island of Ireland, so they simply left them out. No, they didn’t just exclude them by way of a border line…they simply left them out.” Read more

 

Houston: Grocery stores go to new extremes for shoppers’ attention by Erin Mulvaney at Houston Chronicle. “The H-E-B opening Wednesday in tony Tanglewood boasts 91,000 square feet of not just traditional staples but also such foodie bait as a sushi bar, hummus in bulk sizes and a booth to order takeout barbecue…Kroger has already announced it will invest $409 million in the Houston region with new stores and upgrades. An estimated half of the 2.7 million square feet of retail development underway in Houston is said to be grocery.” Read more

 

…HEB strikes a new blow in the grocery store wars: Big name chef raises the bar “Our customers want food that tastes good — not just food that’s fast,” McClelland says. “The idea was to have people come in, eat our food and say ‘That’s not what we expected out of a grocery store.’ We’re trying to raise the level of expectations.” Read more

 

Tractor Supply Company Announces Grand Opening of 1,400th Store  Read the release

 

Ohio shoplifter arrested for 109th time in CVS bust by Doyle Murphy at Daily News. “Ferguson had a getaway car waiting and roared down the road where he was stopped by a couple of old acquaintances from the South Euclid Police Department, authorities said. They asked for his ID as a matter of procedure. He allegedly gave them the name of his brother. “Probably the majority of his arrests are just like that,” South Euclid Sgt. Mike O’Connor told the Daily News.” Read more

 

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Eye-on-Retail is created early AM every weekday and read by thousands of Retail Merchants & Executives every 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.

 

Wal-Mart adds new restrictions to ‘Savings Catcher’ tool by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “Beginning Feb.14, we are removing some departments consisting mostly of items that do not have a like for like match at other retailers, such as produce and bakery items. Additionally, we are limiting our comparisons to offers of other mass market retailers, grocery and dollar stores, removing comparisons with drug stores,” the email stated.” Read more

 

Amazon Left Out of FAA Drone Plan by Bart Jansen at USA Today. “The FAA needs to begin and expeditiously complete the formal process to address the needs of our business, and ultimately our customers,” Amazon Vice President Paul Misener said in a written statement. “We are committed to realizing our vision for Prime Air and are prepared to deploy where we have the regulatory support we need.” Read more

 

Wal-Mart VP Marcus Osborne offers health insight to Bill Frist and friends by Eleanor Kennedy at Nashville Business Journal. “Osborne told Frist the usual guesses for Wal-Mart’s top selling product are things like Cheetos, Coke or other standards of the lazy, fat American archetype. In fact, Osborne said, Wal-Mart’s No. 1 seller by units is bananas.” Read more

 

Hamburg, N.Y.: BJ’s Store Damaged in November to Reopen by Erica Brecher at WGRZ NBC. “It wasn’t all bad news in November: Because BJ’s had to clear out its inventory immediately, a local food pantry was the recipient of an unexpected 17,000 pounds of food. This week, ahead of the reopening, pantry coordinator Brent Doyle expressed her thanks. “You know, nobody ever got rich writing product off. There’s not a large margin in grocery to begin with. And it’s actually easier for them to throw it away than to give it away,” he said.” See the video / Read more

 

Oakland: Walgreen’s Granted ‘Living Wage’ Exemption by Joe Garofoli at SF Gate. “The council’s Community and Economic Development Committee voted 4-0 to grant Walgreens the exemption — meaning if the store opens, it could pay the minimum wage rather than the living wage. But after hearing an earful from community activists at the meeting and elsewhere, Walgreens changed course. Or, as a Walgreens corporate spokesman said, Oakland “didn’t have accurate information on our policy” concerning a living wage.” Read more

 

Amazon: ‘No way robotics are ever going to replace humans’ by Rachel Lerman at Puget Sound Business Journal. “Each robot is connected to Kiva software, which is programmed to know what products need to go where and when. Hundreds of Kiva robots work in the DuPont facility, and Amazon has more than 15,000 total in operation globally.” Read more

 

Whole Foods reschedules annual meeting in wake of SEC ruling by Greg Barr at Austin Business Journal. “Whole Foods said its meeting, which had been scheduled for March 10, has been postponed.” Read more

 

Man stuns ex-wife in Walmart at My Fox Atlanta. “The two hadn’t spoken for 43 years until last December…On Saturday, Demetriades wanted to rekindle the old flames and drove from Tennessee to Fort Smith, Arkansas to propose to her.”Forty-three years is a long time and to say yes right away, I’m going to have to test him a little bit first! I will marry him though, because he’s a good man,” said Stumpf.” See the video / Read more

 

Frozen berries recalled across Australia in hepatitis A scare by Jenni Ryall at Mashable. Read more

 

The Invention Mob, Brought to You by Quirky by Steve Lohr at NY Times. “(Quirky) says a handful of companies have lined up for its new corporate partnership program, which builds on Quirky’s experience with G.E. Though it is not identifying them yet, the new partners will include large companies that make toys, audio equipment and kitchenware. The products created will carry the tagline “Powered by Quirky,” but will be sold under the big companies’ brands.” Read more

 

Happening Thursday: Walmart Q4 Earnings Release  Pre-recorded phone call at 6am CST

 

Hershey faces backlash after bid to ban British Cadbury by John Chesto at Boston Globe. “I’m mad as hell,” said Lane, who threatened to ban Hershey products from his store. “I’ve got two choices: Allow Hershey to bully me as a retailer, or take a stand and send a message.” Read more

 

Tesco set for thousands more job cuts by Matt Clinch at CNBC. “There will also be the removal of an entire layer of management from stores, the report added. Those in the middle managements roles affected – who are between the store manager and shop assistants – will be offered alternative positions…The Sunday Telegraph stated that total losses could reach 10,000, but the Financial Times and The Guardian had more conservative layoff estimates.” Read more

 

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Eye-on-Retail is created early AM every weekday and read by thousands of Retail Merchants & Executives every 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.

 

 

Amazon disputes report claiming deliveries arrived late this holiday by Tricia Duryee at Geek Wire. “Amazon is downplaying the results of a new study today that claims 10 percent of shoppers said packages arrived later than expected over the holidays…In an interview with Reuters, Amazon’s head of Prime Greg Greeley, dismissed the results, calling them “very suspect.” An spokeswoman additionally told Reuters that “Our internal data shows significantly better results.” Read more

 

West Coast ports mostly shut for 4 of next 5 days as longshore dispute drags on by Justin Pritchard at AP via Seattle Times. “29 West Coast seaports that handle about $1 trillion of goods annually will be mostly closed four of the next five days.” Read more

 

LA Health Officials Take Action After Local Supermarket Sells Raccoons As Food at CBS LA. “Customer Christina Dow was at the market, and upon seeing the frozen raccoons, filmed the scene on her cell phone. She shared the video on social media. “The way it’s packaged in the store, it’s so real, and it’s so fresh, and you don’t see chickens with their feathers and blood all over them, and their expression, with their tongue hanging out,” Dow said.” See the video / Read more

 

Whole Foods Q1 Comp Sales +4.5% Read the release

 

Wal-Mart to lean on suppliers for better prices, products, sustainable solutions by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “McMillion was quick to tell suppliers the retailer is going back to what works and that is the “Everyday Low Prices” (EDLP) philosophy which begin with Everyday Low Costs (EDLC) of goods from suppliers. “What we need from you is EDLP and EDLC. …Putting items on sale and special promotions have never worked for us. When we get away from our pricing model out in the middle of the road we get run over,” McMillon said.” Read more

 

Target lays off 550 in Twin Cities as fallout from Canada closing by Kavita Kumar at Star-Tribune. “About 350 Target employees finished work on Wednesday. Another 200 were notified that their jobs will soon end but that the company wants them to stay through the winding down of the Canadian business…Target said it will eliminate 170 positions at its tech operations in India, where it employs about 3,000.” Read more

 

Target to bring 250 jobs to York County, PA by Myles Snyder at ABC 27 News. “Target will lease an existing 625,000-square-foot facility in West Manchester Township and plans to invest more than $52 million to establish that site as its new online fulfillment center.” Read more

 

Ex-Home Depot chief Frank Blake elected to P&G board at Atlanta Business Chronicle. Read more

 

…Blake will serve on the Audit and Governance & Public Responsibility committees of the P&G’s board by Alexander Coolidge at Cincinnati Enquirer. Read more

 

Target Can’t Kick Wet Wipe Class Action Over Clogged Pipes by Aebra Coe at Law 360. “An Ohio federal judge on Tuesday trimmed but refused to gut a class action accusing Target Corp. of marketing and selling flushable wet wipes that clog septic systems, finding that although three of the suit’s common law claims fail, a slew of other product liability-related claims can proceed.” Read more (Subscription)

 

Meijer managers charged with embezzling up to $100,000 at WZZM 13 ABC. “Tracy Gordon, 45, and 63-year-old Danny Vandermyde are accused of converting gift cards for their own use.” Read more

 

Costco Tries To Sell 9th Circ. On New Trial In OT Row by Brandon Lowrey at Law 360. “Costco on Wednesday urged the Ninth Circuit to grant a new trial after a judge awarded damages to two managers alleging the retailer misclassified them as exempt employees and denied them overtime, saying the company realistically expected the managers to spend their time on exempt duties.” Read more (Subscription)

 

How Ace Hardware Turned Corner Stores Into A $4.7 Billion Co-Op by Clare O’Connor at Forbes. “In the past 18 months Ace has seen some 144 stores jump ship from competitors, including a handful from its two fellow hardware co-ops, True Value and Do It Best. During that time just 49 Ace stores have left the fold…Ace is tackling same-day delivery, one of the hottest trends in retail. Tests in 33 stores across six states started on Jan. 26.” Read more

 

He’s not ‘Alex from Target’ anymore by Tom Webb at Pioneer Press. “I have not been bagging groceries. I know — sorry to disappoint, but I’ve been doing some other stuff.” That “other stuff” includes appearing in a music video, rolling out a line of Alex Lee clothing, going on tour and planning to appear in an upcoming movie. Alex also said he’s been working hard on his singing…In any case, Alex’s fame may be fading.” Read more

 

…See Alex’s Video (His 10 Minutes are Nearly Up…) at MTV  See the video

 

Harris Poll Survey: Do Americans Prefer Name-Brands or Store Brands? “Americans tend to purchase name-brands for food and beverage products where flavor, arguably, differs more between brands. This at least seems to be true for a majority of Americans who default to name-brands when purchasing breakfast cereal (62%), carbonated soft drinks (58%), bagged snacks (58%), prepared frozen foods (56%), coffee (55%), and yogurt (54%).” Read the release

 

Canada: Long list of small businesses wait for cash as Target’s cheque bounces by Marina Strauss at Globe & Mail. “Just before Target was granted court protection from creditors, the company sent her a cheque for $18,000, the final payment for her work. The cheque was dated Jan. 13, two days before the court filing, but she didn’t get it until Jan. 26. When she went to the bank to cash it, the cheque bounced.” Read more

 

REI expands to Delaware, Virginia, Iowa by Emily Parkhurst at Puget Sound Business Journal. “These will be the first REI stores for Delaware and Iowa. It will be the sixth REI store in Virginia…Currently, REI has 138 stores in 33 states and will likely continue expanding as the U.S. economy rebounds.” Read more

 

Target Canada employees granted representation by court by Francine Kopun at Toronto Star. See the 7 appointed employees

 

Amazon Challenger Jet.com Raises $140 Million Ahead Of Launch by Ryan Mac at Forbes. “With 130 employees, Jet.com is expected to launch to a select group of “insiders” next month, while the full site will be open to the public by late spring. The company recently closed its early membership program, which obtained about 352,000 sign ups, said Lore.” Read more

 

Top 10 ‘Organic’ Cities (Minneapolis #5, Seattle #7) by Emily Parkhurst at Puget Sound Business Journal. See the top 10 list

 

Best Buy Opens Wedding Registry in Bid for New Sales at AP via NY Times. “Electronics and small appliances are as important to today’s newlyweds as silverware and towels,” said Wendy Fritz, Best Buy’s head of gift strategy.” Read more

 

With JRW’s title gone – will Dick’s Sporting Goods get its $164,481.17 back? by Jared Hopkins at Chicago Tribune. “It has been placed on probation and suspended from tournament play until its top directors are replaced and the league complies with Little League rules…Dick’s gave $164,481.17 in September from proceeds of selling 12,000 yellow team T-shirts…Dick’s did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.” Read more

 

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Eye-on-Retail is created early AM every weekday and read by thousands of Retail Merchants & Executives every 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.