Archive for year: 2015

 

Home Depot opens 1,000-employee Marietta tech center by Kimeko McCoy at Marietta Daily Journal. “The Home Depot on Tuesday opened a 200,000-square-foot technology center in Marietta, which houses 1,000 information technology associates…plans to add another 500 positions in the future…leasing a four-building campus on New Market Parkway near the corner of Cobb Parkway and Franklin Road.” Read more / See the ribbon cutting

 

Costco Sells Record Amount of Cage-Free Eggs Despite Feud by Jade Scipioni at Fox Business. “In 2015, we sold 2.9 billion eggs and 763 million of them were cage-free. That’s 26% of our total sales,” (Vice President Craig Wilson) says…Wilson says in 2006, Costco sold about 1.6 billion eggs and only 34 million of them were cage-free. “That’s only 2%,” he says. “We’re the largest seller of cage-free eggs in the world and we’ve been working on this for a long time.” Read more

 

Mini Target opens in South Park by Jennifer Van Grove at San-Diego Union Tribune. “Love it or hate it, the Target located at the intersection of Fern and Grape streets in South Park is officially open for business Wednesday…At least two groups, Care About South Park and Save South Park, sought to derail the mega-retailer’s plans to operate in the neighborhood. Save South Park’s online petition to keep all large chains out of the neighborhood received 2,020 signatures.” Read more

 

Wal-Mart nabs leader of K Street firm by Megan R. Wilson at The Hill. “Dan Bryant, who moved from PepsiCo’s lobbying operation to Covington in 2012, begins on Nov. 9…Wal-Mart remains outside of the top 50 spenders on lobbying, according to data provided to The Hill by the Center for Responsive Politics. It has retained 11 outside firms to work on its behalf, including Capitol Counsel, the Podesta Group, Mehlman Castegnetti Rosen & Thomas, the Alpine Group, Hannegan Landau Poersch Advocacy and the Nickles Group.” Read more

 

Amazon’s primed to add grocery delivery hub in Minneapolis by Sam Black at Minneapolis/St.Paul Business Journal. “The Seattle-based online retailer hasn’t made a formal announcement, but detailed its plans to begin food delivery in a letter to the city of Minneapolis. The letter was included with a building permit application for space Amazon quietly leased last month at 763 Kasota Ave. in Minneapolis, near the St. Paul border.” Read more

 

Wal-Mart expands protein bars to main grocery aisles via Chicago Tribune. “Wal-Mart also said Tuesday that it will be offering free blood glucose, blood pressure, and vision screening at all of its 4,400 stores on Saturday.” Read more

 

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Yesterday: Walmart EVP Michelle Gloecker’s Press Conference by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “The City Wire asked Gloecker for an update on the retailer’s medical clinic initiative launched in the summer of 2014. “I am happy to share that on Nov. 11 we will open a new health clinic in Royce City, Texas which will make our eighth clinic in Texas. We have five in South Carolina and five in Georgia as well,” Gloecker said. She said Wal-Mart is happy with the 18 clinics it has opened in the past year.” Read more

 

Effort launched to get Target to pull hypodermic pens at ABC 5 WCVB. “Teacher Susan Haight she saw the party packs of pens Sunday at a local Target. She said she found them to be in poor taste and appalling. She said the toys could be dangerous, especially when there are reports of children finding used hypodermic needles on playgrounds.” Read more

 

Food Lion offers $20 coupon incentive at Supermarket News. Read more

 

Amazon Prime causes massive influx of packages, forces college to rethink mailroom by Molly Brown at GeekWire. “University officials put the overload at about 3,000 more packages per day, which kept staff busy sorting until 3 a.m., at the beginning of the school year.” Read more

 

Walmart Rips Its Insurance Companies Over Tracy Morgan Crash Settlement by Erik De La Garza at Courthouse News Service. “We funded the settlement agreements in full but some of the insurance carriers failed to pay their portion of the settlement amount,” (Walmart spokesperson Randy) Hargrove said in an interview with Courthouse News Service. “Really, this lawsuit is about the defendant insurance companies not living up to the requirements of their own policies,” he said.” Read more

 

Amazon gets busy locking in domain names for Internet of things by Barb Darrow at Fortune. Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra

Target’s Only Male Plus-Size Model Zach Miko Hits a Bull’s-Eye for Body Positivity

Woman brought to tears by Home Depot’s generosity to veteran

P&G Ad Banned by U.K. Watchdog

The Twisted Tale of Slinky, the Most Popular Toy Ever

The Entrepreneur Behind Iran’s Billion-Dollar Super Mall

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Eye-on-Retail Tipsheet is created early every weekday morning and read by retail merchants and executives worldwide. We love data, earnings reports, executive presentations and stories off the beaten path that get at what’s really happening in the world of retail. See our website at www.eyeonretail.net

 

Kroger tests ‘smart shelf’ technology by Alexander Coolidge at Cincinnati Enquirer. “Kroger’s test is expanding from a few shelves to most of its Cold Spring store on Crossroads Boulevard. The company is completing the installation of 2,200 Edge shelves…future applications could include providing on-demand nutritional info when shoppers touch the shelf below an item. Kroger officials can easily see a day when the shelves can talk to shoppers’ smart phones. See it in-store / Read more

 

Target uses Minnetonka store for tests while grocery makeover is in progress by Kavita Kumar at Star Tribune. “Target officials say they need more time to hash out and test ideas — 2017 is the new rollout time…When shoppers now enter that store, they see a new kiosk on wheels — reminiscent of a kitchen cart one might find at Williams-Sonoma…The Minnetonka store now has whimsical phrases such as “snack happy” and “ok to crave” above displays of better-for-you snacks.” Read more

 

Amazon jumps to #10 on best global brand list by Ritika Shah at CNBC. See the top 40 list

 

Costco closes in on $5 billion in annual web sales by Mark Brohan at Internet Retailer. “E-commerce grew 20%. Based on that metric Internet Retailer estimates that web sales reached $4.49 billion compared with $3.73 billion in fiscal 2014.” Read more

 

J.C. Penney cuts its pension obligation by Maria Halkias at Dallas News. “J.C. Penney on Friday said it has cut its $5 billion pension obligation by more than 25 percent by making lump-sum offers to 12,000 retirees and by buying annuities for 43,000 retirees.” Read more

 

**A message from Mobee’s Bees – Mobee has over 350,000 GPS tracked, Smartphone enabled ‘Bees’ located within 5 miles of every US retail store. Detect supply chain issues quickly. “Supply Chain Fix Alerts” have resulted in post-alert sales increases of up to +35%. www.getmobee.com Contact dowdy@getmobee.com to request a free pilot.

 

Sam’s Club announces top level job shifts, new focus on merchandise at The City Wire. “Brewer said the four “key elements” of the new focus are:
• Grow with higher household-income members and four high-value business segments;
• Drive relevant merchandise and deliver better value for our members;
• Acquire and retain the right members in the club and increase their spend, and
• Transform the club experience with digital.  Read more / See the org changes

 

Home Depot’s Mike Hibbison Touts Radio at Radio Ink. “Hibbison: “We have radio playing in all of our stores. Our customers like it. It’s in everything we do. It’s the one medium that’s stood the test of time.” Hibbison even gave remotes some love. “We still do them. They work for us. Our Atlanta manager said his traffic tripled after a radio remote. It’s old school but it still works.” Read more

 

Ad Age: Target Reviews Shops as It Expands Internal Programmatic Function by Alexandra Bruell. “(Target) is “focused on expansion of Target’s internal, modern CRM and data-driven marketing capabilities by considering partnerships in the following key areas: platform capability for cross-channel media activation (Programmatic, Social, Video, etc), complementary audience development and measurement and reporting products,” said a Target spokeswoman.” Read more

 

Chicago: Restoration Hardware’s Gold Coast showroom has to be seen to be believed by Brigid Sweeney at Chicago Crain’s. “The Chicago location “is the most controversial and ambitious project we’ve ever undertaken,” he said…an hour before (CEO) Friedman’s plane was about to take off to go back home to California, he decided to swing by the building at 1300 N. Dearborn. “I immediately said, ‘I think this is it,’ ” he remembered. “The building was a mess, but I still had goosebumps.” Read more / See the in-store pics

 

Happened Friday: Home Depot’s Craig Menear Appears on CNBC “Craig Menear, chairman, CEO and president of The Home Depot, was joined by Douglas C. Yearley, Jr., CEO and director of Toll Brothers, Michael B. Polk, president and CEO of Newell Rubbermaid and Chris Peel, COO of Rheem Manufacturing Company, to discuss the future of the home.” See the video / Read more

 

Man Admits to Smuggling $13M in Cigarettes Out of Virginia by Scott MacFarlane at NBC News 4. “I-Team cameras captured footage of Chen making bulk purchases at northern Virginia Sam’s Club and Costco stores. In one of those shopping trips, Chen purchased approximately $70,000 in tobacco.” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra

Mattel’s high-tech attempt to save Barbie this Christmas

These 27 Young Influentials Are Shaking Up Media, Marketing, Tech and Entertainment

Costco Auto predicts GM promotion sales will top 52,000

Washington Post: Paul Allen’s $500 million quest to dissect the mind and code a new one from scratch

Last gun store closing for good in San Francisco

Costco executive strives for happy employees, members

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Eye on Retail Tipsheet is created early every weekday morning and read by retail merchants and executives worldwide. We love data, earnings reports, executive presentations and stories off the beaten path that get at what’s really happening in the world of retail. See the website at www.eyeonretail.net

 

Wal-Mart to cut hundreds of jobs at headquarters by Nathan Layne at Reuters. “Fewer than 500 employees are expected to lose their jobs and an announcement could be made as early as this Friday, according to one of sources, who declined to be named because the move had not been made public.” Read more

 

…Sources: HR reserves rooms for Friday – Wal-Mart department directors told to cancel travel this week or make sure they come to the office on Friday by Sarah Nassauer at WSJ. Read more (Subscription)

 

FY’ 16: Costco to Build 32 New Stores in U.S. and Abroad by Angel Gonzalez at Seattle Times. “That includes the French location, but also two more warehouses in Madrid, Spain’s capital. Galanti conceded that Western Europe is a tough place to get into, “with all the rules, regulation and permitting process, but we’re pretty interested in continuing that process…Australia, which has two-thirds the population of Canada, has only seven locations while Canada has more than 80. “I’m not suggesting that we’re going to have two-thirds of that anytime soon, but we can add a few there,” Galanti said.” Read more

 

Whole Foods to stop selling products made by inmates at AP via LA Times. “The company said the products should be out of its stores by April 2016, if not sooner. Whole Foods said it has sold tilapia, trout and goat cheese produced through a Colorado inmate program at some stores since at least 2011.” Read more

 

Investors Bet On Joaquin With Home Supply Stocks by Dani Burger & Kate Garber at Bloomberg. “The projected path looks like the same projected path as Sandy which was a real benefit for Home Depot and Lowes in the aftermath,” Jaime Katz, an equity analyst at Morningstar Investment Service in Chicago, said by phone.” Read more

 

Chicago: Target’s first two Freshii locations set to open Oct. 12 by Ally Marotti at Chicago Crain’s. “Forty percent of Target customers use the cafes, which are the first thing they see after walking into the store, a Target spokeswoman said in an email…“This was about what does Target Cafe want to be when it grows up?” (Matthew Corrin) said. “The answer was, Target Cafe should be Freshii.” Read more

 

Wal-Mart director talks buying local at NC college by Lauren K. Ohnesorge at Triangle Business Journal. “(Joe Quinn) says he’s still concerned about accessing the domestic talent required to sustain the manufacturing industry. “We are a funny society,” he says. “We just spent 30 years telling our kids they should go to four-year college. … Everybody should get a four-year degree and the reality is, for years, we didn’t pay any attention to the pipeline going into manufacturing.” Read more

 

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Retailers appeal to Capitol Hill regarding microchip mandate by Cory Bennett at The Hill. Read more

 

Twin Cities: Fresh Thyme brings new dynamic to grocery market by Mike Hughlett at Star Tribune. “Fresh Thyme plans to open 10 to 12 stores here in the next four or five years, with deals signed for six more Twin Cities locations beyond Bloomington.” Read more

 

Winco is kicking the tires on smaller stores by Andy Giegerich at Portland Business Journal. “Typically, Winco’s groceries occupy around 80,000 square feet. “We’ve begun doing a few more of these smaller models, as infill projects, and they’re performing well,”(Michael) Read said. “We’re looking for infill opportunities that operate successfully without cannibalizing our other stores.” Read more

 

Instacart hires first CFO amid growing IPO buzz by Riley McDermid at San Francisco Business Times. ““[We are not] being specific about that next phase. It’s just about having more partner retailers, more markets, more customers, and continuing to grow,” (Ravi) Gupta said. “Whether we do that in the private or public market isn’t something we’re talking about right now.” Read more

 

Woodman’s president submits complaint over Meijer’s ‘ridiculous’ low prices by Alison Bauter at Milwaukee Business Journal. “…It includes photos of bulk coffee priced on sale for $4.98. “Normally we don’t turn others into you but: this is ridiculous!!” writes Woodman, who goes by Phil.” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Aerial photos show Amazon’s epic biospheres taking shape in Seattle

Michael Jordan in settlement talks with Jewel over alleged misuse of name

Microsoft to open its largest store ever in NYC, first international flagship site in Sydney

Sneak peek inside new Dillard’s at Liberty Center (Cincinnati)

Amazon denies breaking UK air transport rules

Infographic: The 24 Most Inspirational Company Mission Statements

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Costco Q4 Earnings Call Highlights

Richard Galanti, CFO

FY 2016 – plans are to add up to 32 net new warehouses, including a few business centers in the U.S.

18 to 20 of the planned new locations will be the United States with the remaining in international markets, including our second opening in Spain and our first opening planned for France.

Internationally in local currencies, the strongest results in Australia, Mexico, Taiwan, and Spain.

The better-performing departments were deli, sundries and candy.

Hardlines: low single-digit range, better-performing departments were sporting goods, hardware, and automotive.

Consumer electronics: negative low single-digit year-over-year positive

Softlines: comps were in the low single-digit range, better-performing departments, including home furnishings and domestics.

Fresh foods: comps were in the low single-digit range as well with best results in deli, produce and meat.

We continue to enjoy strong renewal rates, 91% in the U.S. and Canada and 88% worldwide.

Total e-commerce sales came in just under $3.5 billion, up a little over 20% for the year.

I think we feel comfortable that over the next five years we will continue to open 30-ish plus units a year.

Read the full transcript via Seeking Alpha

 

Eye-on-Retail Tipsheet is created early every weekday morning and read by retail merchants and executives worldwide. We love data, earnings reports, executive presentations and stories off the beaten path that get at what’s really happening in the world of retail. See our website at www.eyeonretail.net

 

 

 

 

 

NY Times: As Online Data Theft Escalates, Banks Look to Retailers to Bear the Losses by Julie Creswell. “There’s a lot of misinformation out there about this, much of it based on speculation, rumors and opinion by individuals who don’t have the facts, and we’ll address them in the proper forum,” said Stephen Holmes, a spokesman for Home Depot.” Read more

 

Home Depot again asks court to dismiss banks’ lawsuit over data breach by David Allison at Atlanta Business Chronicle. “Home Depot goes on to say that “The banks guarantee the security of their cards and accounts, but rather than take any responsibility for their role in the losses they allege here, they seek to shift full accountability to Home Depot.” To read Home Depot’s full filing, click here.” Read more

 

Amazon Taps ‘On-Demand’ Workers for One-Hour Deliveries by Greg Bensinger at WSJ. “(Amazon) has quietly rolled out a program in its hometown to ferry merchandise to customers’ homes using a network of independent contractors…Under the new service, called Amazon Flex, people sign up for shifts through an app that prompts them to fetch packages from mini-warehouses and take them to customers’ homes in as little as one hour.” Read more (Subscription)

 

Target Expands List of Chemicals It Wants Out of Consumer Goods by Lauren Coleman-Lochner & Shannon Pettypiece at Bloomberg. “Target made the changes earlier this year without publicizing them, but a Washington-based advocacy group called Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families plans to spotlight the list this week. Though Target isn’t prohibiting the ingredients outright, the move gives consumer-products companies fresh incentives to identify and eliminate controversial substances.” Read more

 

…Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families: …This is fantastic, but the policy unfortunately does not set any specific goals or timeframes for suppliers to transition away from harmful chemicals that they have flagged…We applaud Target for improving their standard and look forward to working with them to continue to expand the program over time.” Read more

 

Amazon Showcases New Baltimore Fulfillment Center by Natalie Sherman at Baltimore Sun. Read more / See the video

 

Whole Foods co-CEO: Food industry experiencing ‘tectonic shift’ by Beth Kowitt at Fortune. “This thing is continuing to move, and you better get on board with it or you’re going to get left behind,” Robb said at Fortune Brainstorm E, an energy and environment conference in Austin.” Read more

 

**A message from Mobee’s Bees – Mobee has over 350,000 GPS tracked, Smartphone enabled ‘Bees’ located within 5 miles of every US retail store. Detect supply chain issues quickly. “Supply Chain Fix Alerts” have resulted in post-alert sales increases of up to +35%. www.getmobee.com Contact dowdy@getmobee.com to request a free pilot.

 

Walmart Doubles Down On Online Grocery Shopping With Curbside Pickup by Sarah Perez at TechCrunch. “Walmart is announcing a slew of new markets are going live with online grocery shopping. These include: Atlanta, Georgia; Charlotte and Fayetteville, N.C.; Salt Lake City and Ogden, Utah; Nashville, Tennessee; Tucson, Arizona; and Colorado Springs, Colorado. Customers in these regions can begin filling their online carts today, but pickup itself begins October 13….the retailer says the plan is to roll out online grocery shopping to even more stores and regions in the weeks ahead, but is not sharing details.” Read more

 

Amazon to open technology hub, corporate office in Detroit at Crain’s Detroit Business. “The company already has about 100 full-time employees in its offices at 150 W. Jefferson Ave…”We are expanding to multiple floors in our current building to accommodate the goals for our presence in Michigan and hiring plans to bring the great local talent to Amazon,” Peter Faricy, vice president for Amazon Marketplace.” Read more

 

Save-A-Lot executive leaves for PetSmart by Ben Unglesbee at St. Louis Business Journal. “Phoenix, Arizona-based PetSmart announced…Rob Anderson as its new senior vice president and CFO. The appointment is effective Oct. 5.” Read more

 

Amazon will employ a full-time horticulturalist for its new plant-filled Seattle biodomes by Jacob Demmitt at GeekWire. “I never could have imagined when I joined the company in 1999 that we would employ a full time horticulturalist to oversee the diverse plant life that we will have in the spheres,” (Jeff) Wilke said. “It will be a place where new possibilities are explored and ideas are formed.” Read more

 

WestJet hires Canadian Tire exec as new chief financial officer at Reuters. Read more

 

Female shoppers no longer trust ads or celebrity endorsements by Elizabeth Segran at Fast Company. “Before buying a product for themselves or their families, women want to hear from everyday people with whom they can relate: 86% of the 1,470 women surveyed said they put the most trust in real peoples’ product and service recommendations.” Read more

 

Man Hacks Amazon Dash Button To Order Pizza Whenever He Wants by Ashlee Kieler at Consumerist. Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra

Walker & Company Raises $24 Million, Will Sell Its Bevel Razors in Target Stores

Fortune: Walmart doubles down on renewable energy with wind deal

Man reprograms Amazon Dash buttons to control car AC

Ex-Walgreen CIO Joins Hub International

Australia: Aldi & Woolworths under fire on supplier deals

Amazon exec touts contributions, avoids NYT controversy in talk to Seattle business leaders

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Eye on Retail Tipsheet is created early every weekday morning and read by retail merchants and executives worldwide. We love data, earnings reports, executive presentations and stories off the beaten path that get at what’s really happening in the world of retail. See the website at www.eyeonretail.net