Tipsheet: Kroger Abandons Alcohol Plan | Target Gets Tough/Hikes Fines | Wmart: Center Store Price War | Lowe’s CMO Jumps Ship

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Target gets tough with vendors to speed up supply chain by Nandita Bose & Nathan Layne at Reuters. “The sixth-largest U.S. retailer by sales plans to tighten deadlines for deliveries to its warehouses, hike fines for late deliveries, and could institute penalties of up to $10,000 for inaccuracies in product information, according to a letter sent to suppliers and obtained by Reuters and an interview with Target’s chief operating officer John Mulligan.” Read more

 

Kroger Drops Plan to Charge Alcohol Suppliers for Shelf Display via Dow Jones Business News. “In addition to dropping the fees it had planned to charge alcohol producers, Kroger said it would hire P.L. Marketing to help design shelving plans for alcohol brands. Kroger spokesman Keith Dailey said the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau’s guideline clarifications meant the company couldn’t work with Southern Wine & Spirits because doing so could violate U.S. alcohol distribution rules.” Read more

 

Canada: A packaged-goods price competition might be on the way, with Walmart leading the charge by Hollie Shaw at Financial Post. “It is now our understanding that Walmart wants to consolidate its everyday low pricing image in the centre of the store by consistently having lower shelf prices on selected major branded items,” Howlett said” Read more

 

Brand Keys: 10 lowest-scoring brands on consumer engagement (Budweiser #8, Whole Foods #10) by Aaron Baar at Media Post. See the list of ten

 

More than 21,000 small businesses can add same-day delivery through Postmates by Jason Del Rey at Recode. “Shopify announced today that businesses that use its software to run their online shops can now give their customers a same-day delivery option through Postmates.” Read more

 

**A message from 2016 Sweets & Snacks Expo – the Show Floor is Sold Out! The 2016 Expo will set an all-time record in volume of confectionery and snack products with more than 720 companies showcasing nearly four acres of product innovation. The Sweets & Snacks Expo is the one place more confectionery and snack retailers and manufacturers come together to get inspired, make connections and find new best sellers. See all of this year’s exhibitors | 2016 New Exhibitors | Taste panel bios | Website

 

Study: Amazon reviews don’t mean as much as you think by Monica Nickelsburg at Geek Wire. “The likelihood that an item with a higher user rating performs objectively better than an item with a lower user rating is only 57 percent,” Bart de Langhe, author of the study and CU-Boulder marketing professor, said in a press release. “A correspondence of 50 percent would be random, so user ratings provide very little insight about objective product performance.” Read more

 

Big 5 Sporting Goods Q1 Comp Sales -1.9% Read the release

 

Millennials Change the Complexion of the Beauty Business by Sharon Terlep at WSJ. “Millennials are much more about immediate results than saving for the future,” Estée Lauder CEO Fabrizio Freda said in an interview. “The 30-year-old today gets more photographs of themselves in a day than their mother did in a year, so they care about what their skin looks like now, not when they are 40.” Read more (subscription)

 

Lowe’s CMO Jumps Ship to Academy Sports via Yahoo. “Academy Sports + Outdoors named Thomas “Tom” Lamb Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer, effective May 23, 2016.” Read the release

 

Sports Authority pushes back on liquidation talk by Molly Armbrister at Denver Business Journal. “Beleaguered Englewood-based sporting-goods retailer Sports Authority insisted in court Tuesday that it is still proceeding with an auction that will sell off its assets later this month, but is not liquidating, according to a Wall Street Journal report.” Read more | Read WSJ article (subscription)

 

Wal-Mart, Kohl’s Among Top Retailers in ABX’s Ad Effectiveness Index by Arthur Zackiewicz at WWD. “For television campaigns, Wal-Mart took the top spot with “Today, I’m Going to Fight Hunger”…For radio, J.C. Penney was the most effective in April with an ABX Index score of 108 for its “Rush into J.C. Penney This Weekend for a Sale So Big…” spot…” Read more

 

Oculus Rift demos are coming to select Best Buys May 7th, with a ‘small number’ available for purchase by Brian Heater at Techcrunch. ““Select” is really the key word here. In fact, a mere 48 locations will be getting the headset to start.” Read more

 

Affluent class’ affinity for Amazon presents long-term obstacle for luxury brands by Forrest Cardamenis at Luxury Daily. “…the percentage of consumers who consider Amazon to be better than competitors is highest among those making at least $250,000. By contrast, only 1 percent rate it worse than competitors.” Read more

 

Analyst: Kroger could consider acquisition after Lucky’s Minnesota expansion says by Steve Watkins at Cincinnati Business Journal. “…Shea said it could indicate Kroger is considering an acquisition that would make it a major player in the Minneapolis/St. Paul market. That means it could be eyeing Supervalu, the Minneapolis-based parent of Cub Foods. Read more

 

UK: Amazon Fresh food deliveries ‘to start this month in UK’ by Sarah Butler at The Guardian. “The online retailer is understood to have been testing fresh food deliveries from its depot in east London and to have asked suppliers to begin deliveries in the next few weeks. One supplier of chilled meals, Bol, told trade magazine the Grocer that its salad bowls would be launching on Amazon Fresh on 18 May.” Read more

 

Kmart offers lifetime guarantee on plants, but take a look at fine print by Lauren Zumbach at Chicago Tribune. “They’ve covered just about everything that’s going to go wrong,” said Ken Johnson, a horticulture educator with the University of Illinois Extension whose specialties include plant pathology.” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Appliance Manufacturers Salute Home Depot’s Bob Baird

Listeria Infections Lead to Larger Recall at Safeway, Costco

Quebec: New language law for signs to be unveiled at Walmart store

Under Armour’s Chief Merchandising Officer Stepping Down

The Site That Brings Italian Boutiques Right to Your Computer

Kroger Denver facility seeking temp workers after strike

Will millennials buy into Lowe’s new social-media pitch?

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Tipsheet: CVS Beats | Macy’s New Agencies | Radio: Lowe’s Creeps on H.Depot | When Prince Ran a Retail Store

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CVS Q1 Comp Sales +4.2% “Pharmacy same store sales rose 5.5%…Front store same store sales increased 0.7%” Read the release

 

…CVS Health 1Q Earnings Beat Expectations via Fox Business. “Net revenue rose 19 percent to $43.22 billion, beating analysts’ estimates of $43 billion.” Read more

 

Amazon finally brings its one-hour Prime Now delivery service to the web by Jason Del Rey at Recode. “Amazon Prime customers can now place orders for one-hour or two-hour delivery on PrimeNow.com.” Read more

 

Macy’s Selects New Creative Agencies by Adrianne Pasquarelli at Ad Age. “Before next Christmas, consumers will see fresh marketing creative from Macy’s. J. Walter Thompson has lost holiday duties for the retailer to New York-based Figliulo & Partners and BBH New York. Macy’s selcted the pair to handle holiday 2016 following a review.” Read more

 

FBI looks for man suspected of attempting to contaminate Whole Foods products with unknown liquid by Christopher Brennan at NY Daily News. “Whole Foods told MLive.com that an employee at the Ann Arbor location had seen the surreptitious spill, and that all the food at the salad bar and hot food bar was thrown out.” Read more

 

Amazon accounts for 60% of U.S. online sales growth in 2015 by Matt Linder at Internet Retailer. “Forrester also estimates that U.S. online retailer sales will grow to more than $530 billion by 2020, nearly a 60% increase from 2015.” Read more

 

**A message from PaintPincher – Never Waste Paint Again! The PaintPincher is an ingenious 8-in-1 paint can spatula that recovers paint, stain, adhesives and more from gallon and quart cans, leaving them 99.9% clean. The PaintPincher is great for Pro and DIY painters and can save up to a cup of paint per gallon! See the video | See the sell sheet | Packaging pic | paintpincher.com Retailers request a sample at info@shiftmarketinggroup.net

 

Canada: Fired Walmart greeter, 78, gets support from angry shoppers by Andrew Huncar at CBC News. “At his van, Ouimet realized he had left the store with a package of toilet paper in his scooter, which he intended to buy. He said he put the toilet paper in his van in order to change his oxygen tank. But when he returned to the store, Ouimet said he realized he had forgotten to take the toilet paper with him.” Read more

 

Walmart Introduces Great Value Organic by Christopher Durham at My Private Brand. “A two page spread introducing of Great Value Organics in the U.S. follows the introduction of Great Value Organics in Canada in late 2015. This U.S. version comes with new packaging that closely follows the expected category cues, while still seeming a bit fresher than most of the existing Great Value sku’s.” See the circular / Read more

 

When Prince ran a retail store by Mark Reilly at St.Paul/Minneapolis Business Journal. “The New Power Generation store, which had sister locations in Los Angeles and London, sold Prince-related merchandise…and showcased souvenirs from his tours and movies. It also functioned as a lab for new distribution methods; apparently the store had a phone inside that would play unreleased songs for people who listened to it.” Read more

 

Meet the Entrepreneurs Trying to Get Target to Think Like a Startup by Polina Marinova at Fortune. “…He took the call to be polite, but deliberately led with the story of getting his nose pierced. “I was really hoping [the recruiter] would say, ‘Yes, that will totally affect your candidacy,’ so I could be like, ‘OK, now I have a legitimate excuse not to talk to you,’” Stringfellow says. “But he said, ‘No, I actually think that’s a perk.’” Read more

 

Top two execs at TJX earned a combined $40M last year by David L. Harris at Boston Business Journal. “(Carol) Meyrowitz, 62, earned $19.6 million…That’s actually down from the $28 million in total pay she earned in 2014.” Read more

 

Radio: Lowe’s Creeps up on Home Depot – Moves from 15th to 4th at Radio Ink. “The top three advertisers for radio remained The Home Depot (60,969), GEICO (37,724), and Walgreens (33,270). Lowe’s aired 28,836 commercials to take the fourth position.” Read more

 

Who buys what on Amazon: An in-depth look at the electronics category by Stefany Zaroban at Internet Retailer. Read more

 

J. Crew’s CEO Lists Tribeca Townhouse for $29.95 Million by Candace Taylor at WSJ. “A Manhattan townhouse owned by J. Crew CEO Millard “Mickey” Drexler is going on the market for $29.95 million, according to listing agents Shaun Osher and Jim St. Andre of Core.” See the 20 pics (subscription)

 

Buffett Defends AmEx CEO’s Decision to End Costco Deal via Dow Jones Business News. “However, Charlie Munger, Berkshire’s vice chairman as well as a board member at Costco, had a different opinion on the AmEx decision regarding Costco. “I would have made the opposite decision,” Mr. Munger said of the AmEx choice. “Costco is so powerful,” he explained to CNBC, “they (AmEx) should have thrown away the rule book.” Read more

 

Cubs wear zany suits, retailer hits home run by Robert Channick at Chicago Tribune. “The first-place Cubs hit the road for Pittsburgh this week with a mandated dress code from manager Joe Maddon — wear a “minimalist zany” suit for the entire trip…A team spokesman said several players went to one supplier — OppoSuits, a 4-year-old online retailer that has established itself as the Brooks Brothers of zany suits.” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Chicago: ‘Active shooter’ at Target was just ‘disturbance’ about transgender restrooms

Seattle May Day protests took place largely near a Costco – protesters were “assailing shopping carts” and flipping over pallets outside the store

Angry Woman In Walmart Throws A Fit Over Man Using Food Stamps

100 Best Brunch Restaurants in America: OpenTable Releases Its 2016 List

Father-of-three ex-Marine shot and killed in front of his wife after trying to stop a gunman who opened fire inside a Walgreens

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Tipsheet: H.Depot CMO Resigns | Prince’s Walgreens Raided | Target Brand Scores Fall

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Authorities raid MN Walgreens where Prince reportedly picked up prescriptions for heavy-duty medications by Nancy Dillon at NY Daily News. “Investigators spent several hours combing through the store’s pharmacy records looking for evidence of doctors involved, drugs dispensed and possible aliases used, (TMZ) said. Unidentified family members reportedly told TMZ that Prince had multiple doctors scoring him prescriptions, including a “personal friend.” Read more

 

Home Depot’s CMO Trish Mueller Resigns by Patrick Coffee at Adweek. “(Kevin Hofmann’s promotion) allows us to further integrate our digital assets to optimize our interconnected retail model,” Holmes told Adweek. “When you look at the growth and expansion of digital marketing, the combination of the physical and digital storefronts and things we are doing to integrate those elements to create an interconnected retail experience for consumers, having Kevin take on the CMO role in addition to his responsibilities as president of online makes a lot of sense.” Read more

 

Amazon Pledges to Bring Same-Day Delivery to Bronx After Outcry by Spencer Soper at Bloomberg. “…the only New York City borough now excluded — following criticism from elected representatives that the company’s data-driven service boundaries unfairly left out minority communities.” Read more

 

Target brand perception falls, but it’s not ‘catastrophic’ by Hadley Malcolm at USA Today. “Before Target made its policy public last week, 42% of people said they would consider shopping there the next time they needed something. As of Wednesday, that number had dropped to 38%, which YouGov CEO Ted Marzilli says is a “significant” shift.” Read more

 

Walgreens Medical Marijuana Website Sparks Speculation by Chuck Ludley at Green Rush Daily. “For many in the medical marijuana community, one section stands out as especially promising. In this section, Walgreens says that “research has also shown marijuana provides pain relief in ways traditional pain medicines don’t.” Read more

 

Former Walmart VP takes over top role at Hallmark via The City Wire. “Former Walmart executive Beth Ward, managing director of Hallmark’s Asia Pacific procurement organization, has been named senior vice president – supply chain. Ward will replace Pete Burney who retired after 25 years with the company.” Read more

 

** Trade show spotlight – 2016 National Stationery Show – The ONLY stationery market in North America!

“I want to keep hearing customers say “you have the best cards in the city”, and the Stationery show is a very efficient way for me to assure that.” Retail chain owner. On May 15-18 at Javits Center, NYC join 10,000 attendees and 800 exhibitors from around the globe for the only stationery show in North America. Last year’s photo gallery | Show categories | Upcoming trends you’ll see | Register

 

J.C. Penney shares could double in price in three years: Barron’s via Reuters. Read more

 

The Nebraska town that said no to Costco chicken plant and 1,100 new jobs because they want to protect their rural way of life via Daily Mail. “John Wiegert…questioned whether Nickerson’s plant would attract legal immigrants from Somalia – more than 1,000 of whom have moved to other Nebraska cities for similar jobs, along with people from Mexico, Central America and Southeast Asia.” Read more

 

Walmart SVP: Tech talent is easy to find, just ‘recruit from within’ by Justine Brown at CIO Dive. “Walmart recently reached out to all of its 2.4 million workers to inform them that the company was seeking people who graduated with certain STEM skills in the last 24 months, according to (Sharon) Wibben. As a result, the company found about 1,000 employees with STEM skills.” Read more

 

Calm Down Internet, Whole Foods’ New ‘Hipster’ Stores Won’t Have Tattoo Parlors by Valentina Zarya at Fortune. Read more

 

Will Lundgren stay at Macy’s helm? by Alexander Coolidge at Cincinnati Enquirer. “Analysts believe investors, the board of directors and Lundgren himself want to see what results from the growth initiatives yield before pushing for any further changes at Macy’s.” Read more

 

GNC CEO: Selling off of company stores only beginning by Paul J. Gough at Pittsburgh Business Times. “GNC has about 9,000 locations nationwide, and more than 2,000 of those locations are within Rite Aids. By the time the Sun deal is completed, the company will own 3,302 GNC locations and there will be 1,163 franchised locations.” Read more

 

Amazon cuts off sales to Iranian embassies after discovering $100k in purchases over 3 years by Todd Bishop at GeekWire. “The purchases included $900 worth of items “for an individual designated under Executive Order 13382,” according to the filing. That executive order is “aimed at freezing the assets of proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and their supporters, and isolating them financially,” explains a U.S. State Department summary.” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Lowe’s Poised As Successor To The Sears Appliance Empire

Wired: 25 Geniuses who are creating the future of business

Phoenix: CVS leases entire 138K square-foot-office building near airport

Costco employee’s Sunday mishap prompts gas leak, evacuation

Bentonville festival to feature 70 films

South Dakota sues Wayfair and three other big online retailers over sales taxes

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