JD.Com Rumored To Acquire Wal-Mart-Owned Yihaodian by Jillian Yue at China Money Network. "According to Chinese media reports, JD.com emerged as the final taker of Yihaodian, for a reported price tag of RMB40 billion (US$6 billion). Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd. was among other interested parties to buy the company. JD.com is to make formal announcements of the deal in a couple of days, says Chinese media reports." Read more   ...The strategy of teaming up with JD.com could give Wal-Mart a better chance of competing in the cutthroat retail industry in China and boost sales in its physical retail locations [...]

  Target hires former Bleacher Report exec for secret 'Goldfish' project by Katharine Grayson at Minneapolis/St.Paul Business Journal. "Target Corp. has hired the former chief technology officer of sports news website Bleacher Report to play a leadership role at its top-secret "Goldfish" project. Target Entrepreneur-In-Residence West Stringfellow welcomed Sam Parnell in a LinkedIn post Wednesday." Read more   Wal-Mart targets new sales of up to $60 billion by 2019: CEO via Reuters. "So sometimes people say Walmart is not really a growth company any more. I want to say: 'Well, if we layer on $50 to $60 billion, would that count, in [...]

  Techstars choose firms for bootcamp at Target this summer by Kavita Kumar at Star Tribune. "The founders of the start-ups and their core teams are heading to Minneapolis later this week and will get started on Monday. They will set up in an 8,000-square-foot space that Target built in its City Center office. About 40 people in all, with two to seven from each company, are expected to spend the summer in Minneapolis to be part of the accelerator." Read more   ...Meet the 10 Startups Picked to Be Part of Target’s First-Ever Accelerator via A Bullseye View Read [...]

  TERROR AT AMARILLO WALMART - 'It was mayhem' - Gunman killed, two hostages rescued by Robert Stein at Amarillo Globe News. "...shots rang out inside an Amarillo Walmart, a disgruntled employee took two hostages, panicked customers fled, an army of area law enforcement descended, the national news media covered and, ultimately, a gunman was left dead. Amarillo police shot and killed 54-year-old Mohammad Moghaddam and rescued two hostages in just a little more than an hour." Read more   ...“I was ready to go to war for my buddy.” - Families of Walmart employees agonized for hours by Lauren Koski at [...]

  Target expedites close of San Antonio store after extensive hail damage by Katie Burke at San Antonio Business Journal. "The store remained open in the aftermath of the damage...customers complained about plastic bags on the cash registers, smells and water covering the floors. I was at the store this past Saturday...but was met with the emptiest, darkest Target I've ever visited. There were empty shelves, clearance signs, piles of clothes hangars and enough inventory to barely fill a small studio apartment." Read more   US retail sales rose 0.5% in May vs. 0.3% increase expected via CNBC. "Sales at clothing [...]

  Walgreens Ends Theranos Relationship, Shutters 40 Blood Test Centers at Forbes. "In a statement released Sunday night, Walgreens said the decision to close its Arizona wellness centers follows an earlier decision in January to cease offering Theranos testing services at its Palo Alto, Calif. location and now “means Walgreens will no longer offer Theranos services at any of its stores.” Read more | Read the release   Camping World files for IPO via MarketWatch. "The RV retailer didn’t specify which stock exchange it would list its shares on, but said they would trade under the symbol CWH." Read more   [...]

  Signs point toward FTC approving Walgreens-Rite Aid merger by Josh Kosman at NY Post. "The deal, if approved, would come with conditions, sources said. The FTC’s biggest concern is the merger will give the combined company too much power when negotiating prices with pharmacy benefit managers sources said." Read more   Hudson's Bay Q1 Comp Sales +4.4% / -1.0% (constant currency) "On a constant currency basis, comparable sales grew 2.3% at DSG and 0.7% at HBC Europe, offset by declines of 4.1% at HBC Off Price and 5.7% at Saks Fifth Avenue, resulting in a total comparable sales decline of 1.0%." [...]

  Amazon to open tech office in downtown Minneapolis by Kavita Kumar at Star Tribune. "Amazon is moving in on Target’s home turf — literally. (Amazon) will open a new technology development center in downtown Minneapolis and will hire about 100 software engineers and managers to fill it." Read more | Press release   At Target’s shareholder meeting comes a question about its bathroom policy by Sarah Halzack at Washington Post. "Justin Danhof, a director at the National Center for Public Policy Research, raised the topic at Target’s Wednesday shareholders’ meeting in Costa Mesa, Calif. Danhof asked Target chief executive Brian Cornell whether he believed that [...]