Archive for month: June, 2016

 

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 by Rick Carew & Alyssa Abkowitz at WSJ. Read more (subscription)

 

Neiman Marcus is looking for a buyer by Lisa Fickenscher & Josh Kosman at NY Post. “Struggling under a toxic combination of a staggering $5 billion debt load and flagging sales, Chief Executive Karen Katz traveled recently to China to meet with potential buyers, according to a source familiar with the situation. While in China, Katz met with executives of Anbang Insurance Group, who have exhibited an eye for US companies. But Anbang passed on an offer to buy all of Neiman, according to the source.” Read more

 

Sports Authority cutting another 373 employees at HQ, CEO has already worked his last day by Alicia Wallace at The Denver Post. “Workers in accounts payable, engineering and delivery supply will be among the last out the door include, the documents show.” Read more

 

Walmart puts emphasis on workplace violence prevention by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “…in 2015 the retailer worked with the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) Center at Texas State University to develop an active shooter awareness effort which included the production of a training video that covers a plan of action designed to empower and instill confidence in people of all ages and abilities and help them understand what to do in an active shooter event.” Read more

 

Millennials re-ignite long dead RV market by Richard Morgan at NY Post. “These are the same kids who stopped RVing with their parents as 16-year-olds,” said Stetler, a 54-year-old single mom who’s been selling and refurbishing RVs for 29 years. “Now they’re back.” Read more

 

Linkedin: The 40 most attractive employers in America (Amazon #5) by Katie Little & Denise Garcia at CNBC. See the list

 

**A message from Pirola Italy – Colorful, designer-inspired ironing boards add spice to any home. Exclusively made in Italy for 45 years, these high-quality boards bring design and excitement to the category. Featuring the Arco board from the Design Line and Luna from the Plus Line. Custom colors and designs available. Retailers request samples at info@shiftmarketinggroup.net. Italy-America new product connection

 

Family Dollar Ex-Chief Merchandising Officer Named Chief Operating Officer at Vitamin Shoppe by Eric Strauss at NJ Biz. “Jason Reiser has more than 30 years of experience in retail management and merchandising, and is a trained pharmacist. His retail executive experience also includes time at Walmart and Sam’s Club.” Read more

 

Monday marks the day you can use Visa at Costco by Coral Garnick at Puget Sound Business Journal. “With the switch in co-branded cards also comes the ability of any Visa holder to shop — and pay with their card — at Costco.” Read more

 

Secret Deal Squeezes Mexico’s Drug Sector by Juan Montes at WSJ. “Wal-Mart de Mexico, the country’s largest retailer, says it saw a range of drug prices start to rise noticeably—by more than 10%—toward the end of 2015…“We decided to not pass on those price increases to our clients, and that led us to stop buying medicines from 13 drugmakers,” said Mr. Ocaranza. The result for Wal-Mart has been a shortage of some medicines like Bayer’s Protect aspirin for heart patients.” Read more (subscription)

 

Terrified shoppers flee aisles as fireworks display erupts into flames at supermarket by Amita Joshi at Mirror. “Ardell Deliz from the fire services told ABC News : “A lot of people thought they were being shot at. This could have been deadly”. Read more / See the video

 

…Search continues for 3 accused of setting fireworks on fire at Phoenix Walmart by Nico Santos at NBC 12 KPNX. “Security footage from inside the store shows the three people of interest walking away as the flames started.” See the pics / Read more

 

Mattel hopes ‘Game Developer Barbie’ will get girls into tech by Lindsay Putman at NY Post. “As opposed to her usual frilly dresses and high-heeled shoes, Game Developer Barbie sports jeans, a jacket, sneakers, dyed hair, hipster glasses, laptop, table and headset — and shockingly none of it is in pink. See the pic

 

The Inside Story on J&J’s Revamped Marketing Mission Under Alison Lewis by Kristina Monllos at Adweek. “One could easily mistake this conference room for that of any other billion-dollar conglomerate—except the relentless branding won’t let you forget where you are….Alison Lewis, the first global chief marketing officer of the consumer packaged-goods giant’s consumer brands, would rather be interviewed here. Her office is messy, she insists, and meeting in the impersonal space allows us to briefly focus on the interior design—specifically, the pillows. “We market everywhere,” Lewis jokes.” Read more

 

Colorado boy, eight, dies after a ‘pharmacy accidentally increased his medication dosage’ to ‘more than one thousand times what he was prescribed’ via Daily Mail. “Doctors tested the amount of Clondine in Jake’s body and the results they found were starling. Jake had been given 30mg of the drug instead of his prescribed .03mg – a 1,000 times increase.” Read more

 

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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 more

 

Walmart to Cut 1,500 Administrative Jobs at Stores by Phil Wahba at Fortune. “The retailer is eliminating three administrative jobs related to accounting and invoicing at each of 500 stores, mostly West of Colorado, in a test to see if those functions can be replaced by workers in the home office and machines.” Read more

 

Kroger Q1 Total Sales +4.7% “Total sales, excluding fuel, increased 7.8% in the first quarter compared to the same period last year. Total sales, excluding fuel and Roundy’s, increased 3.5% in the first quarter compared to the same period last year.” Read the release

 

NYC: Macy’s reaches tentative deal with union via AP. “Macy’s Inc. said Thursday that it worked overnight with the union on negotiations. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, represents 5,000 workers, including 3,500 from the store.” Read more

 

Rite Aid Q1 Comp Sales +0.4% “…consisting of a 0.1 percent increase in pharmacy sales and a 1.2 percent increase in front-end sales.” Read the release

 

WE ALREADY FIXED IT – Whole Foods: Sanitary issues at Massachusetts food plant have been fixed by Will Anderson at Austin Business Journal. “The Austin-based grocery chain said Wednesday it has already corrected the issues highlighted by federal officials…”We were honestly surprised,” Ken Meyer, Whole Foods’ global vice president of operations, said in a statement. “We’ve been in close contact with the FDA…” Read more

 

Visa Slams Walmart in Open Letter Over Credit Card Fees via The Canadian Press. “Walmart is unfairly dragging millions of Canadian consumers into the middle of a business disagreement that can and should be resolved between our companies,” it wrote in an open letter published this morning in several Canadian daily newspapers…“And they are using their size and scale to give themselves an unfair advantage,” said the unsigned letter.” Read more

 

Amazon’s Third Bookstore Will Be In Portland by Leena Rao at Fortune. “According to the listing, the Portland bookstore will be in the Washington Square Mall, on the city’s outskirts. Several job openings are listed on the company’s employment website.” Read more

 

Apple Pay fuels massive sales for vending machines by James Covert at NY Post. “Vending machines advertising Apple Pay increased overall revenue by 22 percent, according to a study begun in March. Contactless purchases — mostly completed through Apple Pay — soared 89 percent.” Read more

 

**A message from Pirola Italy – Colorful, designer-inspired ironing boards add spice to any home. Exclusively made in Italy for 45 years, these high-quality boards bring design and excitement to the category. Featuring the Arco board from the Design Line and Luna from the Plus Line. Custom colors and designs available. Retailers request samples at info@shiftmarketinggroup.net. Italy-America new product connection

 

Walmart CFO Brett Biggs Presents at Deutsche Bank dbAccess Global Consumer Conference Read the transcript

 

Amazon Cuts Shipping Fees in Threat to Alibaba’s U.S. Business by Spencer Soper at Bloomberg. “The new rates will take effect July 1, according to an Amazon e-mail to marketplace sellers obtained by Bloomberg News.” Read more

 

Theranos competitor looks to expand test centers in Safeway stores by Ron Leuty at San Francisco Business Times. “Quest Diagnostics…will open a dozen testing sites in Safeway supermarkets in California and select other states within two months…wouldn’t disclose the specific Safeway stores in which it would open its 400- to 500-square-foot “patient service centers.” It did say those locations would be in California, Texas, Colorado, Virginia and Maryland.” Read more

 

Inside the Macy’s Store of the Future by Phil Wahba at Fortune. “If you want to see how Macy’s plans to shake its deep and lengthy sales funk, look no further than the retailer’s newly renovated store in Easton, Ohio…including new areas where it will give master classes to demonstrate beauty products, larger spaces to allow mannequins to display the latest trends, and an overhauled area for selling athletic wear and wellness products. The store, whose work will be done by June 25th, is serving as a prototype for how a lot of Macy’s stores will look in the future.” Read more

 

Nordstrom family ends controversial aircraft arrangement with namesake retailer by Coral Garnick at Puget Sound Business Journal. “The move came shortly after a federal judged dismissed a lawsuit brought against, Nordstrom, members of the Nordstrom board and companies operated by Nordstrom family members, for allegedly spending millions of company dollars on family-owned planes.” Read more

 

J.C. Penney CEO discusses plans to meet yearly goals at investor conference by Korri Kezar at Dallas Business Journal. “We’re not trying to be number one in market share (in appliances), we’re just trying to be disruptive,” Ellison said…will continue to add other sales categories, including piloting Ashley Furniture merchandise and Empire Today flooring in test markets, adding 60 more Sephora concepts to stores and expanding the space dedicated to window coverings by 25 percent in 500 stores.” Read more

 

Southeastern Grocers Unveils New Banner – Fresco y Más  Read the release

 

JEFF BEZOS Q&A – Jeff Bezos talks space exploration with former astronaut by Kurt Schlosser at GeekWire. Q: “Will you be able to order something on Amazon from up there? A: “Yeah, but you won’t be able to get it delivered up there.” Read the Q&A

 

St.Louis: Teamsters to boycott Schnucks stores in layoff dispute by Lisa Brown at St.Louis Post-Dispatch. “The nearly 7,000 members of Teamsters Local 688 plan to boycott Schnuck Markets following the chain’s decision to lay off more than 200 union warehouse employees and outsource the jobs. The move, announced early Thursday, represents an escalation in the months-long dispute.” Read more

 

Nielsen: 59% Of Global Consumers Enjoy The Hunt For A Good Deal “This is a particularly strong motivator in North America (68%) and Latin America (64%)…Despite the thrill of a good deal, nearly half (46%) of respondents around the world say grocery shopping is something they try to spend as little time as possible doing.” Read the release

 

Walmart Introduces Walmart Pay in Alabama and Georgia

 

Nordstrom Cuts Rack Forecast via Krystina Gustafson at CNBC. “Nordstrom also will slow the pace of opening off-price Rack stores. (CFO Mike) Koppel said the company hoped to have 270 Rack stores open across the U.S. by 2020, a goal that was 10 percent lower than its prior forecast of 300 stores during that timeframe.” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Instacart Is Testing A Pickup-Only Option

Hollywood Reporter gets rare Steven Spielberg interview

Walmart’s smart cart may look like this

Target Donates $250,000 to OneOrlando Fund

Birchbox scales back as VCs snub subscription retail

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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 stores increased 0.8 percent, the largest gain since November. Online retail sales shot up 1.3 percent. Receipts at sporting goods and hobby stores jumped 1.3 percent last month.” Read more

 

EXPENSIVE DRAIN CLEANER – FAA fines Amazon $350,000 for shipping unmarked corrosive drain cleaner by Rachel Nielsen at Puget Sound Business Journal. “The Federal Aviation Administration is taking a firm line with Amazon, saying the online retail giant “has a history of violating” hazardous material regulations.” Read more

 

NY Times: Liberal Returns Policies for Consumers Can Reduce Retail Workers’ Pay by Rachel Abrams. “Earnestine Gay, a longtime worker in the fragrance department at Macy’s in Herald Square, clearly remembers a bottle of perfume that was returned recently. It was practically empty.“There was maybe a spray left,” Ms. Gay, 50, said. Yet Ms. Gay knew that the bottle, bought weeks earlier, would probably lower her commission because it would count against her sales for that week…” Read more

 

Walmart CIO Karenann Terrell Wins Award for Lifetime Achievement in CIO Leadership Read the release

 

WEDNESDAY STRIKE? – Macy’s, retail union still negotiating ahead of potential strike by Teresa Novellino at New York Business Journal. “If there is a strike, nearly 5,000 workers at four New York City stores, including the Herald Square flagship store, Queens Center, Parkchester, and White Plains, could walk off the job as early as Wednesday, June 15.” Read more

 

Target stores to go silent to honor 2 employees slain in Orlando via Pioneer Press. “One of victims worked for (Target) and another worked at a Starbucks inside a Target store. A third Target employee who works at an in-store coffee shop remains in critical condition as a result of the shooting early Sunday at the gay nightclub Pulse.” Read more

 

**A message from Alma Italy – Enjoy the innovative, yet simple elegance of Alma Cookware. Alma Cookware produces non-stick aluminum cookware products and delivers healthy and tasty foods with the security of a professional product. Featuring La Sughiera – the thick-tempered glass lid with upper hole allows for spice-adding and stirring without removing the lid. Featuring Egizia – this warm color pottery connects modern technology with a traditional rural aesthetic. Made in Italy | Website | Italy-America Chamber of Commerce | Retailers request samples at info@shiftmarketinggroup.net

 

NOT OUR FAULT – Alibaba’s Jack Ma: Fakes Better than the Real Thing by David Ramli & Lulu Yilun Chen at Bloomberg. “The problem is that the fake products today, they make better quality, better prices than the real products, the real names,” Ma said in Hangzhou, China. “It’s not the fake products that destroy them, it’s the new business models.” “The exact factories, the exact raw materials, but they do not use their names.” Read more

 

…Jack Ma says Alibaba wants to more than double its revenue to one trillion dollars by 2020 by Catherine Shu at TechCrunch. Read more

 

RS Metrics: Analysis for May showed auto traffic at Target stores was down 1.1 percent versus May of 2015, while traffic at Walmart was up 2.5 percent over the same period by Warner Todd Huston at Breitbart. Read more

 

Petco prepares for spike in fish sales following “Finding Dory” release – touts responsible fishkeeping Read the release

 

Australia: Aldi outspends Coles on advertising as Costco stays on sidelines by Madeleine Heffernan. “Patrick Noone, the head of Costco’s Australian operation, said Costco had no plan to start advertising as the $90 billion grocery sector heats up. “It’s not part of our model to do that,” he said. “As far as I know, we don’t globally.” Read more

 

Kroger Named to Computerworld’s Top 100 Best Places to Work in IT Read the release

 

Jeff Bezos plans first live-stream for Blue Origin’s suborbital spaceflight on Friday by Alan Boyle at GeekWire. “Allowing live video of a rocket launch and landing is old hat for the likes of rival billionaire Elon Musk and his company, SpaceX, but Blue Origin has never done it before.” Read more

 

Wayfair CEO Niraj Shah to Speak at the Goldman Sachs dotCommerce Day on June 15th Read the release

 

Williams-Sonoma announces retirement of Pat Connolly, Chief Strategy and Business Development Officer Read the release

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Former Restoration Hardware, CVS executive takes helm of Tampa firm

Lowes Foods marching into new market

Target staff defends woman breastfeeding when she is verbally assaulted

In-N-Out is facing a yellow pepper shortage

Trump vs. Bezos: Candidate bans Washington Post, gripes again about ‘owners of Amazon’

Europe’s Most Innovative Universities

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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%.” Read the release

 

Hudson’s Bay revenue beats after Europe expansion, online push via Globe & Mail. “I think the stock might come off a little bit but the overall tone is positive,” M Partners analyst Steven Salz said.” Read more

 

Person of interest in custody after explosion in Target bathroom at Pioneer Press via Chicago Tribune. “A woman has been taken into custody Thursday as a person of interest after a small bomb exploded in the bathroom of a Target store the day before, police said. No charges have been filed against the 44-year-old woman, police said in a news release.” Read more

 

Kroger CEO McMullen studying Main & Vine expansion by Steve Watkins at Cincinnati Business Courier. “That store has only been open a couple months,” (CEO McMullen) told me. “We’re still learning what parts of the store the customer likes and what parts the customer isn’t as enamored with. There are already changes we’ve made based on that initial customer feedback and changes in terms of some of the products we carry.” Read more

 

Lowe’s has a Tango AR app for home improvement projects by Billy Steele at Engadget. “…we’re also going to see new augmented reality software that make use of Google’s 3D mapping software tech. Lowe’s…has an app of its own that allows you to place appliances, add accessories and make other virtual tweaks to your house before you begin a project.” 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

 

AMAZON EFFECT – “I would love to be an e-commerce developer at Target right now because you just got a pay raise.” by Kavita Kumar & Jackie Crosby at Star Tribune. “What they’re doing here is part business, part symbolic,” said Gene Munster, a Minneapolis-based analyst who follows Amazon for Piper Jaffray. “The business side is pretty straightforward. Target has smart people that Amazon wants…” Read more

 

Wal-Mart to present at the dbAccess Global Consumer Conference “June 15. Brett Biggs, EVP and Chief Financial Officer of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., will discuss the company’s key initiatives and participate in a Q&A session.” Read the release

 

Ad Age: Wayfair Brings Back the Earworm of All Jingles With New Music Video by Adrianne Pasquarelli. “Called “Wayfair Musical: the Remix,” the single-take commercial features 22 of the Boston-based retailer’s 4,604 employees dancing and promoting the brand to the tune of “Wayfair, you’re just what I need”—one of marketing’s stronger earworms.” Read more

 

Supervalu Files Amendment No. 1 to Form 10 for Possible Spin-off of Save-A-Lot Business “With the filing of Amendment No. 1 to the Form 10, SUPERVALU is continuing preparations to separate Save-A-Lot, although at this time there can be no assurance that a separation of Save-A-Lot will be completed.” Read the release

 

Wendy’s Breach Numbers About to Get Much Worse at Krebs on Security. “When news broke last month that the credit card breach at fast food chain Wendy’s impacted fewer than 300 out of the company’s 5,800 locations, the response from many readers was, “Where’s the Breach?” Today, Wendy’s said the number of stores impacted by the breach is “significantly higher” and that the intrusion may not yet be contained.” Read more

 

With no Cabela’s shareholders meeting planned, little to do but wonder what’s up by Paige Yowell at Omaha World-Herald. “Cabela’s has held its annual shareholders meeting by the second week of June for at least the past eight years. This year, the meeting isn’t even on the calendar. What’s different? The presence of Elliott Management, the New York hedge fund that declared an 11 percent stake in Cabela’s in October and has since pressed for changes…” Read more

 

Australia: Innovative web-based grocers are stealing a march on the major supermarket chains by Sue Mitchell at Sydney Morning Herald. “While Coles and Woolworths dominate the $90 billion grocery sector, accounting for around 75 per cent of supermarket sales, their share of the $1.8 billion online grocery market is estimated to be worth between 50 and 60 per cent.” Read more

 

Marketing Firm YA Hires Former Best Buy IT Chief as First CIO by Angus Loten at WSJ. “Marketing firm Young America, LLC has named former Best Buy senior technology manager Todd Carter as its first chief information officer.” Read more (subscription)

 

Judge confirms Macy’s $3.5M damage award from J.C. Penney in Martha Stewart case via Reuters. Read more

 

Customers join class action lawsuit against Dollar General over oil by Emily Rittman at KMOV 4 St.Louis. “Customers believe Dollar General failed to warn customers the oil can damage modern cars. But Dollar General says the warning is right there on the product.” See the video / Read more

 

How beer in a can became hot by Matt Clinch at CNBC. “The prime example of the recent growth that the industry can manage comes from Colorado’s Oskar Blues Brewery, the first craft brewery in the U.S. to brew and hand-can its beer. After producing 150 barrels of beer in 2002, it has surged to 192,000 barrels last year.” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

This Academy-Award winning actress will portray Theranos founder in movie

Harris Poll Names Restaurant Brands Of The Year

Beck’s Created a 360-Degree Camera That Fits Into a Beer Bottle Cap

College dorms a new front in U.S. battle over transgender rights

Eatery’s apology for death instead touted new desserts

CNBC: The next wave of online shopping is about to hit

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