Tipsheet: Sam’s Club Furner Speaks @ Breakfast | REI’s Tearjerker | Bloomingdale’s Exec Q&A | Jim Beam Strike?

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Sam’s Club John Furner keynote speaker at Bentonville Bella Vista Chamber breakfast by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “Furner said last week at the retailer’s investor conference he was talking with an analyst, and answering a question when the analyst spotted Jet.com founder Marc Lore and quickly followed after him. When asked how Lore might work with Sam’s Club, Furner said running Jet and Walmart’s global ecommerce business was enough to keep Lore busy for a while.” Read more

 

Costco & Nordstrom team with University of Washington to debut new Urban Freight Lab by Taylor Soper at GeekWire. “The lab will initially aim to figure out better ways for e-commerce companies to solve the “last mile” Read more

 

Amazon fired dozens of Boston-area drivers — some think illegally by Dan Adams at Boston Globe. “A local civil rights group on Wednesday accused Amazon.com of illegally using criminal background checks as the sole basis for firing dozens of Boston-area delivery drivers, most of them black and Latino.” Read more

 

Vera Bradley says payment system hacked, delaying website upgrade at Reuters. “Vera Bradley, which had 112 stores and 44 factory outlets at the end of July, said the delay in the upgrade of its website “could impact its ability to generate positive comparable sales growth” in the fourth quarter ending January.” Read more

 

In REI’s Tearjerker, People Carry Out a Fellow Hiker’s Lifelong Dream in Tribute to His Life by Christine Birkner at Adweek. “…His lifelong dream was to hike the Appalachian Trail, but two heart attacks and his untimely death at age 53 left that dream unfulfilled. When his wife emailed producers of The Dirtbag Diaries podcast last year to help rally the outdoor community, they answered the call. And REI tells the story in a new film called Paul’s Boots.” See the videos / Read more

 

You might want to stock up on bourbon before it’s too late by Lisa Fickenscher at NY Post. “Jim Beam lovers may want to stock up on their favorite spirit. Union workers at two of the company’s Kentucky distilleries have voted to authorize a labor strike. If a deal on a new contract can’t be worked out by Friday, the workers may strike the following day.” Read more

 

Canada’s Best Brands 2017 (Home Hardware #2, Canadian Tire #6, Loblaws #7…) at Canadian Business. Top 25 list

 

Internet Retailer: 77% of respondents said they’d be less likely to recommend a retailer if it takes too long to issue a credit by Stefany Zaroban.”Online retailers spend a lot of time and money to turn customers into repeat buyers. But often, it’s how well the merchant handles returns of online orders that can be the deciding factor in keeping a loyal customer. That’s the principal finding in a new survey of 4,722 online buyers in the U.S. and Canada conducted earlier this month…” Read more

 

**A message from Fabe – Pillows hand-crafted in Italy prevent and relieve neck and back pain. Fabe’s Ergo Praxis pillow supports and aligns the head and neck to prevent cervical pain. Created in cooperation with Ludes University in Switzerland – it gets the body in the right position for a good night’s sleep. 100% Made in Italy. Ergo Praxis Specs | Fabe Website | Retailers request samples at info@shiftmarketinggroup.net. Italy-America Product Connection

 

U.K.: Sports Direct CFO steps down by Nina Trentmann at Wall Street Journal. “The move comes days after the company issued its second profit warning in a month and follows recent management changes that saw CEO Dave Forsey step down in September…” Read more (subscription)

 

Dairy farmers have tossed 43 million gallons of excess milk this year by Richard Morgan at NY Post. “It’s the most discarded milk in at least 16 years, according to a report on Wednesday.” Read more

 

How Measure 97 might affect Costco & other Oregon businesses by Jeff Manning at The Oregonian. “John McKay, chief operating officer of Costco’s northern division, declined to divulge what the company pays in Oregon taxes or what it would pay under Measure 97. But if Costco’s 10 Oregon stores meet the company average of $164 million in annual sales, the Costco stores collectively would face a new tax in excess of $40 million a year. “Our operating profit is right at about 2.5 percent,” McKay said. “Our Oregon operations would be operating at a loss. We would have to accept that or pass along the increase to our customers, neither of which we want to do.” Read more

 

Amazon’s online grocery delivery service hits Dallas by Sarah Perez at TechCrunch. Read more

 

CFO of Kum & Go speaks at Iowa State about his unusual path to becoming CFO by Jean Linde at Iowa State Daily. “Bergstrom started the Food Project, in 2010, to focus on boosting food sales by making healthy food products made fresh. Now ranked at the 22nd largest convenient store in the U.S., Kum & Go growth is constant in retail food products with more than 20 percent sales in food.” Read more

 

Hal Lawton, SVP of North America at eBay, named Independent Director at Buffalo Wild Wings Press release

 

Snapchat Geofilters Help Bloomingdale’s Connect with Next Generation of Shoppers at eMarketer. “eMarketer’s Tricia Carr spoke with Jonathan S. Paul, operating vice president of social media and paid media at Bloomingdale’s, about what the high-end retailer achieved through its Snapchat “Swipestakes” and the unprecedented benefits that sponsored geofilters can offer retailers.” Q&A

 

Amazon adding 120,000 workers to meet holiday demand via Fox Business. Read more

 

Ex-Price Chopper Exec Named CIO at Weis Markets Press release

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

This guy went from a cart collector at Target to running a six-figure company by doing this

Home Depot and Walmart Used the Same Actors and Scripts for Their Anti-Union Videos

Trash can supplier to Walmart U.S. works to vertically integrate business model

Miley Cyrus says she lost her Walmart clothing line because of weed

Obama: 7-Eleven wouldn’t hire Trump

Original ‘E.T.’ Artwork Auctioned for Nearly $400,000

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Tipsheet: B.Pro CEO ‘Slimming Down’ | Ex-H.Depot CEO named Delta Chairman | Amazon C-Stores | Blue Apron’s ‘real fight club’

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Here’s Why Walmart Is Upping Its Salaries for Entry-Level Managers via Forbes. “Wal-Mart raised salaries from $45,000 to $48,500 annually for employees including store management, spokesman Randy Hargrove said on Tuesday.” Read more

 

Amazon plans to introduce C-stores by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC. “According to The Wall Street Journal, the e-commerce giant plans to open convenience stores that sell milk, produce and other consumables, as well as drive-up destinations where shoppers can have their orders brought to the car. People familiar with the strategy told the newspaper that shoppers could use their smartphones or screens scattered around the shops to place their orders.” Read more

 

…Wall Street Journal: Amazon is drawing inspiration from discounters like Aldi and Lidl, as well as dollar stores, which are expanding in the U.S. with spartan stores, private-label inventory and few employees, according to the people familiar with the matter. Amazon’s convenience stores may take a year or more to open while the company scouts locations, and may be shelved because of financial or operational concerns, the people said.” Read more (subs.)

 

Bass Pro CEO says he won’t make ‘false promises’ that all jobs are safe at Cabela’s Sidney headquarters by Paige Yowell at Omaha World-Herald. “Johnny Morris made the remarks in closed meetings with Cabela’s employees. The World-Herald obtained an audio recording of the remarks. Morris also addressed a report in Saturday’s World-Herald that quoted finance and legal experts as saying that a Bass Pro pledge to keep “important bases of operations” in Nebraska isn’t legally binding…Morris took issue with the characterization. “We feel our word does have meaning,” he said, “and we don’t take that lightly….Still, he said, “there’s going to be change. There’s going to be some slimming down.” Read more

 

Blue Apron’s busy New Jersey facility a real fight club by James Covert at New York Post. “In one of the scuffles, a male worker in the warehouse’s refrigerated packing room shoved a co-worker’s head into a meal-kit box half-filled with ice, frozen meat and veggies, says Lowell Hensley Jr., who was working one assembly line over. “One had the other in a headlock — he was basically choking him in the box,” Hensley told The Post in a recent interview. “It went on for maybe about six seconds. Then everyone realized they weren’t playing, and some of the other employees broke it up.” Read more

 

Ex-Home Depot CEO Frank Blake takes on Chairman role at Delta Air Lines by David Allison at Atlanta Business Chronicle. Read more

 

FlexJobs: The 250 Companies Offering The Most Flexible-Time Jobs (Macy’s #53, Kroger #146, Whole Foods #218) Top 250 list

 

Amazon won’t accept Fulfillment by Amazon inventory from new clients until after Dec. 19th by Allison Enright at Internet Retailer. Read more

 

Bed Bath & Beyond Paid Just $12 Million for One Kings Lane by Dan Primack at Fortune. “One press report suggested a price tag south of $30 million, but it seems even that estimate was way too high.” Read more

 

**Don’t Miss Retail’s BIG Show in NYC January 15-17 2017! The National Retail Federation’s flagship event offers unparalleled education and one-of-a-kind collegial networking. You’ll connect with more than 33,000 of the industry’s most innovative power players, explore a 250,000 sq. ft. EXPO, hear from 300+ speakers and choose from 100+ sessions. 3,326 retail companies represented | 2016 retail attendees | 2016 Recap | Retail’s BIG Show is all things retail and the EXPO is always free to retailers. Register here

 

A second Amazon drive-up store in Seattle? Filings link tech giant to mystery project at Starbucks HQ by Todd Bishop & Nat Levy at GeekWire. “Amazon is remodeling the former Sears store at the Starbucks headquarters in Seattle with 40,000-square-feet of distribution space, a public retail lobby, and an outdoor canopy strikingly similar to the one going up at Amazon’s future drive-up grocery store in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood.” Read more

 

Ralph Lauren promotes David Lauren to chief innovation officer at Matt Linder at Internet Retailer. Read more

 

Macy’s plans to open LensCrafters outposts in nearly 40 percent of its stores by the end of next year by Lauren Zumbach at Chicago Tribune. Read more

 

Cash register snafu wrecks Rent-A-Center stock by Richard Morgan at NY Post. “Rent-A-Center stock fell nearly 30 percent Tuesday after the rent-to-own retailer said same-store sales in the recently completed third quarter would tumble 12 percent because a new point-of-sale system seemingly blew up in its face.” Read more

 

Walmart donates $2 million towards Hurricane Matthew Relief and Recovery Efforts Press release

 

Food Lion completes $215M store renovation program in the Charlotte region by Ken Elkins at Charlotte Business Journal.” 32 pics / Read more

 

Dick’s Announces Addition of Carrie Underwood to its Houston Grand Opening Celebrations Press release

 

The startup side of Sears: Retail giant’s WallyHome sensor company grows rapidly after acquisition by Todd Bishop at GeekWire. “One of the people who sometimes jumps into the Slack channel for the Seattle-based WallyHome sensor company is a colleague named Eddie — offering support and guidance from his office in the Miami area. That would be Edward S. Lampert, CEO of Sears Holdings Corp., which acquired WallyHome a year ago.” Read more

 

Jo-Ann Promotes Sharyn Hejcl to Chief Merchandising Officer “Prior to joining Jo-Ann, Hejcl held roles of increasing responsibility with Big Lots, Sears Holdings, Kirkland Home and Bed, Bath & Beyond.” Press release

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Drive-thru grocery concept to open first Houston-area store

Tax sugary drinks to fight obesity and diabetes, World Health Organization says

Amazon offers streaming music services that cost less than $10 a month

This loyal J.C. Penney employee retires after 67 years

How artificial intelligence is changing online retail forever

Boeing may open Asia conversion site to quickly add 767s to Amazon’s cargo fleet

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Tipsheet: Wmart Brings Rum to AR | Mom Gives Birth @ Register 11 | Half of Malls Closed in 2 Yrs? | Slow Returns

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Amazon’s Prime Air 767s may be en route to Charlotte airport by Ken Elkins at Charlotte Business Journal. “Amazon is finalizing plans for a 397,800-square-foot distribution center at 10240 Old Dowd Road for a “receiving center.” That’s within 5 miles of Charlotte Douglas.” Read more

 

Analysts not convinced that a Kroger-Whole Foods deal will happen by Steve Watkins at Cincinnati Business Courier. “Kroger’s same-store sales growth declined during the second quarter…“That makes it harder to service debt in a deflationary environment,” Meyer said. “I think it would be unlikely Kroger would be interested.” Meyer put the likelihood at less than 50 percent.” Read more

 

Walmart and supplier bring rum production line to Arkansas by Aric Mitchell at The City Wire. “Cindi Marsiglio, vice president of U.S. Manufacturing for Wal-Mart: “I have been in factories around Arkansas since we’ve begun this initiative, and I’ve seen areas for growth and opportunity – job by job, factory by factory. Here today (with the Malibu Rum relocation) we have 6,000 shift hours, which translates into more shift hours (for existing employees) and seasonal into full-time employment.” Read more

 

“IT’S TIME TO STOP THE MADNESS” – Electronics retailer Hhgregg to close for Thanksgiving at AP via CNBC. Read more

 

Amazon Wants to Get College Students Addicted to Prime by Spencer Soper at Bloomberg. “The common thread with all of the schools so far is that their graduates typically earn more than the median for college graduates, providing Amazon with a pipeline of future customers with high earning potential. Amazon says it doesn’t consider grads’ income when selecting schools.” Read more

 

Internet Retailer: Study of 30 leading e-retailers finds that those merchants, on average, process returns in eight days by Kat Fay at Internet Retailer. “Apart from Sears Hometown, the longest refund time goes to Home Depot, which took 51 days to process a credit, followed by Williams-Sonoma at 44 days.” See 30 retailers ranked

 

Schnucks completes controversial warehouse layoffs by Lisa Brown at St.Louis Post Dispatch. “Last night was the last night for our 190 brothers & sisters in the Schnucks warehouse,” Local 688 posted Monday on Twitter. “They’ve been terminated for greed. #BoycottSchnucks.” Read more

 

Report: Nearly half of all shopping malls in the US could close in the next few years by Lisa Fickenscher at NY Post. “On the flip side, 29 percent of US malls were considered top-notch, according to Steve Jellinek, the author of the report.” 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 | Sell sheet | paintpincher.com | Retailers request a sample at info@shiftmarketinggroup.net

 

Amazon ‘Catalyst’ program reveals the first university projects it’s backing by Nat Levy at GeekWire. See the 12 winners so far

 

The U.K. is now the least expensive market in the world for a bevy of luxury goods, according to analysts by Saabira Chaudhuri & Simon Zekaria at Wall Street Journal. “Spending by foreigners on items for which buyers seek tax refunds—ordinarily big-ticket items—surged more than 36% in August in the U.K.” Read more (subscription)

 

NRF announces the 2016 recipients of “Dream Big” scholarships “Nordstrom, Whole Foods Market, West Elm, dressbarn, The Container Store and The Kroger Co., surprised their Dream BIG scholarship recipients in their workplaces to give them the big news.” Press release | Watch the video for each surprise

 

Ross Stores Opens 34 New Locations Press release

 

Walmart Invites America to a Free Health Check-Up on Saturday Press release

 

Cabela’s execs will face shareholders at long-delayed annual meeting, which could be the company’s last by Paige Yowell at Omaha World Herald. “The fact that they announced the date of the annual meeting in an SEC filing rather than in a press release is telling,” said Rob Berick…“I don’t think this is one where they are going to be disappointed with a low turnout.” Read more

 

“REGISTER 11 WILL NEVER BE THE SAME” – Mother gives birth in checkout line at Walmart by Aubrey McKay at Fox 13 Salt Lake. “The funny thing is that the customer was down on her knees and she insisted on paying for her merchandise and we’re like you know that’s just not important. You know, we were going to take care of her on it,” Haight said.” Read more

 

Target’s Latest Home Collab: Modern by Dwell Magazine at A Bullseye View. See the pics / Read more

 

“Big soda” sponsored 96 health groups — a big conflict of interest, study says at Washington Post via Denver Post. “The study remarked that it was particularly surprising that the ADA and JDRF were on the list, “given the established link between diabetes and soda consumption.” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Former Target exec launching a treadmill-focused fitness studio

Metallica’s Kirk Hammett Gets Strikingly Personal in This Video for Guitar Strings

Co-founder of Polaris dies at 93

$25 ‘Golden Girls’ action figures sell out quickly, land on eBay with huge markup

Chick-fil-A is the most polite restaurant chain 

Mom and daughter’s invention – a self-acupressure device – to be sold at Wal-Mart

Forman Mills founder explains why he sold out after 31 years

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Tipsheet: JCP Tests Greeters | Amazon Kills $299 Groc Deliv Fee | Nordstrom’s ‘Reserve & Try In Store’

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Holiday Sales Forecasts About as Real as Santa by Shelly Banjo at Bloomberg. “Fewer than half of U.S. retail chains saw sales increase in the second quarter from a year earlier, the lowest percentage since the end of the recession in 2009. The downbeat results are at odds with some overwhelmingly rosy predictions for the upcoming holiday season…” Read more

 

JCPenney has started stationing greeters at the entrances of stores by Lisa Fickenscher at NY Post. “Penney’s greeters are already full-time employees who are being redeployed to front-of-the-store duty for just two hours of their shift, according to one employee who is serving in such a capacity. The use of greeters is said to be a test and is being deployed just in the Northeast region, the employees said.” Read more

 

Amazon finally just proved it’s very serious about grocery delivery by Jason Del Rey at Recode. “How? The steep $299 up-front fee is gone…instituted a single, more reasonable pricing model for the Amazon Fresh service: A monthly fee of $14.99, only available to existing Prime members.” Read more

 

Macy’s closing more stores than rivals by Andy Brownfield at Cincinnati Business Courier. “According to a new report by RBC Capital Markets, Macy’s will have closed 186 locations once it completes the closure of 100 stores early next year. That’s second only to Sears.” Read more

 

Private equity firm fires two longtime Rue21 execs by Josh Iosman at NY Post. “They called [Senior VP] Kim Reynolds after dinner and said, ‘Don’t come in tomorrow.’ ” Reynolds had run the chain’s 1,194 stores in 48 states, with most every decision coming through her. “She was the person in the trenches,” the source said, adding that after she was given the boot over the phone, “Kim’s door was padlocked. I don’t think they were allowed back to their offices.” Read more

 

Group XP’s Experience Index: Top 30 Global Brands (Pampers #1, Amazon #16, Under Armour #29) by Kristina Monllos at Adweek. See top 30 list

 

**A message from Black Flag® – We take no prisoners. In the battle against indoor and outdoor pests, it’s every man for himself. Arm yourself with Black Flag insect and rodent controls. Our tough, no-nonsense formulas are packed with a powerful punch to make short work of home insect invaders. Whether you’re battling crawling, flying or stinging insects or fending off mice, when the flag flies, pests die. Let it Fly. See the ‘Sarge’ videos | Facebook page

 

New Nordstrom feature ‘Reserve & Try In Store’ lets customers select items online, try them on in person by Kurt Schlosser at GeekWire. “In the store, the customer visits a new department called Order Pickup, developed for the purpose of online orders and reservations. Here they will find their name on the door of a pre-set fitting room, and inside are the items selected on Reserve & Try. Users can select up to 10 things and they’re held until the store closes the next day.” Read more

 

Amazon’s secretive drive-up grocery store takes shape in Seattle neighborhood by Todd Bishop at GeekWire. “Workers were busy Saturday morning at Amazon’s future drive-up grocery store in Seattle…Wood paneling is being installed on multiple sides of the renovated building, and workers are constructing the frame of what appears to be a large awning to cover the future spaces where customers will park to pick up orders they’ve made online.” See the construction pics

 

Macy’s plans to launch an e-commerce site in China in 2017 by Frank Tong at Internet Retailer. “Selling online via Alibaba’s Tmall Global, Macys’ says it has attracted 300,000 fans.” Read more

 

How people are using the Amazon Echo: New study reveals surprising patterns by Todd Bishop at GeekWire. “…the numbers show that Amazon still has some work to do if it wants the Echo to fuel its broader e-commerce business. More than 45 percent of respondents used the Echo to add an item to a shopping list, but just 10 percent used that feature repeatedly.” Read more

 

How to Build a Multi-Million Dollar Fashion Empire With a Scarf by Kim Bhasin at Bloomberg. “The 27-year-old designer, who started her business four years ago, finds herself behind the controls of a budding, very profitable scarf empire… Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, Neiman Marcus, and Bergdorf Goodman are selling her scarves. Her biggest markets are in the U.K. and Japan, but through those retailers, Beecham now has her sights on the U.S.” Read more

 

Europe to Push New Security Rules Amid IoT Mess at Krebs on Security. Read more

 

Amazon’s hiring hunger transforming Seattle economy by Angel Gonzalez at Seattle Times. “Washington’s Employment Security Department says that between May and August, Amazon.com posted 11,042 job openings online in King County, double the number from the same period last year. The runner-up was the University of Washington, with 2,757. Microsoft had 1,611.” Read more

 

Denim is gaining on yoga pants, and athleisure needs to ‘watch out’ by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC. “…search data from Google Trends shows that interest in denim is picking up. Meanwhile, fewer shoppers are on the hunt for yoga pants…”We believe that the athleisure trend is plateauing, and we expect more conservative growth going forward,” he said.” See the chart / Read more

 

Buffalo Wild Wings served a fried chicken head to an NFL player by Sarah Whitten at CNBC. See the pic / Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Samsung needs to face reality: The Galaxy Note 7 is done for.

Target charges about 15% more than Walmart for groceries

The World’s Highest-Paid TV Show Hosts: Dr. Phil Leads With $88 Million

Nike adds 6th building to expansion, commits to ambitious renewable plan

Science, safety and sales: The hockey helmet marketing problem

Apple Watch banned from UK cabinet meetings over Russian hacking fears

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Tipsheet: Nordstrom Pulls Drug-Themed Clothing | Kroger Buy W.Foods? | Wmart Balks at $600M Fine | Target Oust Wells CEO?

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Wal-Mart Balks at Paying $600-Million-Plus in Bribery Case by Tom Schoenberg & Matt Robinson at Bloomberg. “With the impasse, prosecutors have gone back to elicit more evidence from witnesses about alleged bribe-paying in Mexico, the people said. That will put additional pressure on the company to settle. Some of the people familiar with the matter said the U.S. could propose a penalty well above $600 million.” Read more

 

Could Kroger buy out Whole Foods? by Alexander Coolidge at Cincinnati Enquirer. “Industry speculation that Kroger is mulling a takeover of Whole Foods Market powered the stock in both companies Thursday…” Read more

 

Nordstrom reverses course, yanks controversial drug-themed clothing by Moschino by Mary Lynn Smith at Star Tribune. “A Nordstrom official confirmed via a one-sentence e-mail on Thursday that the retailer will no longer offer the drug-themed collection. The move reverses the retailer’s decision earlier this week to keep the items in its stores. Saks, which appears to still offer the Capsule clothing line, has not responded to a request for comment.” Read more

 

Amazon Looms Quietly in Digital Ad Landscape by Mike Shields at Wall Street Journal. “They’ve been operating for a few years functionally in stealth mode. You have to ask the right people, or pull the right chains to get an understanding of what they’re doing,” said Evan Hanlon, director of strategy & platforms at the ad buying giant GroupM.” Read more (subscription)

 

Retailers Are Now Blaming the Election for Poor Sales by Matthew Townsend at Bloomberg. “They are reaching,” Perkins said. “I don’t think it’s affecting moms as they go out and do their weekly shopping. If it’s something you do on a regular basis, you’re going to stop doing it because you’re worried about which candidate is going to win? It doesn’t seem to be affecting Amazon’s sales.” Read more

 

Gap September Comp Sales -3.0% “Gap Global: negative 10 percent…Banana Republic Global: negative 9 percent…Old Navy Global: positive 4 percent.” Press release

 

Grocery e-retailers may soon be able to process food stamps online by James Melton at Internet Retailer. “Because of the inclusion of additional EBT processors, the deadline for retailers to submit letters of intent, which originally was Sept. 30, has been extended to Oct. 7. The deadline for application forms has been extended to Nov. 7 from Oct. 31. The USDA still expects to select participating retailers by Dec. 31.” 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 the Luna board from the Plus Line. Custom colors and designs available. Request samples at info@shiftmarketinggroup.net. Italy-America new product connection

 

Investor community presses Wal-Mart execs for specifics on operating strategy, comp sales by Kim Souza at The City Wire. Read more

 

Bed Bath & Beyond Tests a Paid Membership Model by Imani Moise at Wall Street Journal. “… the home goods retailer is testing a membership model that for $29 a year offers a 20% discount on all purchases and free shipping.” Read more (subscription)

 

Fred’s September Comp Sales -4.9% Press release

 

Target urged to oust Wells CEO from retailer’s board as scandal intensifies by George Avalos at The Mercury News. “In quarter-page advertisement in the Star Tribune, Aaron Epstein urged Minneapolis-based Target to seek John Stumpf’s immediate resignation “to preserve the positive legacy bequeathed to us by our company’s (Target’s) founders.” Read more

 

Publix makes $1 million storm relief donation as Hurricane Matthew approaches Florida by Ashley Gribal Kritzer at Tampa Bay Business Journal. Read more

 

Fans wait overnight to purchase MAC’s Selena makeup line by Corilyn Shropshire at Chicago Tribune. “MAC Cosmetics’ new makeup line honoring Latin pop icon Selena Quintanilla-Perez drew a long line of about 100 people at one Chicago store Thursday…Alonso said she was hungry, thirsty and hadn’t been to the bathroom. She said she camped out for 12 hours — since 8:30 p.m. Wednesday — to ensure she could spend $377 to buy big chunk of the collection.” Read more

 

Home Depot Names Priceline CEO Jeff Boyd to Its Board of Directors Press release

 

Amazon gives $10 million to expand University of Washington’s computer science program by Ashley Stewart at Puget Sound Business Journal. “…to help the school as much as double the number of computer science students it trains each year.” Read more

 

Lawsuit Accuses Williams-Sonoma Of Selling Cheap Sheets At Steep Prices by Vanessa McGrady at Forbes. Read more

 

Save-A-Lot revamps as rivals vie for market share by Lisa Brown at St. Louis Post Dispatch. “As it faces a possible sale or spinoff, the Save-A-Lot grocery store chain is boosting the number of national brands on its shelves, remodeling to highlight fresh foods and adding stores…” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Hy-Vee buys site for Minneapolis-area store

Bob Evans resists venture into packaged food business

First fans in at Paisley Park see studios, handwritten notes — and Prince’s ashes

Hamleys Toy Store Targets China as One-Child Limit Comes to End

Testing out Amazon’s ‘Internet of Things’ button requires infinite patience

Crate and Barrel Is Using This Squarespace-like Tool to Make Buzzy Social Videos

Shyp Goes Nationwide By Letting You Comparison-Shop Shipping Services

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Tipsheet: Wmart Pumps Brakes | Costco +1.0% | Amazon Drivers Sue | Menard, Jr #46 Richest

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Costco September Comp Sales +1.0% “Costco reported net sales of $11.06 billion for the month of September, the five weeks ended October 2, 2016, an increase of three percent from $10.75 billion during the similar period last year.” Press release

 

PUMP THE BRAKES – Wal-Mart plans to slow store openings, to invest in digital by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC. “Wal-Mart will open 130 U.S. stores, down from its original projection for 135 to 155. And next year, it will open just 55 U.S. stores. That breaks down into 35 supercenters and 20 of its smaller Neighborhood Markets.” Read more

 

TODAY – Walmart webcasts its 2016 Investment Community Meeting  Watch webcast

 

Amazon delivery drivers sue company over job status by Angel Gonzalez at Seattle Times. “The complaint, filed in federal court in Seattle, was brought forth by the same attorney who led two class-action lawsuits against Uber by discontented drivers. These lawsuits yielded a proposed $100 million settlement that’s still fighting its way through the court system.” Read more

 

Wal-Mart’s next move against Amazon: More warehouses, faster shipping by Nandita Bose at Reuters. “(Walmart) is now on track to double the number of giant warehouses dedicated to online sales to 10 by the end of 2016, according to Justen Traweek, vice-president of e-commerce supply chain and fulfillment. That pace is faster than the 8 large warehouses that industry consultants expected Wal-Mart to build by the end of 2017.” Read more

 

$13.75 MILLION IN DAMAGES – Costco has to pay even more now for selling fake Tiffany rings by Lisa Fickenscher at NY Post. “A New York jury walloped the discounter by ordering it to pay Tiffany & Co. a super-sized award of $13.75 million in damages — $5.5 million last week and an additional $8.25 million in punitive damages on Wednesday.” Read more

 

Forbes 400 – 2016 (Bezos #2, Menard Jr. #46, Hank & Doug Meijer #70, Trump #156) Top 400 list

 

Woman settles with Target over horrific shopping-cart toss by Emily Saul at NY Post “Philanthropist Marion Hedges, who has spent the last four years putting her life back together after the 2011 incident left her brain-damaged, is working out a settlement with Target, the corporation’s attorney Sal DeLuca told The Post on Wednesday.” Read more

 

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DEJA VU – Inside the Demise of Lands’ End CEO by Jennifer Reingold at Fortune. “I couldn’t help feeling a sense of déjà vu at the news. It’s the sequel to a movie we’ve seen before, in which a glamorous outsider takes the reins at a struggling retailer and, with full board support, promises to move it from middle-of-the-road to upscale. Customers and employees rebel, short-term results plummet and the board panics, abandoning the new strategy before it has a chance to fail—or to succeed.” Read more

 

Bezos Tops Vanity Fair New Establishment List Read more

 

MONDAY – Wal-Mart to beta test internal incubator for six entrepreneurial startups in own backyard by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “It’s a venture with Grit Studio, the incubator and startup effort spearheaded by former Wal-Mart executive Rick Webb…He said the Walton family is providing Grit Studio the office and meeting space on S.E. 5th St., in downtown Bentonville, just a few blocks from the retailer’s home office and close to its technology center.” Read more

 

7-Eleven Seeks North American Expansion, in Bow to Daniel Loeb by Megumi Fujikawa at Wall Street Journal. “Mr. Loeb, whose Third Point fund owns hundreds of millions of dollars in Seven & i Holdings common shares, had advocated for the company to focus on its convenience stores and turn away from department stores…Seven & i plans to increase its store count in North America to 10,000 by fiscal 2019; at the end of June, it had nearly 8,900 stores in the U.S. and Canada.” Read more (subscription)

 

Ex-Amazon Exec Named Advance Auto Parts CFO Press release

 

THE TRUST FALL – How Walmart plans to transform the way we buy groceries by Sarah Halzack at Washington Post. “Walmart holds produce tastings for team members so they know what they’re selecting for customers. There’s a reason that the instruction focuses so heavily on getting fresh foods right: Gilmore says that, for shoppers, letting Walmart pick out their fruit, vegetables and meat is “the trust fall,” the moment when they count on a stranger to understand what they want.” Read more

 

Niche Maternity Retailers Surge As Millennial Moms Redefine The Category by Rina Raphael at Fast Company. “What used to be limited to a few players is now a battleground for multiple competitors reaching out to moms-to-be. Sales at former strongholds, traditional brick-and-mortar maternity stores, are down and expected to further decline. Destination Maternity, which accounts for 20% of the market, will close 25 to 30 stores in 2016.” Read more

 

Wal-Mart increases stake in China’s JD.com at Fox Business. “In a regulatory filing late Wednesday, Wal-Mart said that it has upped its stake in JD.com to 10.8 percent from 5.9 percent.” Read more

 

Philip Morris’s Cigarette Alternative Could Hit U.S. in 2017 by Jennifer Kaplan at Bloomberg. “IQOS, which heats tobacco without setting it on fire, could be released as soon as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gives approval for it to be sold, Chief Executive Officer Andre Calantzopoulos said in an interview Wednesday at the company’s offices in Lausanne, Switzerland.” Read more

 

Venezuela Is Pawning Pieces of Iconic American Brand Citgo to Survive by Joe Carroll at Bloomberg. “This is the first time I’ve ever encountered a situation like this,” said Hongtao Jiang, emerging markets strategist at Deutsche Bank AG. “It’s not clear to anyone whether this is 100 percent safe.” Read more

 

Dialect maps show how Americans speak differently across the country (soda vs. pop) at Daily Mail. See the maps

 

Target plans to test vertical farm ‘in-store growing environments’ in 2017 by Dana Varinsky at Business Insider. “Down the road, it’s something where potentially part of our food supply that we have on our shelves is stuff that we’ve grown ourselves,” Casey Carl, Target’s chief strategy and innovation officer, tells Business Insider.” Read more

 

Before its Cabela’s deal is done, Bass Pro Shops must face antitrust scrutiny by Barbara Soderlin at Omaha World-Herald. “Will the Cabela’s deal trigger that kind of scrutiny? It wouldn’t be surprising, said Amanda Wait, a partner at the firm and a former attorney at the Federal Trade Commission, the agency likely to review this case.” Read more

 

Amazon expanding outside Seattle with giant new Bellevue office lease by Nat Levy at GeekWire. “It is unclear why Amazon is establishing a presence east of Lake Washington…it could be an attempt to pick off talent from Expedia, where many employees are looking at longer commute times once the company moves from Bellevue to the Seatte waterfront in 2019.” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Amazon is driving 80% of e-commerce growth for publicly traded web retailers

Evine Live scouting NYC, Beverly Hills locales in bid to attract A-listers

Nearly 70% of young adults in U.S. live with their parents

Warby Parker eyes second retail store in Boston

Theranos shutting down wellness centers

Kohl’s launches Kohl’s Pay nationwide

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Tipsheet: FL Empty Shelves | Frank Blake Honored | Springsteen Store Frenzy | Amazon HQ Peek | Target Manhattan

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Deadly hurricane sends Florida residents flocking to buy supplies at Daily Mail. “People along the East Coast entered better-safe-than-sorry mode Tuesday, flocking to hardware stores, grocery aisles and gas stations as Hurricane Matthew marched toward Florida.” See pics / Read more

 

Former Home Depot CEO Frank Blake wins Lifetime Achievement Award by Maria Saporta at Atlanta Business Chronicle. “Blake was introduced by his wife, Liz Blake, who spoke of his dedication to his job and how he would get up at 5 a.m. on Saturday mornings to go get training in different departments at the Home Depot.” Read more

 

Thank Clinton and Trump for Pushing Back Christmas Creep This Year by Adrianne Pasquarelli at Ad Age. “NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz found that, starting in September through Election Day, ad space, particularly in swing states, is running low on inventory and screen time will be competitive for any non-political organizations, according to an NRF spokeswoman. After Nov. 8, holiday ads are expected to ramp up in aggression.” Read more

 

Target’s New Manhattan Location Is A Big Test for Its Smaller-Store Strategy by Phil Wahba at Fortune. “…it opens its first small-format store in New York on Wednesday…The Manhattan store is in the heart of the affluent TriBeCa district near the World Trade Center…Along with three other smaller stores opening this week in other cities, the Lower Manhattan opening brings to 27 the number of such stores Target has opened since 2012.” Read more

 

Wall Street Journal: Target Goes After Millennials With Small, Focused Stores by Khadeeja Safdar. “A store in downtown Manhattan is interesting, but is it scalable?” said Barclays analyst Matthew McClintock. “Wal-Mart couldn’t make it work with a better logistical network. It makes you wonder how Target is going to succeed.” Read more (subscription)

 

Lowe’s Names 2016 Innovation and Vendor Partners of the Year Press release

 

2016 World Dairy Expo Championship Product Contest Top 3 winners in 75 categories

 

TEXAS – Buc-ee’s reportedly calls off first out-of-state location by Olivia Pusinelli at Houston Business Journal. “Buc-ee’s would have anchored the Greens at Millerville, a mixed-use development at Interstate 12 and Millerville Road in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.” Read more

 

PetSmart Opens 11 New Stores in Q2 2016 Press release

 

BRUCE – Springsteen drives thousands of Portland fans into a frenzy at book store by Andy Giegerich at Portland Business Journal. “As a testament to Springsteen’s popularity, the website crashed the first day tickets went on sale. Two days later, it was back up and tickets sold out almost immediately. Fans came from all over the country for the chance to shake hands with their 67-year-old idol.” Read more | 10 pics

 

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More Zika mosquitoes in Miami Beach as state reports six new local infections by Daniel Chang at Miami Herald. “Prior to Sept. 28, Miami-Dade officials refused to identify addresses where they had captured the infected insects, citing a state statute that allows the information to be kept confidential but does not require secrecy. It took a Miami Herald lawsuit for Miami Beach residents to learn they were living beside Zika mosquitoes.” Read more

 

Camping World moves toward $300 million IPO by Will Racke at Chicago Business Journal. “According to an amended filing placed Monday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company is seeking to raise up to $300 million by selling 11.4 million shares of Class A stock at a price of $21 per share to $23 per share.” Read more

 

Take a rare peek inside Amazon’s sprawling South Lake Union campus by Casey Coombs at Puget Sound Business Journal. “The Amazon culture of frugality is evident throughout the newly built offices. Amazonians still work on wooden desks made from old doors, but they no longer build them themselves.” See the 21 pics

 

Sears’s Craftsman Said to Get Interest From Black & Decker at Bloomberg. “Sears Holdings Corp.’s sale of its Craftsman tool business has attracted bidders including Stanley Black & Decker Inc. and Hong Kong’s Techtronic Industries Co., people with knowledge of the matter said…Final bids, which may value the brand at about $2 billion, are due at the end of the month.” Read more

 

Wall Street Journal: Cabela’s Deal Spurs Uncertainty for Small Nebraska Town by Sara Germano. Read more (subscription)

 

How Wal-Mart is eating Target’s lunch in the U.S. at MarketWatch. “While we think it’s still early yet, we believe that Walmart’s big upfront spend to grow online, among other steps in recent months, is showing early signs of promise,” said a team of Moody’s analysts led by Charles O’Shea. “Target, in contrast, has fallen harder and has much more work to do before it can regain its footing.” Read more

 

Toys ‘R’ Us sells FAO Schwarz brand to ThreeSixty Group by Teresa Novellino at New York Business Journal. Read more

 

Architect behind Amazon’s massive ‘biospheres’ says they aren’t for show by Monica Nickelsburg at GeekWire. “It’s not a set piece,” he said on stage at the GeekWire Summit Tuesday. “It’s not a showpiece. It’s not a showcase for people to come in from the outside. This is for the people that work at Amazon.” Read more

 

Online holiday sales head for double-digit growth by Tracy Maple at Internet Retailer. “The National Retail Federation projects non-store holiday sales will increase up to 10%, while Deloitte says e-commerce could grow 19% compared with last year.” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Rolls-Royce Made a Picnic Basket That Costs $46,000

Brookstone hires an e-commerce veteran as its new CEO

Panasonic reveals the ‘invisible’ TV: Prototype OLED screen turns into transparent glass when not in use

Harvard University dining hall workers go on strike

Newell has dropped metro Atlanta HQ; will now shed businesses, workers

Meijer Shares Early Glimpse of 2016 Holiday Season’s Top 10 Toys

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Tipsheet: Lowe’s Cuts 95 IT Jobs | Wmart Shutters 3 | Target in PR Week | Dick’s New CFO

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Lowe’s cuts 95 corporate IT jobs by Katherine Peralta at Charlotte Observer. “Sixty of those positions are at its corporate headquarters in Mooresville, and the remainder are at other company locations in North Carolina and Texas, spokeswoman Connie Bryant said.” Read more

 

It’s still too damn hot out to buy winter clothes by Lisa Fickenscher at NY Post. “…sales at specialty apparel stores…were down by $393 million in August and September, compared with a decline of $376 million over the same period last year, according to Planalytics, which tracks weather trends for retailers.” Read more

 

HURRICANE MATTHEW – Florida Gov. Rick Scott warns residents to stock three days worth of food and water for what could be ‘biggest storm in 24 years’ via Daily Mail. “If the storm changes track, it could hit the Sunshine state as early as Wednesday and last through Saturday, according to the National Hurricane Center. There are currently no evacuation orders for Florida.” Read more

 

How a series of crises flipped Target’s internal comms strategy on its head by Diana Bradley at PR Week. “We wanted to make sure we were talking to team members in real-time,” said (Dustee) Jenkins. “A group of us started talking about how one of the things we most enjoy reading every morning was TheSkimm, so I met with one of its founders and talked with her about the process and approach they take.” Jenkins and her team set out to create Target’s version of the morning email newsletter. She also met with peers at other Fortune 50 companies, who told her their internal newsletters have an average readership of 30% to 40%.” Read more

 

Q&A: Wal-Mart CIO Karenann Terrell on What the Retailer Learns From Online Grocery Data by Kim S. Nash at Wall Street Journal. “We’ve observed that online customers have a very, very high level of satisfaction—above 90%—while for those shopping in the store, it isn’t nearly at that high level. We wanted to dig underneath and find out why.” Read more (subscription)

 

Walmart U.S. to close three stores as leases expire by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “Walmart U.S. plans to close two discount stores in west Texas and one campus store in Columbia, Mo., in the coming weeks as the leases on these properties expire.” Read more

 

Dick’s Sporting Goods names new CFO by Paul J. Gough at Pittsburgh Business Times. “Lee Belitsky has been executive vice president, product development and merchandise planning, allocation and replenishment. He has also served in a number of senior vice president roles over the past 19 years since joining Dick’s Sporting Goods in 1997 as vice president, controller.” Read more

 

What’s next for Cabela’s hometown of Sydney, Nebraska? at Omaha World-Herald. “Around here, it stings, say people in this company town of 6,800 — around 2,000 of whom work for the homegrown outdoors retailer…”I’m feeling like there’s been a death in the family,” said Jenifer Wamsley, a former Cabela’s worker…“Cabela’s has been what’s kept this town afloat and allowed it to thrive,” she said. “If Bass Pro doesn’t stick around, it’s going to be devastating.” Read more

 

Facebook is taking on Craigslist with its own used goods marketplace by Jason Del Rey at Recode. Read more

 

Tracy Morgan ‘refuses to release medical records subpoenaed as part of legal battle over $90M Walmart settlement’ by Ryan Perry at Daily Mail. “Walmart’s insurers, who are trying to avoid taking the hit for the payments, believe Morgan’s health problems can be disproved after he was spotted driving around New York in a Lamborghini and appearing at the Emmy’s shortly after the settlement.” Read more

 

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Ex-Home Depot CMO Trish Mueller Speaks at Industry Event by Rob Stott at Dealerscope. “FutureVision was capped off by an important closing keynote that featured recently retired Chief Marketing Officer of Home Depot Trish Mueller, who told the impactful story about her (successful) attempt to turn the hardware giant into an omnichannel organization.” Read more

 

Amazon bans incentivized reviews tied to free or discounted products by Sarah Perez at TechCrunch. “In general, shoppers have begun to distrust these reviews because they believe them to be biased…a recent study of over 7 million reviews indicated that the average rating for products with incentivized reviews was higher than non-incentivized ones. (That is, a 4.74 average rating versus a 4.36 average rating, out of 5 stars).” Read more

 

WalmartLabs open sources the application platform that powers Walmart.com by Frederic Lardinois at TechCrunch. “Over the course of the last year, Walmart.com — a site that handles 80 million monthly visitors and offers 15 million items for sale — migrated to React and Node.js. In the process of this transition, the WalmartLabs team built Electrode, a React-based application platform to power Walmart.com. It’s now open sourcing this platform.” Read more

 

Kroger Lights HQ Pink to Join in Fight Against Breast Cancer Press release

 

Home Depot #2 in Weekly Radio Spots at Inside Radio. “Home Depot committed 28,952 ads for its No. 2 rank, with Rite Aid placing 27,675 ads for No. 3. McDonald’s and Burger King are Nos. 4 and 5, respectively, with JC Penney at No. 6, O’Reilly at No. 7, NAPA at 8, Nabisco at 9 and Macy’s roaring from No. 26 a week ago to No. 10.” Read more

 

Former Macy’s worker pleads guilty to mail fraud by Bowdeha Tweh at Cincinnati Enquirer. “As part of a plea deal, Suraj Patel, 37, of Long Beach, California, would serve one day in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Patel would also pay Macy’s $924,000 in restitution.” Read more

 

Amazon launches stealthy employee shuttle system with nondescript buses and little fanfare by Nat Levy at GeekWire. “Fitting with the under-the-radar pilot status of the program, and unlike the highly visible Microsoft Connector shuttles, Amazon’s buses are not decked out with company branding. The nondescript shuttles sport an all white exterior and tinted windows.” Read more / See the pic

 

More free money, please: Alaskans bemoan sum of yearly check via Denver Post. “Yes, you could call it free money. But that doesn’t mean all Alaskans are happy about the $1,022 dividend checks nearly every resident will receive starting Thursday from the state’s oil wealth fund. Folks were looking at getting more than twice that amount…” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Safety commission: Best Buy will pay $3.8 million civil penalty

San Diego Target Found Liable for $1,560,750.37 for Trip and Fall

Krebs: Who Makes the IoT Things Under Attack?

In a Tight Market, Stores Lure Holiday Workers With Perks

Windsor, Canada: Flood-stricken residents raid area hardware stores

Watch out, Amazon: Google set to launch Echo competitor at event Tuesday

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