Target Holiday (Nov/Dec) Comp Sales -1.3% - Lowers Q4 Guidance "While we were pleased with Black Friday sales, December digital sales growth of more than 40 percent and continued strength in our Signature Categories, these results were offset by early season sales softness and disappointing traffic and sales trends in our stores," said Brian Cornell, chairman and CEO of Target." Press release   Whole Foods closing 3 regional kitchens, trimming 500 jobs by Gary Dinges at Austin American-Statesman. "Combined, the facilities in Everett, Mass.; Landover, Md.; and metro Atlanta employ about 500 people...The regional kitchens set to close are [...]

  Wal-Mart to Create 10,000 U.S. Jobs in Nod to Trump by Sarah Nassauer at MarketWatch. "The jobs will come from previously planned store openings, store expansions and new e-commerce services, the company said Tuesday. The retailer said 24,000 additional construction jobs will be supported by those efforts." Read more | Press release   Amazon Is Making India Angry Again, This Time with a Pair of Flip-Flops by Joseph Hincks at Fortune. "India's Secretary of Economic Affairs Shaktikanta Das also weighed in, warning Amazon over Twitter that being indifferent to Indian symbols and icons would be "at your own peril." [...]

  Former Canadian Tire CEO to take helm at troubled Sobeys after ‘extensive’ search by Hollie Shaw at Financial Post. "Michael Medline, who was abruptly replaced as chief executive of Canadian Tire last July, has been tapped to head troubled grocery chain Sobeys and its owner Empire Co...While Medline worked in a variety of executive roles at Canadian Tire and its sporting goods division for more than 15 years, he does not have direct experience in grocery retail." Read more   Jeff Bezos is the anonymous buyer of the biggest house in Washington by Emily Heil & Kathy Orton at [...]

  Petco cutting 180 jobs by Phillip Molnar at San Diego Tribune. "...with about 50 at its San Diego headquarters, the pet supply retailer confirmed Wednesday. The company made the cuts across its workforce and include both existing and open positions. Petco has about 650 workers at its headquarters in Rancho Bernardo." Read more   JCPenney CEO Marvin Ellison thinks he has "too many" stores by Korri Kezar at Dallas Business Journal. "And roughly 92 percent of all of our e-commerce returns take place in a physical store,” (Ellison) added. “Roughly 40 percent of the time someone comes in to return something, [...]

  Walmart Cutting Hundreds of Jobs In Latest Round of Layoffs by Phil Wahba at Fortune. "Walmart is about to eliminate hundreds more jobs at headquarters and in regional offices...will cut most of those of jobs before January 31." Read more   ...Wall Street Journal: Wal-Mart is preparing to cut nearly 1,000 corporate jobs before the end of the month, according to an executive familiar with the situation by Sarah Nassauer. "The cuts will fall broadly but are expected to focus on Wal-Mart’s U.S. operations, including the human resources department, as well as the technology and e-commerce divisions." Read more (subscription) [...]

  Target invests in Mpls. start-up that helps retailers monitor supply chains by Kavita Kumar at Star Tribune. "While Inspectorio is the only start-up from the inaugural Techstars program that Target invested in, the retailer is still actively in touch with others and is in the middle of tests with some of them. Branch Messenger, which has an app that enables hourly workers to swap and keep track of shifts, has relocated to Minneapolis from Los Angeles." Read more   ...Target + Techstars Open Applications for Second Wave of Startups after Year-One Success at A Bullseye View. "Target and Techstars [...]

  Bezos attends Golden Globes - Fallon gives nod with joke by Alan Boyle at GeekWire. "He actually arrived yesterday, but there was no one around to sign for him,” said Fallon...Bezos, who was sitting at one of the head tables in the Beverly Hilton ballroom, laughed as loud as anyone." Read more   Brewer to retire as Sam’s Club CEO, John Furner picked to lead the club division at The City Wire. "The retirement agreement shows that Brewer will remain a Wal-Mart employee through January 2019...She is also prevented from participating in a business that competes with the Company [...]

  Walmart and Visa put an end to their public Canadian feud by Barbara Shecter at Financial Post. "Carla Hindman, a spokesperson for Visa, confirmed that Visa cards will be accepted “as a form of payment in all Walmart stores across Canada” as of Friday." Read more   Looters Storm Mexico Wal-Mart, Chedraui Stores on Gas Hike by Doug Alexander at Bloomberg. "Looters sacked at least 250 stores across seven Mexican states, reflecting growing unrest over a 20 percent hike in gasoline prices." Read more | Looting pics via Daily Mail   Amazon’s funky Treasure Truck makes trek from Seattle [...]