Uber interviewed Karenann Terrell, former CIO of Walmart and Helena Foulkes of CVS for No. 2 position by Greg Bensinger, Betsy Morris & Georgia Wells at Wall Street Journal. "Uber is also seeking prospects with experience in fields with complicated labor and operational structures, such as airlines, said people briefed on the search. Ms. Foulkes and Mr. Staggs are no longer in discussions with Uber, said people familiar with the talks. It isn’t clear who, if anyone, is on a short list." Read more (subs.)   Amazon's 1Q Kills It, Retail Sales & The Cloud Spike Shares at Fox Business. [...]

  HSN CEO Mindy Grossman resigning to head Weight Watchers by Robert Trigaux at Tampa Bay Times. "Grossman's resignation from HSN will be effective on May 24. She will not stand for election to the board of directors...HSN has retained a national search firm to assist with the search for a successor that will include both internal and external candidates." Read more | Press release   LOBBYING PAYS DIVIDENDS - Retail stocks move higher after Mnuchin shoots down controversial tax proposal by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC. "It appears that the White House heard the industry's complaints. "We don't think it works [...]

  Costco to Return $3.1 Billion to Investors With Special Dividend by Matthew Boyle at Bloomberg. "The $7-a-share distribution will be funded primarily from additional borrowings, the company said on Tuesday." Read more   Apple stores set for global makeover, addition of new educational programming by Nat Levy at GeekWire. "Changes at stores will include new screens, trees and other landscaping and spaces set aside for meetings and classes. The famous Genius Bar is getting a makeover as well. It will be called Genius Grove, and it will have staffers specializing in things like music and photography." Read more   [...]

  Gander Mountain Said to Draw Sportsman's Warehouse Interest by Jody Xu Klein & Steven Church at Bloomberg. "Sportsman’s Warehouse Holdings Inc. is planning to bid for as many as 80 percent of Gander Mountain’s stores, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. Sportsman’s Warehouse is still deciding whether it would keep the Gander Mountain name on those locations or run them under its own brand, the people said." Read more   Wayfair shares tumble amid report of Amazon furniture push by Anita Balakrishnan at CNBC. "Amazon representatives told a group of retailers [...]

  Wal-Mart ordered to pay Cuker Interactive more than $12 million over trade secrets at Talk Business. "The retailer began the litigation when it filed a breach of contract complaint against Cuker in 2014 regarding a contract to build the Asda website...Cuker in 2014 filed a counterclaim against Wal-Mart alleging the retailer swiped trade secrets and did not keep their end of the deal." Read more   Macy's new CEO plans to take on TJ Maxx by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC. "We hope that by the end of 2017, what we're going to exit with is a viable off-price concept [...]

  Time: 2017 Most Influential People Full list   Casey Carl, Target's innovation chief, is leaving by Kavita Kumar at Star Tribune. "Cornell announced Carl's departure, scheduled for May 5, in an e-mail to headquarters employees Thursday. He is one of the most senior among the several digital- or innovation-focused executives who have exited the Minneapolis-based retailer in the past year. Cornell said the retailer will search for a replacement who will help elevate Target's core business, vet new business ventures and create new avenues of growth." Read more   Wal-Mart gearing up for Lidl - suppliers warned of deeper [...]

  Your Local CVS Drugstore Is About to Look Very Different by Phil Wahba at Fortune. "Take the new beauty sections being opened at 2,000 stores. New "trend wall" displays have been added to showcase new launches, make them stand out more within the store, and emphasize CVS' exclusive brands. The druggist recently added an area to showcase Korean products to ride the surge in interest in skin care products from that country." Read more   Walmart Canada laying off employees in store restructuring at CTV News. "Spokesman Alex Roberton would not disclose how many employees would lose their jobs. [...]

  Target is weighing options for Food + Future lab in Cambridge, Mass. by Kavita Kumar at Star Tribune. "The team running it has been looking for outside investors over the last couple months to take over the venture, which also includes a farm in Vermont. An offer surfaced at the 11th hour Tuesday as Target was preparing to shut it down, according to a source familiar with the matter." Read more   PetSmart is acquiring Chewy.com for $3.35 billion in the largest e-commerce acquisition ever by Jason Del Rey at Recode. "The deal is a huge one by any [...]