Dick's Sporting Goods EVP to leave company in August by Paul J. Gough at Pittsburgh Business Times. "(Michele) Willoughby has worked for the sporting goods retailer since 2004, when she became vice president of planning and allocation. She was named senior vice president in 2008 and became executive vice president, eCommerce and Supply Chain, in July 2013. She was named EVP and chief strategy officer in April 2017." Read more   Iceland’s first Costco is so popular that one-fifth of the population has joined its Facebook group by Corrine Purtill at Quartz. "People are excited about [Costco] because it [...]

  Jeff Bezos’ live television show canceled by Oli Coleman at NY Post. "Page Six has learned that Amazon’s trailblazing “Style Code Live” has been canceled after 15 months on air. “They called everyone into a staff meeting on Friday and told them they don’t have jobs anymore,” said a source close to production." Read more   70% of online shoppers very/somewhat likely to check out Amazon on Prime Day by Don David at Internet Retailer. "However, despite the interest in the bargains on offer, only 22% of consumers surveyed said they purchased anything on Prime Day last year." Read more [...]

  Costco Q3 Comp Sales +5.0% "Net sales for the quarter increased eight percent, to $28.22 billion from $26.15 billion last year." Press release   ...Costco reports 2 million new Visa credit cards since last summer's launch by Coral Garnick at Puget Sound Business Journal. "Meanwhile, Costco's membership fees will increase next week. Annual fees will go up by $5 for U.S. and Canada Goldstar (individual) and business members, bringing the fee to $60 a year." Read more | Earnings call transcript   AmazonFresh Pickup Opens to Prime Members in Seattle by Todd Bishop at GeekWire. "The broader launch of [...]

  Best Buy Q1 Comp Sales +1.6% "Joly: “Compared to our expectations going into the quarter, our revenue was higher due to strong performance in gaming, a better-than-expected result in mobile, and the improvement of overall sales trends due to the arrival of delayed federal tax refund checks.” Press release   ...This is how Best Buy gets so many of its customers to come into its stores by Tonya Garcia at MarketWatch. "About one-third of the consumer electronics retailer’s online sales are picked up in stores...Many customers don’t trust an expensive item to be shipped through home-delivery channels and left [...]

  Lowe's Q1 U.S. Comp Sales +2.0% Press release   ...CNBC: Lowe's stock falls on earnings, sales miss "Home Depot is better at "a lot of little things," Nagel said, incluiding adjusting merchandise and figuring out how to keep sales flowing in an "erratic" weather environment." Read more   Walmart's former CEO and Target's CEO clash over one of Trump's key policies by Kate Taylor at Business Insider. "It's simple math," Cornell said. "If the government takes nearly four out of every five dollars we make... there's no capital to invest and no prospects for growth. And that matters a lot. [...]

  Target CEO to testify in Washington against border adjustment tax by Kavita Kumar, Maya Rao & Jim Spencer at Star Tribune. "Cornell will appear Tuesday at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing titled "Increasing U.S. Competitiveness and Preventing American Jobs from Moving Overseas." Other speakers include the chief executive of Archer Daniels Midland, a big exporter that backs the plan, and former Wal-Mart CEO Bill Simon." Read more   ...Target officials have held more than 200 meetings with congressional staffers and lawmakers, and Cornell has met with 30 lawmakers to try to persuade them to abandon the tax [...]

  Amazon Prime Air pilots are heading to shareholders meeting to confront execs over low wages by Ari Levy at CNBC. "More than 50 pilots are set to protest at Amazon's shareholders meeting on Tuesday. The Teamsters say that Atlas Air and ATSG pay 50 to 60 percent below the rest of the industry. Without better pay and benefits, the pilots fear there won't be enough of them to keep up their end of the contract with Amazon." Read more   Nearly Half of All Retail Jobs Could Be Lost to Automation Within 10 Years by David Z. Morris at [...]

  Inside Target's New Marketing Playbook by Adrianne Pasquarelli at Ad Age. "An endurance athlete, Rick Gomez has completed numerous marathons and half-Ironman races. He's even done triathlons. But running the marketing department of Target Corp. might be his toughest challenge yet..."It's incredibly competitive," said the 47-year-old exec now in charge of Target's $450 million measured media account. "The headlines are constantly talking about how retailers are shutting stores and on the verge of bankruptcy. There's going to be a lot of consolidation of winners and losers. We at Target are going to fight like hell to be a winner." [...]