Archive for month: October, 2017

Wal-Mart Nears Web Deal with Lord & Taylor by Suzanne Kapner & Sarah Nassauer at Wall Street Journal. “The world’s biggest retailer is near a deal with Lord & Taylor that would give the department store dedicated space on walmart.com, according to a person familiar with the matter. Such an agreement would be the first step in creating an online mall that shoppers could access from Walmart’s website, this person said.” Read more (subs.)

Walmart Labs now employees around 6,000 people around the globe by Kim Souza at Talk Business. “(CTO Jeremy) King was the afternoon keynote speaker at the Northwest Arkansas Technology Summit held in Rogers on Tuesday (Oct. 17)…King said he was tech geek from early on but also loved water polo and swimming. Today, he’s a mountain biker and has suffered from 14 broken bones over the years.” Read more

90M or 50M? – CIRP study says Prime hits 90M U.S. households, representing 63% of Amazon customers by Nat Levy at GeekWire. “Moody’s put the number much lower, closer to 50 million. Michael Pachter, a research analyst for Wedbush Securities, told GeekWire that the study was “flat out wrong.” He put Amazon’s Prime membership at about 52.5 million.” Read more

Supervalu beats analyst estimates, buys Associated Grocers co-op for $180M by Mark Reilly at Minneapolis/St.Paul Business Journal. “At Supervalu’s retail operations…total sales were nearly flat at $1.02 billion, though same store sales…fell 3.5 percent during the quarter…The company is spending about $180 million for Associated Grocers…a 72-year-old company that supplies South Florida, the Caribbean, and other international markets.” Read more | Acquisition release | Earnings release

Kohl’s says it’s not trying to get acquired by Amazon — but traders are preparing just in case by Joe Ciolli at Business Insider. “When asked whether Kohl’s is looking to get bought, (incoming CEO Gass) simply said, “I don’t think so, no.” But traders are taking no chances. If Amazon does purchase Kohl’s, it would likely be for a large premium over its current stock price.” Read more

Walmart’s Shawn Townzen – VP & DMM Personal Care – Speaks at Conference by Dan Mack at Drug Store News. “The line review is the epicenter of the assortment decision-making process. Suppliers must show up with ammunition to win the moment. The best manufacturers are introducing true innovation – not product renovation. It’s important to know the difference” added Townzen.” Read more

Anthem teams with CVS to run its own drug-benefits plan by Reed Abelson at NY Times via Boston Globe. “The insurer said it will start the new business in 2020, after its contract with Express Scripts expires, estimating the savings from the new arrangement to be about $4 billion a year, the bulk of which it said would flow to customers in the form of lower drug prices.” Read more

eBay is having a pretty bad day by Matthew Lynley at TechCrunch. “The company said it added an additional 2 million active buyers and now says it has 168 million global active buyers. But even with buyer numbers as large as that, it seems that eBay may still face an uphill battle trying to change the perception that it’s a company that was a powerhouse.” Read more | Earnings release

Amazon Has Honed Its Site-Hunting Expertise With In-House Team by Laura Stevens & Shayndi Raice at Wall Street Journal. “Amazon is a kind of unique situation,” said Mark Sweeney, senior principal with McCallum Sweeney Consulting…”Most companies, even large companies, don’t build an automobile facility or an aircraft facility every year.” Read more (subs.)

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Blue Apron Is Laying Off 6% of Workers After a Tough Few Months by Jonathan Vanian at Fortune. “The company said earlier this year that it had a little over 5,000 employees, so a 6% cut would equate to roughly 300 employees.” Read more

Amazon doubles Dash buttons available to UK members to more than 100 by Natasha Lomas at TechCrunch. Read more

Triple storm dubbed ‘The Big Dark’ to slam Pacific Northwest at NY Post. “A dramatic satellite image shows a series of rain and wind storms rolling across the ocean from China to the Seattle region and British Columbia.” Read more

Scientists claims breakthrough in link between sugar and cancer by Ashley May at USA Today. “The research “is able to explain the correlation between the strength of the Warburg effect and tumor aggressiveness,” Thevelein, from KU Leuven in Belgium, said in a release. “This link between sugar and cancer has sweeping consequences.” Read more

Longtime AmEx CEO Kenneth Chenault is stepping down at CNN. “American Express said on Wednesday that Chenault, 66, will be replaced by Stephen J. Squeri, 58, on February 1 of next year.” Read more

75% of online shoppers said they rarely or never buy groceries online, according to the survey of nearly 8,600 adults from Aug. 12 to Sept. 1.  via CNBC. Read more

Break Out the Barbecues, American Backyards Are Growing Again by Patrick Clark at Bloomberg. “The typical home completed so far this year included 7,048 square feet of outdoor space, according to a new report from Trulia. That marked the third straight year that yard sizes have grown, breaking with a 25-year trend toward smaller outdoor spaces.” Read more

$1,000 Bagel Is Back in New York City (Limited Time – Tax and Tip Included!) at NBC 4 New York. “The bagel…will be dressed in Alba white truffle cream cheese, topped with goji berry-infused Riesling jelly and flaked with golden leaves…”Considering how pricing has risen in the past decade (bagel made its debut in 2007) this bagel at its introductory cost is nearly a deal,” says the (Westin) hotel.” Read more

Tipsheet Extra Stories

These retailers are getting the most clicks on Halloween paid search keywords

That email from Amazon is not a scam—here’s why you’re getting money

Outdoor Retailer sets show dates in Denver for the next 5 years

Arkansas tax incentives may be historic for new Wal-Mart headquarters

74% of Millennials & Gen Z prefer speaking digitally

CNN gets permission to fly drones over crowds to gather news

Will Ferrell stars in new PSA to end device addiction

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Amazon is now the biggest corporate lobbyist in Washington by Jade Scipioni at Fox Business. “According to the New York Times, Amazon has increased its lobbying staff to 83 members this year compared to 60 members last year, making it one of the biggest corporate lobbying shops in town. To top it off, the company is also on its way to surpassing its previous high for lobbying spending last year, which was $11.3 million.” Read more

Nordstrom can’t find financing to go private by Lisa Fickenscher & Josh Kosman at NY Post. “…the proposed $10 billion deal was also a victim of a leak, sources said. Leonard Green & Partners, which was to supply equity financing, was reluctant to fund a deal worth more than $47 a share, sources said. In the wake of a story Sept. 12 that Leonard Green was helping to finance the deal, shares of the Dallas company spiked to nearly $48 a share from $44.72.” Read more

…Nordstrom Lenders Demanded Interest Rate the Family Couldn’t Pay by Nabila Ahmed at Bloomberg. “After meeting at least nine different firms over the course of four months, the asking price came to about 13 percent, said the people, who requested not to be identified because the discussions were private. That’s roughly twice the average borrowing cost for typical retailer.” Read more

How a group of Florida tomato growers could help derail NAFTA by Caitlin Dewey at Washington Post. “The problem, in a word, is humidity. Florida has a whole lot of it. As a result, its growers can’t use greenhouses, which better protect the vegetables, and they have severe problems with pests and diseases…Mexican tomatoes, on the other hand, are largely vine-ripened and grown in greenhouses.” Read more (tiered subs.)

Aldi sets opening date for first Austin-area store by Gary Dinges at Austin American-Statesman. Read more

Walmart Now Beats Both Family Dollar and Dollar General on Price at The Street. “For the first time since we started this study back in March, our September results show that Walmart is now priced below Dollar General,” Grom wrote. “To this end, the Dollar General basket is priced at a 90 basis-point premium to Walmart as compared to a 200 basis-point discount just two months earlier in July.” Read more

J&J reports 11.9% fall in quarterly profit at Fox Business. Read more

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Bruce Berkowitz, the largest outside shareholder at Sears Holdings Corp., is leaving the retailer’s board, a move that sent the stock tumbling on Monday via Denver Post. Read more

(Sam’s CEO) Furner said when fuel and tobacco are taken out of the basket, 95% of Sam’s Club purchases look as if they are being bought for the household by Kim Souza at Talk Business. Read more

Enjoy That Cup of Coffee! Your Total Comes to $55 by Charles Passy at Wall Street Journal. “Many Americans have long moved past the ho-hum cup—first embracing the higher-end brews offered by Starbucks and now enjoying what is called the “third wave” in coffee, with emphasis on farm-to-table sourcing and alternative brew methods.” Read more (subs.)

eBay takes on The RealReal and other fashion resellers with launch of authentication program by Sarah Perez at TechCrunch. “Initially, the service will focus on luxury handbags and wallets across 12 high-end brands, including Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermes, Gucci, Prada, Burberry, Dior, Fendi, Balenciaga, Goyard, Celine and Valentino.” Read more

(Some) Seattle politicians seek to renew relationship with Amazon in mea culpa letter to Jeff Bezos by Monica Nickelsburg at GeekWire. “Councilmember Kshama Sawant’s name is conspicuously absent from the letter; she has emerged as one of the most vocal critics of Amazon’s effect on Seattle…Councilmembers Kirsten Harris-Talley, Debora Juarez, and Mike O’Brien also did not sign the letter.” Read more

Wayfair is betting cheap delivery will push the online retailer past furniture giants by Julie Creswell at NY Times via CNBC. “But the big question hovering over Wayfair is whether the company can ever make money by delivering bulk furniture virtually for free. The company is expected to lose nearly $200 million this year and has been a favorite of short sellers, betting that the company’s stock price will fall.” Read more

Loblaws to cut 500 jobs by Francine Kopun at Toronto Star. “The cuts are being made in corporate offices and include executives, members of management and employees across divisions and functions that support Loblaws, Shoppers Drug Mart and other retail stores, including No Frills, Joe Fresh and Zehrs.” Read more

How Google’s Quantum Computer Could Change the World by Jack Nicas at Wall Street Journal. “Early next year, Google’s quantum computer will face its acid test in the form of an obscure computational problem that would take a classical computer billions of years to complete. Success would mark “quantum supremacy,” the tipping point where a quantum computer accomplishes something previously impossible.” Read more (subs.)

Indiegogo, the nine-year-old, crowdfunding site, is now an e-tailer too by Connie Loizos at TechCrunch. “(Startups) can now sell what they make once their goods are in production. In what seems a bigger twist, the San Francisco-based company will also now sell other items, too, opening its new platform — called simply “Indiegogo Marketplace” — to goods that were successfully crowdfunded elsewhere.” Read more

Harris Teeter emphasizes food safety after feces incident in store by Katherine Peralta at Charlotee Observer. “Several departments of a Harris Teeter store in Charleston reopened Monday, after officials say a disgruntled former employee on Sunday sprayed what is believed to be feces on fresh produce.” Read more

Ford, Sam’s Club And TrueCar Team Up Press release

Tens of thousands wait in line for 10+ hours for post-Irma food stamps by Monique O. Madan & Carli Teprof at Miami Herald. “Figueroa was among tens of thousands of people — 50,000 people showed up at just Tropical Park alone — over the last few days who camped out in snarling lines, braved the heat and in some cases, left empty-handed, after state officials closed food assistance centers…“It was crazy,” he said. “It was so poorly organized. Maybe they didn’t expect so many people to show up and things went out of hand.” Read more

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

Apple’s diversity chief apologizes after saying that a room of ’12 white, blue-eyed blonde men’ can be diverse

Warby Parker sued for allegedly stealing online eye exam

Universities nationwide tell students what not to wear on Halloween

Store owner facing anti-Trump backlash wishes he never went to White House

Hobbyist drone disruptions are becoming a problem in the California wildfires

Millennial can’t handle new 8am start time at new job

Apple explored buying a medical-clinic start-up as part of a bigger push into health care

Woman throws a “cup full of hot nacho cheese” at a 7-Eleven worker

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Eye on Retail Tipsheet is must-read material for 20,000+ retail execs every weekday morning. Tipsheet stories are carefully curated bright and early every morning to ensure fresh and unique content.

Subscribe to Eye on Retail Tipsheet here

Contact us: Send story tips, press releases and advertising inquiries to info@eyeonretail.net

Website: www.eyeonretail.net

Two startups from Target + Techstars accelerator moving to Minneapolis by Kavita Kumar at Star Tribune. “St. Paul-based Local Crate, a meal kit delivery service similar to Blue Apron, said it has created a retail meal kit during the program that will be sold at 10 Target stores around the Twin Cities starting Sunday…Savitude, which gives clothing suggestions based on a person’s body shape, will be tried out on Target.com. And StoryXpress, the firm moving to Minneapolis from India, is finalizing an agreement to create thousands of product videos for items sold on Target.com.” Read more

Sen. Rand Paul on Healthcare: “I’d like to you to be able to join Costco and be one of 85 million people and have Costco negotiate with the insurance company.” at USA Today. Read more

Zulily CEO Darrell Cavens to lead new ventures team at QVC, shopping for acquisitions by John Cook at GeekWire. “Our new group will bring together QVC, HSN, zulily and the Cornerstone brands to create a premier global retailer with extraordinary reach and unlimited potential,” said QVC President Mike George.” Read more

Rose McGowan goes after Amazon and Jeff Bezos in latest tweets calling out abuses in Hollywood by Kurt Schlosser at GeekWire. “Thursday afternoon she used a series of tweets to go after Amazon and Jeff Bezos, calling on the CEO to “stop funding rapists” and “stand with truth.” Read more

…Amazon Suspends Top Exec Roy Price in Wake of Harassment Claim at The Hollywood Reporter. “Roy Price is on leave of absence effective immediately,” an Amazon spokesperson said Thursday in a statement, adding, “We are reviewing our options for the projects we have with The Weinstein Co.” Read more

Walmart’s Social-Media Chief has 30 Times More Pinterest Followers than Walmart at Ad Age. “Lowe’s, with 3.4 million Pinterest followers, excels at Pinterest among retailers, she says, by focusing on their “core commitment to customers,” which is home improvement.” Read more

Google is essentially building an anti-Amazon alliance, and Target is the latest to join by Jason Del Rey at Recode. “On Thursday, Target and Google announced that they are expanding what was a years-old delivery partnership from a small experiment in a handful of cities to the entire continental U.S.” Read more | Target press release

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Retailers Are Bottling Their Own Milk, Raising Pressure on Dairy Companies by Heather Haddon & Benjamin Parkin at Wall Street Journal. “Wal-Mart’s plant will supply milk to more than 600 stores across five Midwest states that are now supplied by Dean Foods Co. , one of the world’s largest milk producers. Dean will still supply Wal-Mart stores elsewhere, but the new plant will cost Dean roughly 100 million gallons of annual milk sales out of 2.5 billion total beginning next year, according to Dean.” Read more (subs.)

Walmart and Jet.com are dividing America to conquer it by Lisa Fickenscher at NY Post. “Jet.com e-commerce unit focus on shoppers in New York, Chicago, Boston and other large cities, while the 55-year-old discounter’s online store will focus on the rest of the country, The Post has learned. The two-Americas strategy — Jet.com for urban millennial customers and Walmart for the remainder of the country — was disclosed recently to a town hall meeting of Jet.com employees.” Read more

Mattress Firm finally joins the bed-in-a-box movement by Lisa Fickenscher at NY Post. “After bucking the $1.5 billion bed-in-a-box movement and even disparaging the industry as just “hype,” the Houston company will jump into the hot category on Friday.” Read more

Amazon Bookstores Offer Peek Into Whole Foods’ Future by Laura Stevens & Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg at Wall Street Journal. “Eric Jan, an app developer, has visited nearly every day since the store’s opening in August to browse and read. He goes for the experience, not to buy. He compares the feel of the store to AppleInc.’s retail experience. “There’s a feeling of exclusivity,” says the 24 year-old. “During the weekends there’s a line. You never see that for a traditional bookstore.” Read more (subs.)

Walmart’s ‘Always Low Prices’ slogan doesn’t apply at Jet.com by Lisa Fickenscher at NY Post. “A small basketful of items for sale on Thursday was clearly priced higher on Jet.com. A box of 54 Tide pods with Febreze costs $21.56 at Jet.com, or 20 percent more than on Walmart’s site.” Read more

Camping World Holdings Agrees to Acquire Uncle Dan’s Outfitters Press release

Home Depot Removes EPS Styrofoam from Holiday Packaging “…we were able to eliminate 341,000 cubic feet of it from our packaging. That’s 355 Greyhound buses-worth of non-recyclable foam kept out of our remaining landfills and waterways.” Press release/video

High tech 365 by Whole Foods store in Seattle area closing, but company says Amazon not to blame by Nat Levy at GeekWire. Read more

La Croix’s Seltzer Bubble May Be Ready to Burst by Kristy Westgard at Bloomberg. “Grandet, who has tried to meet with National Beverage several times in the past, finally got the chance to see the “wizard,” Caporella, last Friday…”If you think about it, what this company has is the brand name,” Grandet said. “It is very strong with millennials and they tend to turn their back to big brands. But there is no IP, so every one can do the flavored water and basically you come back to the valuation.” Read more

84.51° Unveils Kroger Precision Marketing Press release

Oil will crash to $10 a barrel with electric vehicle revolution, strategist says by Sam Meredith at CNBC. “We forget don’t we? I mean 120 years ago the world didn’t live on oil. Oil hasn’t always driven the global economy… The point is alternative energy in some forms is gathering speed (and) things are changing,” he added. The Longview Economics CEO forecast the price of oil would ultimately slump to $10 a barrel over the next six to eight years.” Read more

Tipsheet Extra Stories

They survived 6 hours in a pool as CA wildfire burned their neighborhood to the ground

‘Springsteen on Broadway’ soul-stirring — but don’t dare sing along

Congressional Black Caucus scolds Facebook over Black Lives Matter ads

Lowe’s Names 2017 Innovation and Vendor Partners of the Year

Amazon and Google are ready to disrupt small business lending, former Obama advisor says

55 to 65% chance that a La Niña will develop during the fall and winter of 2017-18

Mustard seeds for Dijon in short supply after ‘very dry and very hot’ summer

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Eye on Retail Tipsheet is must-read material for 20,000+ retail execs every weekday morning. Tipsheet stories are carefully curated bright and early every morning to ensure fresh and unique content.

Subscribe to Eye on Retail Tipsheet here

Contact us: Send story tips, press releases and advertising inquiries to info@eyeonretail.net

Website: www.eyeonretail.net

Jeff Wilke, CEO of Worldwide Consumer at Amazon, spoke at the GeekWire Summit in Seattle on Tuesday…Wilke said it’s possible that some of Amazon’s existing grocery services will shut down as a result of the Whole Foods deal. “One thing I’ve learned in my 18 years is that nothing is permanent — other than that customers like low prices and not high prices, and a big selection, not a small selection,” he said.” by Taylor Soper at GeekWire. Read more

…On HQ2: “Not everybody wants to live in the Northwest” said Wilke, who grew up in Pittsburgh.” by Nat Levy at GeekWire. Read more

Home Depot’s Ann-Marie Campbell joins Fortune discussion on barriers facing black women in corporate America “Inclusion is not just a professional thing, it’s a me thing” Campbell said. She encouraged leaders to explore their own social circles and befriend people of different races and backgrounds, noting that you can’t have open conversations about many of the issues affecting your employees and your peers without a diverse friend group.” 4:26 video/Read more

CVS Health’s Helena Foulkes at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit by Claire Zillman at Fortune. “CVS is in the process of resetting the front of its stores, replacing some of its candy offerings with healthy snack and protein items. In the hundreds of stores where this transformation has already taken place, consumable sales have increased 9%, Foulkes said.” Read more

Wal-Mart saved $27 million by changing its plastic bags and shortening its receipts by Courtney Reagan at CNBC. “The retailer has been disciplined with expenses, but Biggs warns the hurricanes and some back-end technology spending could cause total expenses to be slightly higher than originally planned.” Read more

…Highlights from Walmart’s Investor Conference by Kim Souza at Talk Business. “Wal-Mart will build fewer than 25 new stores in the U.S. next year — about 15 supercenters and fewer than 10 Neighborhood Market formats. Walmart U.S. CEO Greg Foran said the U.S. supercenter market is largely built out and the company is now more focused on remodeling 500 stores.” Read more

Wal-Mart Wants to Break Into the Ivy League Recruiting Circuit by Matthew Boyle at Bloomberg. “The purple recreational vehicle rumbled into a parking place across the street from the University of Pennsylvania career fair on a sunny Friday last month. It was the latest stop for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in its recruitment tour of more than a dozen top colleges. Along with free pizza and tchotchkes to take home, the biggest U.S. retailer had a pitch that few Ivy Leaguers have heard before: Come work for Wal-Mart.” Read more

Dollar General Hits a Gold Mine in Rural America by Mya Frazier at Bloomberg. Read more (tiered subs.)

‘Black-ish’ star Tracee Ellis Ross designs a holiday collection for J.C. Penney by Maria Halkias at Dallas News. “The women’s apparel, accessories and home décor items will be in stores Nov. 12, in time for holiday shopping, the Plano-based retailer said Tuesday.  It’s the second big tie-in to popular television this year for Penney.” Read more

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Chicago pop tax one step away from repeal after 15-1 test vote by Hal Hardick at Chicago Tribune. “Big Soda’s win here is remarkable, both because Cook County is by far the largest jurisdiction in the country where such a tax was enacted and that it comes after a series of defeats elsewhere.” Read more

Sears Canada going out of business, laying off 12,000 by Francine Kopun at Toronto Star. “Among the first to lose their jobs will be most of the 800 people at head office near Dundas Square, who will be let go next week. Liquidation sales at stores are scheduled to begin Oct. 19 and to take 10 to 14 weeks.” Read more

Amazon is exploring ways to deliver items to your car trunk and the inside of your home at CNBC. “Amazon is in advanced talks to forge a partnership with Phrame, a maker of smart license plates that allow items to be delivered to a car’s trunk, according to a person with knowledge of the potential deal…At the same time, Amazon is developing a smart doorbell device that would give delivery drivers one-time access to a person’s home to drop off items, said two people familiar with the matter.” Read more

Crate & Barrel Teams with Reese Witherspoon by T.L. Stanley at Adweek. “Witherspoon stars in a new Crate & Barrel campaign, launching Tuesday on digital and social media with TV spots following at the end of the month. With the tagline, “Make this season merry and just right,” the ads will run through the holidays and kick off a larger deal between the retailer and the Oscar winner.” See the spot/Read more

Mall owner opts to go dark on Thanksgiving, sticking with a new tradition at CNBC. “CBL Properties will keep the doors of its retail properties closed on Thanksgiving Day for the second-straight year…the closures will affect 62 of its malls and open-air shopping centers.” Read more

How Amazon’s $13.7B purchase of Whole Foods is a ‘blessing in disguise’ for Instacart by Nat Levy at GeekWire. “At this point retailers are coming to us,” Mehta said. “When the Amazon/Whole Foods announcement happened, essentially every major grocery retailer in the country had an emergency board meeting and right after that board meeting they called us.” Read more

…Instacart CEO Apoorva Mehta on the future of retail and delivery 34:17 video

Petco Expands Pet Services Offerings to Include Complete Vet Care “…the company’s first veterinary hospital, operated by THRIVE Affordable Vet Care, opened inside a brand new store in Aldine, Texas last week.” Press release

Gap is selling subscription boxes for baby clothes at CNBC. “Each outfit box contains six pieces of clothing, costing $70 but worth $100 or more, according to Gap. Shoppers will have three weeks to decide if they want to keep the selected items. New boxes will ship every three months.” Read more

Ex-Walgreens CEO Took Pride in Staying Grounded by Aine Cain at Business Insider. “At the start of (Greg) Wasson’s career, his father handed him his business card. “He’d written on the back, ‘Greg, always stay humble,'” Wasson said. “I always kept that in my wallet and pulled it out every once in a while.” Read more

Wal-Mart buybacks suggest growth options becoming limited: Former Wal-Mart US CEO Simon at CNBC. Read more

Tipsheet Extra Stories

4-year-old finds loaded handgun in Macy’s bathroom – points it at father

How Amazon’s Alexa overcame doubters — even within the project team

Why Shop.com says two-click checkout is better than one

Why won’t young workers take jobs in Vancouver?

Nokia kills virtual reality camera & 310 jobs due to the slow development of VR market

Alibaba to invest $15B into a new global research and development program

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

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Eye on Retail Tipsheet is must-read material for 20,000+ retail execs every weekday morning. Tipsheet stories are carefully curated bright and early every morning to ensure fresh and unique content.

Subscribe to Eye on Retail Tipsheet here

Contact us: Send story tips, press releases and advertising inquiries to info@eyeonretail.net

Website: www.eyeonretail.net