Boxed buys from rival Costco before hiking prices for delivery by Lisa Fickenscher at NY Post. "Boxed is offering the fresh food service in New York City, Atlanta, Boston and many areas of New Jersey...The grocery service will likely be rolled out next in Dallas or Las Vegas." Read more   Tulsa tornado takes out PetSmart sign and causes widespread damage at Tulsa World. Pics   Inside the Secret World of Global Food Spies at Bloomberg. "A bowl of ice cream on a hot day in Shanghai gave American Mitchell Weinberg the worst bout of food poisoning he can recall. It [...]

  Lowe’s is cutting more jobs by Katherine Peralta at Charlotte Observer. "The home-improvement retailer confirmed Thursday that it is laying off an undisclosed number of delivery workers nationwide as the company shifts to a third-party delivery service." Read more   Aldi yanks eggs in Germany amid pesticide scare by Mike Corder at AP via Fox Business. "Aldi and rival Lidl had already taken eggs from farms under suspicion of Fipronil contamination off the shelves. Two other German supermarket chains, Rewe and Penny, have stopped selling all Dutch eggs." Read more   Early warning signs point to a slowdown in [...]

  Wal-Mart Puts Chemicals in Spotlight by Joining New Program by Lauren Coleman-Lochner & Taylor Cromwell at Bloomberg. "Walmart is participating in the Chemical Footprint Project, which seeks to help companies root out dangerous substances from the products they sell. Two dozen companies have joined the effort, including Johnson & Johnson, HP Inc. and Staples Inc., according to a report on Wednesday. The idea was to create a standard modeled on carbon-footprint scores." Read more   Thousands show up for jobs at Amazon warehouses in US cities via CNBC. "Amazon said it received "a record-breaking 20,000 applications" and hired thousands of people on the spot, and will [...]

  Death of Costco co-founder Jeff Brotman, 74, ‘a complete shock’ by Janet I. Tu at Seattle Times. "Mr. Brotman, 74, died in his sleep at his home in Medina, said his brother, Michel Brotman. The cause of death wasn’t immediately known. “We assume his heart just stopped working,” Michel Brotman said. He said that on Monday night, Mr. Brotman had attended a dinner for about 2,000 Costco warehouse managers from around the world who are gathered this week at the Washington State Convention Center." Read more   ...Jeff Brotman is the older son of Bernie and Pearl Brotman...Bernie Brotman [...]

  GameStop Stores Will Stay Open This Thanksgiving, Breaking a Three-Year Policy by Joseph Hincks at Fortune. "The video game retailer announced the changes in a conference call Monday, gaming website Kotaku reports, citing two company staff who joined the call." Read more   COSTCO KIRKLAND WINE TASTE TEST - Critic: "In general, they’re drinkable but pretty simple and a bit dull." by Elin McCoy at Bloomberg. Read more   Amazon is launching a home improvement show using YouTube stars to sell stuff by Monica Nickelsburg at GeekWire. "Overhaul” debuts in September in a special hub on Amazon.com, according to Business Insider. [...]

  Amazon under federal investigation over Iran-linked sales, including to person on terrorism list by Ethan Baron at The Mercury News. "The firm’s July 28 disclosure said that between January 2012 and June 2017, Amazon sold “consumer products” valued at about $24,700 to an Iranian embassy in an undisclosed country, along with about $8,100 in goods to people who may have bought them on behalf of five Iranian embassies." Read more   FRIDAY MEMO - Walmart Food Changes by Kim Souza at The City Wire. "In three separate internal memos sent Friday (July 28) more than two dozen promotions and [...]

  Wal-Mart Cuts a Few Dozen Jobs at Headquarters by Kim Souza at Talk Business. "News of this round of layoffs hit social media feeds Wednesday evening when employees began getting notices to report to a “support event” called by Human Resources on Thursday. Travel was canceled and all the vendor conference rooms have been booked by HR which points to another layoff, according to people familiar with the matter." Read more   Amazon's Entry Into Singapore Marred by Delivery Problem by Sterling Wong & Krystal Chia at Bloomberg. "The service appeared to go down hours after its official launch [...]

  Walmart unveils manufacturing plan to create 1.5 million new jobs at Fox Business. "The road map identifies four major obstacles -- a lack of qualified workers, excessive government regulation, dated tax and trade agreements and a lack of coordination among suppliers -- and calls on specific government and business entities to act together to address them." Read more | Press release   Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin hints the administration may soon take "a position" on Amazon's tax collection policy by Tae Kim at CNBC. "Mnuchin said. "I am encouraged that Amazon is now charging tax, I believe, on their own sales [...]