Costco March comp sales (ex gas & f/x) +5.8% "...net sales of $12.92 billion for the month of March, the five weeks ended April 8, 2018, an increase of 10.9 percent from $11.65 billion last year. For the thirty-one weeks ended April 8, 2018, the Company reported net sales of $81.43 billion, an increase of 11.8 percent from $72.82 billion last year." Press release   Walmart close to buying majority of India's Flipkart, deal likely by June at Reuters. Read more   Rare Coalition Bands Together to Fight Trump Tariffs by Lindsey Rupp & Mark Niquette at Bloomberg. "This is nuts,” said David French, senior vice [...]

  Target fires employee responsible for putting 'It's okay to be white' cards in diaper boxes by Kavita Kumar at Star Tribune. "A handful of customers around the U.S. have reported finding laminated cards inside diaper boxes they purchased from Target that said "It's okay to be white," a slogan often used by white supremacist groups. The back side of the cards included links to various white supremacist and neo-Nazi websites including the Right Stuff, the Daily Stormer and the Traditionalist Worker Party, according to the Anti-Defamation League." Read more (tiered subs.)   Grocery suppliers get a buffer day on Walmart ‘OTIF’ [...]

  TARGET RED: Target tests new program in Dallas-Fort Worth that gives shoppers rewards without a credit card by Maria Halkias at Dallas News. "...gives shoppers 1 percent cash back on their purchases...get Target's Restock next-day delivery for free...cuts the first year Shipt membership price to $49.99 from $99.99." Read more (tiered subs.)   Walmart Is Getting Picky About Online Marketplace Sellers by Matthew Boyle at Bloomberg. "Since November they appear to have reduced the number of sellers they approve,” said Juozas Kaziukenas, founder of Marketplace Pulse. “Most U.S. marketplaces are adding thousands of sellers a day, so Walmart is [...]

  Best Buy says some customers could be affected by data breach of third-party vendor by Kavita Kumar at Star Tribune. "Best Buy spokesman Jeff Shelman said the number of customers potentially affected is similar to that of Delta and Sears, which have said hundreds of thousands of customers could have been affected." Read more (tiered subs.)   Furious customers say they've been mysteriously locked out of their Amazon accounts — and they have no idea why by Kate Taylor at Business Insider. "Customer trust is one of Amazon's top priorities," an Amazon spokesperson told Business Insider. "To protect that [...]

  Beanie Baby firm sues Target over knockoff rainbow plush poodles by Brigid Sweeney at Crain's Chicago. "According to Ty, Target and MGS continue to manufacture and distribute the knockoff poodle despite "repeated requests" to cease and desist. The Beanie Boos maker also alleges that the Target version does not comply with federal children's product safety requirements." Read more (tiered subs.)   Sears hit by customer data breach at tech firm at Reuters. "Technology firm [ 24]7.ai, which provides online support services for Delta, Sears and Kmart among other companies, found that a cyber security incident affected online customer payment [...]

  The full list of US products that China is planning to hit with tariffs at CNBC. List   Amazon may make rival bid for Flipkart at Mint. "Amazon may submit a rival offer to buy India’s largest e-commerce firm Flipkart, which is in advanced talks with Walmart Inc. for selling a majority stake, said two people with direct knowledge of the matter." Read more   Google and Target Issue the First Voice-Activated Coupon for Google Assistant by Lisa Lacy at Adweek. "Google Express customers can complete purchases hands-free through the Google Assistant, and to raise awareness for this feature, [...]

  Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor customers to be offered free credit-monitoring service by Lisa Fickenscher at NY Post. Read more   Walmart takes its money transfer service global at CNBC. "The new Walmart2World will allow customers to relay funds to people in more than 200 countries...also promises delivery of funds in 10 minutes or less, unlike some services that can take as long as three days." Read more   Fleet Farm quietly changed its gun marketing last month by John Ewoldt at Star Tribune. "The retailer stopped all advertising and promotions for assault-style rifles and high-capacity magazines but it [...]

  Hackers Steal Credit Card Information for More Than 5 Million Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor Shoppers by Jennifer Calfas at Fortune. "About 125,000 of these records were put up for sale on the dark web, the firm said, adding that it “is amongst the biggest and most damaging ever to hit retail companies.” The data breach also hit Saks Off Fifth stores. All of the U.S. locations of the retail chains have been compromised...with the majority of stolen credit card information coming from stores in New York and New Jersey." Read more   Walmart opens first high-tech small-sized [...]