Tipsheet: eBay Cuts 300 Jobs | WM Undercut Netflix? | Academy/SEC Partner | Chef’d Shut

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Amazon sells more than 100 million products on Prime Day event at Reuters. “Amazon said it sold over a million smart home devices in the United States.” Read more

 

eBay chops hundreds of Bay Area jobs by George Avalos at The Mercury News. “eBay has decided to eliminate nearly 300 Bay Area jobs…They include cuts at the company’s headquarters on Hamilton Avenue in San Jose.” Read more

 

Inside FreshDirect’s Big Bet to Win the Home-Delivery Fight by Jennifer Smith at The Wall Street Journal. “…the new facility has 15 different temperature zones. Tomatoes do best at about 55 degrees, but “chicken and meat like it to be just at 32 degrees… it gives more of shelf life to it,” said FreshDirect Chief Executive Jason Ackerman.” WSJ subs.

 

Microsoft CEO on teaming up with Walmart at Fox Business 7:53 video

 

Meal-kit company Chef’d suddenly shut down and laid off its 350+ employees by Kate Taylor at Business Insider. “Last month, Chef’d announced it would sell its meal kits in 30 Duane Reade and Walgreens locations in New York.” Read more

 

Target uses Prime Day to its advantage, logging its ‘biggest online shopping day’ so far this year at CNBC. “The company said some of the best-selling items included Dyson vacuums, the Instant Pot pressure cooker (also a big hit on Amazon), Harry’s razors, Graco car seats, the Google Chromecast and furniture from Target’s own Project 62 brand.” Read more

 

…Nearly 90% of Target.com orders from Tuesday/yesterday will be fulfilled by Target stores Press release

 

Gap sues Westfield over mall expenses as tensions rise in retail world by Mike Cherney at The Wall Street Journal via Toronto Star. Read more

 

Dick’s moves programmatic media planning & buying in-house – moved e-commerce in-house last year by Patty Tascarella at Pittsburgh Business Times. Read more

 

Is Walmart Prepping a Streaming-Video Rival to Netflix and Amazon? by Todd Spangler at Variety. “Execs for Walmart see an opportunity to undercut Netflix and Amazon Prime Video with the $8 price point, according to The Information.” Read more

 

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Loblaw delivers closing arguments in $437-million tax dispute with Canada Revenue Agency via Financial Post. “A lawyer for Loblaw Companies Ltd. told a Toronto court Tuesday there is no evidence to back the Canada Revenue Agency’s allegations that its Barbadian banking subsidiary was misused for tax avoidance.” Read more

 

Amazon sellers say they were unfairly suspended before Prime Day, and now have two bad choices at CNBC. “The first option is to keep their $200,000 of inventory in Amazon’s fulfillment centers and continue to try and get reinstated while racking up fees from Amazon for storage…Or, the Schapperts can pay 50 cents an item — several thousand dollars in total — to have it all shipped back…If they don’t decide soon, Amazon could destroy their inventory.” Read more

 

Kroger announces retirement of Atlanta Division President Bruce Lucia and the promotion of Tim Brown to succeed him. Michigan division President Scott Hays has been promoted to president of the Cincinnati/Dayton division Press release

 

Academy is now the official sporting goods retailer of the SEC by Jen Para at Houston Business Journal. Read more

 

Behavioral health startup AbleTo poaches CVS exec for its top position by Anthony Noto at New York Business Journal. “Trip Hofer, who led CVS’ specialty pharmacy division, has stepped into the role of chief executive officer at New York-based AbleTo.” Read more

 

Ketchum hires Chris Martin – former Walmart staffer – to head London public affairs at PR Week. Tiered subs.

 

Tiffany & Co. Has Built a Secret Lab of Shiny Dreams by Kim Bhasin at Bloomberg. “Their marching orders come straight from Tiffany Chief Executive Officer Alessandro Bogliolo: Rev up the pace of new ideas. Under Bogliolo, the 181-year-old company has been trying to attract a younger clientele with revamped jewelry lines and punchier marketing.” Tiered subs.

 

Lawsuit filed against Dick’s and subcontractor after basketball hoop – secured into drywall only and not studs – crashes and kills teen at NBC WNDU 16 Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Why It Matters That Amazon Is Selling Wine In Texas

L.L. Bean brings outdoor pop-up co-working space to Philly

Millennials want to retire by 61, but most have nothing saved

Starbucks and McDonald’s Team Up to Create a New Sustainable Cup

Zillow expanding home buying and selling program to Atlanta, its 3rd market so far

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

 

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

 

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Tipsheet: Petco Unveils PetCoach | Lore Speaks @ Conf. | Papa Blackmailed?

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Walmart and Microsoft Join Forces in Battle Against Amazon by Grace Dobush at Fortune. “The agreement gives Walmart access to Microsoft’s 365 and Azurecloud computing systems across all its lines of business, migrating some of its apps and websites to Azure. The retail giant plans to build out a worldwide Internet of Things platform with Microsoft, connecting its stores and shipping systems to streamline its supply chain.” Read more | WSJ article (Subs.)

 

Petco unveils first PetCoach store in San Diego by Jennifer Van Grove at San Diego Tribune. “Petco is opening a new kind of retail store where animal-friendly amenities such as dog baths, play yards and treats fit for humans are meant to win over picky pet parents…Called PetCoach, the pilot San Diego store, officially unveiled on Tuesday…” Read more

 

Walmart Names Humana Veteran to Run Its Health and Wellness Unit by Matthew Boyle at Bloomberg. “(Walmart) named Sean Slovenski as senior vice president of health and wellness, reporting directly to Greg Foran…according to a July 12 internal memo from Foran. The appointment is effective Aug. 1.” Tiered subs.

 

AMAZON SPAIN STRIKE – Number of people striking is close to 2,000 at Daily Mail. Read more

 

June Retail Sales +4.2% NRF press release

 

Yeti rival Rtic Coolers to open flagship Houston store by Andrea Leinfelder at Houston Chronicle. “While customers have long visited the front room of Rtic’s Cypress warehouse to buy products, the company plans to open a flagship Houston store on Nov. 1. It will continue to open some 20 stores in the next few years.” Read more

 

Marc Lore at Brainstorm Tech conference: “Everyone is racing toward same-day delivery and I think we’re set up really well.”…”We can see where the puck is going- it’s toward faster delivery time.” by Phil Wahba at Fortune. Read more

 

Amazon, MLB add machine-learned stats to cloud deal at Reuters. Read more

 

After rift over ‘Green Monstah’ shirt, t-shirt maker lands space in Boston Target by Greg Ryan at Boston Business Journal. “The Target store in Boston’s Fenway neighborhood opened a 400-square-foot section featuring Sully’s apparel, according to Sully’s founder Chris Wrenn. “No hard feelings,” he said.” Read more

 

Giant Eagle, workers reach contract agreement by Stacey Federoff at Pittsburgh Business Times. Read more

 

Amazon Prime membership growth slows in the US by Allison Enright at Internet Retailer. “Membership grew 12% in the past 12 months, down from 35% growth during the previous 12 months…The majority of U.S. online shoppers are already Prime members…CIRP estimates 59% of Amazon customers in the U.S. are Prime members.” Read more

 

CVS fires two employees involved in police calls over black woman’s ‘fraudulent’ coupon at USA Today. Read more

 

Kroger launches app to help you shop healthier by Bill Cieslewicz at Cincinnati Business Courier. “OptUP (is) a free app that gives each purchase a score based on nutritional value…OptUP scores range from 0 to 1000, reflecting a customer’s purchase history over the past eight weeks. The ideal score is 600 or better.” Read more

 

IHOP Now Delivers Pancakes to Your Front Door at Fortune. Read more

 

Amazon on track to become the No. 1 apparel retailer in the U.S. by year’s end at CNBC. “According to a new survey from eMarketer, Amazon’s apparel and accessories sales will balloon 38 percent by the end of 2018 to reach nearly $40 billion. That means this category will soon represent roughly 15.4 percent of Amazon’s overall e-commerce business, and about 38.5 percent of all online apparel sales.” Read more

 

Papa John’s founder says media agency tried to extort $6 million to keep N-word call quiet at CNBC. Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

‘Sopranos’ memorabilia, including Bobby’s fat suit, go up for auction

Chicago may become largest city in US to try Universal Basic Income

Only five Fiat autoworkers show up for Ronaldo protest in Italy

What if grocery orders were prepared in a tiny robot warehouse?

Hulk Hogan Reinstated Into Wrestling Hall of Fame

Water Pik recalls flossing toothbrushes over fire concern

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Eye on Retail Tipsheet is must-read material for 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

 

 

Tipsheet: Amazon Deliv Analysis | Kohl’s Accused | Sam’s Adds | Swimwear ‘On Fire’

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Amazon Prime Day threatened by strikes at European warehouses over working conditions at CNBC. “A group called Amazon En Lucha organized the walk out at the company’s fulfillment center just outside the Spanish capital of Madrid. The strike will last until July 18 and the employees also called for Amazon workers around Europe to go on strike.” Read more

 

The unintentional winners of Prime Day: Amazon’s competitors at CNBC. “During the week leading up to this year’s event, searches for Amazon were up 544 percent over the previous week…Searches for Best Buy during the same period were up a whipping 712 percent. Walmart during the same time period increased 143 percent.” Read more

 

It will take an immense amount of work to make Amazon’s package delivery business even modestly profitable by Todd Bishop at GeekWire. “Based on Amazon’s projections, “there’s a real possibility that people could find themselves working twice as hard for half the pay vs owning a FedEx route,” said DiNitto, the FedEx delivery business broker.” Read more

 

Gymboree launches its reboot on Amazon Prime Day at CNBC. ““It’s really an all new Gymboree, different in almost every single way,” Gymboree Group Chief Executive Daniel Griesemer told CNBC, speaking of the 32-year-old retailer. “The product is completely re-engineered, redesigned.” Read more

 

Amazon’s Curious Case of the $2,630.52 Used Paperback by David Streitfeld at NY Times. Tiered subs.

 

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The Problem With Innovation: The Biggest Companies Are Hogging All the Gains at The Wall Street Journal. “Scale makes it possible to experiment with advanced technology that is out of reach for many companies. A separate McKinsey Global Institute report, published in April, found early adopters of artificial intelligence may already have gained “an insurmountable advantage” in earnings over competitors who have yet to take the plunge.” Subscription

 

San Antonio Zoo wants to ‘adopt’ Toys R Us mascot by Patrick Danner at Houston Chronicle. “The zoo started a GoFundMe page to raise $100,000 for the Giraffe Conservation Foundation and “to persuade the owners at Toys R Us to join the effort to save giraffes by donating the use of their most recognizable intellectual property.” Read more

 

Kohl’s accused of shorting assistant store managers on pay; company denies allegations by Rick Romell at Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “Kohl’s Corp. holds down costs by improperly barring assistant store managers from getting overtime pay even though most of their work involves non-supervisory tasks such as unloading freight and stocking shelves, a lawsuit alleges.” Read more

 

Sam’s Club will add the Polish dog to the menu at all locations starting on July 23 by Kate Taylor at Business Insider. “Two petitions to save Costco’s Polish dog, on Change.org and Care2, have earned more than 10,000 signatures in recent days.” Read more

 

These are the retail brands that will be hurt most by Chinese tariffs by Tonya Garcia at MarketWatch. “Raymond James thinks value retailers like Dollar General and Family Dollar are the least exposed since about 80% of their sales are in food, personal care and home cleaning supplies, which are largely sourced domestically.” Read more

 

PayPal is leading a $50 million investment into PPRO, a London-based business that is focused on cross-border payments for merchants at TechCrunch. Read more

 

Swimwear industry ‘on fire’ as Instagram’s year-round summers fill feeds with string bikinis and exotic beach posts at CNBC. “U.S. swimwear sales have been growing at an annualized growth rate of 10 percent in the first few months of this year, up from an average of 3.2 percent from 2010 through 2017.” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

A small but blossoming corner of the marijuana industry is set for a boom

Department store apocalypse is taking its toll on NYC

College student wins $1M Powerball prize using controversial smartphone app

H-E-B Loses General Merchandise VP to The Container Store

CVS apologizes after managers call cops on black customer

China’s First $100M Film Pulled from Cinemas After Disastrous Opening Weekend

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Eye on Retail Tipsheet is must-read material for 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

 

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Tipsheet: Home Improvement CEO Resigns | Pay to Park @ Mall | Amazon Toy Catalog

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Amazon Takes a Page From Toys ‘R’ Us With a Holiday Catalog by Matthew Townsend at Bloomberg. “The printed guide will be mailed to millions of U.S. households and handed out at Whole Foods Market locations, the grocery chain Amazon bought last year, said the people, who asked not to be named because the plan isn’t public.” Tiered subs.

 

Barnes & Noble fires CEO Demos Parneros for violating company policies at CNBC. “The company did not specify exactly which policies were violated…Parneros will not receive any severance and is no longer a director on its board, the company said in its statement.” Read more

 

Shopping malls want to make you pay for prime parking spots by Lisa Fickenscher at NY Post. “Woodbury Common Premium Outlets is the latest shopping center to sign a deal with MyPark. Shoppers who want to reserve a spot near the entrance or by popular restaurants can pay $3 for two hours — plus $3 an hour thereafter — to reserve a spot as much as six months in advance.” Read more

 

Walmart pulls controversial ‘Impeach 45’ clothing from website after harsh feedback at Fox News. “These items were sold by third party sellers on our open marketplace, and were not offered directly by Walmart. We’re removing these types of items pending review of our marketplace policies,” a Walmart spokesperson told Fox News.” Read more

 

Judge sides with L.L. Bean in man’s challenge of its return policy by Lauren Zumbach at Chicago Tribune via Boston Herald. “L.L. Bean put a one-year limit on most returns in February to reduce abuse of its satisfaction guarantee. Less than a week later, Victor Bondi sued in U.S. District Court in Chicago.” Read more

 

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Take Our Cheese, Please: American Cheese Makers Suffer Under New Tariffs by Heather Haddon at Wall Street Journal. ““It’s a nightmare,” said BelGioioso President Errico Auricchio. Milk consumption in the U.S. has been falling for decades, prompting dairies to turn more of it into cheese. To sell it all, farmers have aggressively marketed their products to growing middle-class populations in Mexico and Asia.” WSJ Subs.

 

Netflix testing higher-priced ‘Ultra’ subscription plan: report at Fox Business. “The price for an Ultra plan could be set as high as $19.80, according to CNET. Other media outlets have reported it will cost users $16.99. Netflix is said to be assessing whether consumers place more value on the number of streams or higher content quality.” Read more

 

Costco changes up food court menu, but the $1.50 hot dog deal remains by Benjamin Romano at Seattle Times. ““The all-beef hot dog remains,” Galanti said, confirming that the Polish dog is being discontinued to make way for new items…“I can assure we don’t make a lot on the hot dog and soda,” Galanti said. It’s not a loss leader…but “closer to break-even than you think,” he added.” Tiered subs.

 

New Alibaba concept store teases future of fashion retail “The pilot store, open for a limited time only from Thursday through Saturday at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, showcases Guess apparel through innovations such as “smart mirrors,” which display product information on a nearby screen when shoppers are touching or picking up a garment.” Read more

 

TiVo CEO resigns for ‘personal’ reason at CNBC. Read more

 

CANADA – Home Hardware CEO Terry Davis to retire after 48 years with the company at The Globe & Mail. “In 2017, the store’s yearly gross sales reached $6-billion a year, which equalled a 13-per-cent share of the home-improvement industry. That put Home Hardware in third place behind Home Depot Inc. (17 per cent) and Rona Inc./Lowe’s Cos. (15 per cent), and just ahead of Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd. (12 per cent).” Read more

 

EASY POLICE WORK – Man steals Walmart trailer full of merchandise – leaves it in his front yard at NBC 16 WNDU. “After all of the action calmed down, Walmart sent its people in to reclaim their lost inventory. But it’s hard work. I ended up helping out for 15 minutes or so and found that the entire garage was filled to the brim with products.” Video/Read more

 

**Eye on Retail Tipsheet will return July 16th!

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Two killed, five injured when large tree branch falls at fireworks show in Illinois

How Smart TVs Track More Than What’s on Tonight

Merkel ready to back lower EU tariffs on U.S. cars

USPS must pay Statue of Liberty replica sculptor $3.5M

Tagwalk wants to be the Google of fashion

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Eye on Retail Tipsheet is must-read material for 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

Tipsheet: Ellison Day 1 | $1 Mil at Toys R Us | WM New CMO

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Shopper spends $1M at a Toys ‘R’ Us just before store closes for good, plans to donate toys to local children by Kate Feldman at NY Daily News. “The anonymous good Samaritan walked into the Raleigh, N.C., store last week and told employees to box everything up, local station CBS 17 reported.” Read more

 

Amazon Prime Day will be 36 hours this year vs. 30 last year, starting at 12 p.m. Pacific, July 16 by Nat Levy at GeekWire. Read more

 

Walmart names Chief Customer Officer & CMO at CNBC. “Walmart has appointed  former American Express executive Janey Whiteside to the newly created role of chief customer officer…Whiteside’s team will include another new appointee, Barbara Messing, who will join Walmart as chief marketing officer in mid-August.” Read more

 

Tesco Forms Purchasing Alliance With Carrefour to Cut Costs by Thomas Mulier & Sam Chambers at Bloomberg. “Berenberg analyst Dusan Milosavljevic said by email that he’s skeptical on the deal, observing that “the buying synergies for cross-national deals in food retail have been very difficult to realize historically.” Tiered subs.

 

Under pressure, afraid to take bathroom breaks? Inside Amazon’s fast-paced warehouse world by Nina Shapiro at Seattle Times. “Seeking to write about the plight of the working class, he also worked at a call center, as an Uber driver, on a building site and as a home aide caring for the elderly. “Amazon was the worst employer, easily,” the author said by phone. When he took a day off sick, he received a “point.” Earn six and you’re fired, he said.” Read more (Tiered subs.)

 

New Era at Amazon’s Whole Foods Grates on Some Suppliers, Employees by Heather Haddon & Laura Stevens at Wall Street Journal. “There has never been a time in Whole Foods’ history more ripe for widespread labor organization,” a group of employees wrote in a letter last month as part of their efforts to organize workers.” Read more (Subs.)

 

…According to The Wall Street Journal, Whole Foods is laying off hundreds of in-store marketing employees. They were in charge of drawing out the familiar chalkboard signs, as well as organizing local events in an effort to connect Whole Foods stores with the communities they serve. by Kaitlyn Wang at GeekWire. Read more

 

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Shoplifters accuse Walmart, Bloomingdale’s of extortion by John Woolfolk at Mercury News. “They gave her a choice: Cop to shoplifting and agree to pay $500 for an online class…“Despite their glittering credentials,” the complaint says, the program’s producers “are all participants in a long-running, highly profitable extortion scheme…” Read more (Tiered subs.)

 

LeBron James’ deal with the Lakers is a gift for shopping upstart Wish by Jason Del Rey at Recode. “When I caught up with Wish CEO Peter Szulczewski around when the sponsorship deal was first announced — and when LeBron James was not yet signed — he called it “basically a no-brainer,” owing in part to the huge popularity of the Lakers in China, where the majority of the shopping app’s 600,000 merchants were based. It looks even better now.” Read more

 

Supervalu sets Aug. 16 for shareholder meeting and showdown with activist investment firm by Evan Ramstad at Star Tribune. “The activist investor pursuing control of Supervalu Inc. sought to take over its grocery-store chains, including Cub Foods, for nothing, the company told shareholders Monday.” Read more (Tiered subs.)

 

New Lowe’s CEO Marvin Ellison spends his first day at the Pro desk in Dallas Twitter feed

 

Temkin: Wegmans is Easiest Company for Customers to Work With “…followed closely by Subway, Citizens Bank, Ace Hardware, and Wawa Food Markets at 89%, and USAA, credit unions, and Publix at 88%.” Press release

 

Malls Vacancies Hit Six-Year High as Online Shopping Takes a Toll by Esther Fung at Wall Street Journal. WSJ subs.

 

Online hardware store BuildDirect brings in new leadership as it refocuses on Pros by Frederic Lardinois at TechCrunch. “Ken Stanick, the former director of Sales & Channels at Amazon Business, is joining as the company’s new chief revenue officer…Mukund Mohan, who was previously a director at Amazon Business…is joining as the company’s new CTO. Godwin Pavamani, the former global product leader for Prime Samples and head of Vendor Management PC/IT category at Amazon, is now BuildDirect’s chief merchandising officer…” Read more

 

Cowen and Co. lowers Nordstrom rating to market perform from outperform and dropped its share price target to $51 from $56 at CNBC. “Cowen said Nordstrom will likely need to shutter more stores, although it already has a relatively “healthier” footprint compared with peers.” Read more

 

Small butcher shops are in ‘a renaissance.’ How did they survive the supermarket offensive? by Dylan Jackson at Miami Herald. Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

You can get a ton of Amazon Prime Day deals right now

Bloomberg: Welcome to Waltonville

Giant Tiger roars across Canada as other retail competitors fade

Pier 1 Imports is completely leaving Quebec

The Crazy Story Behind Why California Just Banned Soda Taxes

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Eye on Retail Tipsheet is must-read material for 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