CANADA - Recreational pot sales officially started at 12 a.m. on Wednesday through the provincial government’s online portal — www.bccannabisstores.com at Vancouver Sun. Read more   ...Until yesterday Uruguay was the only country to have legalized the entire value chain for adult recreational use of marijuana at Fortune. Read more   ...Canada Post workers could begin rotating strikes Monday at CBC News. Read more   'I Urge You to Reconsider:' Elizabeth Warren Pushes Toys 'R' Us to Give Laid-Off Employees Some Serious Severance at Fortune. Read more   Walgreens wants to be seen as a health-care company, not just [...]

  Walmart pairs with Advance Auto Parts to create online specialty auto parts store at CNBC. "The partnership will bring home delivery and same-day pickup in both Walmart and Advance stores. The venture will sell common auto parts and accessories, including tires, lube and battery services, online and in its 2,500 Walmart Auto Care Centers nationwide." Read more   Build-a-Bear Workshops are opening at select Walmart stores at USA Today. List of stores   Amazon Doles Out Freebies to Juice Sales of Its Own Brands by Spencer Soper at Bloomberg. "Amazon uses Vine extensively to promote a fast-growing assortment of its [...]

  Retail sales edged up in Sept amid the biggest drop in spending at restaurants and bars in nearly 2 years at CNBC. "The Commerce Department said on Monday retail sales edged up 0.1 percent last month after a similar gain in August. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales increasing 0.6 percent in September." Read more   Lowe's CEO Marvin Ellison sits down for interview by Katherine Peralta at Charlotte Observer. "Ellison that said Lowe’s is testing (same-day/next-day delivery) in select places, but that the company’s supply chain isn’t “mature enough” to roll it out chain-wide. “I call it [...]

  Walmart Expands Entertainment Strategy With Eko Interactive Content Joint Venture by Cynthia Littleton at Variety. "Walmart has made an investment of about $250 million in Eko, a company based in New York and Tel Aviv...The plan calls for W*E to develop a range of content for Walmart’s website and its Vudu video service. Some of that might be branded entertainment and advertising-oriented and some may be purely entertainment based." Read more   Walgreens Q4: front-end comp sales -1.9% / US retail pharmacy comp +0.3% at CNBC. Read more   ...Walgreens and LabCorp to open 600+ patient centers Press release   PayPal [...]

  Walmart Reshuffles Senior Execs in E-Commerce, Grocery by Kim Souza at Talk Business. "Steve Breen is moving from eCommerce to the stores team as SVP of central merchandising...promoted Kieran Shanahan to SVP of eCommerce retail for Everyday Living...Ralph Clair was named VP of merchandising operations snacks, beverage and impulse items...Diane Marshall was named VP, divisional merchandise manager of sporting goods." See more changes   Bernie Sanders asks Amazon to clarify whether wage hike will cost workers at Fox Business. Read more   Walmart Canada ponders possibility of selling cannabis products by Kristine Owram at Bloomberg via Toronto Star. "As [...]

  Hurricane Michael anticipated landfall is Wednesday on the northeast Gulf Coast at Miami Herald. Read more    Trump to allow more ethanol in gasoline by Donnelle Eller at Des Moines Register. "E15 is banned during the summer months, based on concerns it contributes to smog, a claim ethanol advocates say is unfounded. Almost all gasoline contains 10 percent ethanol." Read more   Walmart partners with MGM on original programming for Vudu by Sarah Perez at TechCrunch. "The news follows rumors that Walmart was working on its own subscription video-on-demand Netflix competitor, but Vudu says there’s nothing planned on that front [...]

Costco Q4 comp sales (ex gas & f/x) +7.2% "Net sales for the 16-week fourth quarter were $43.4 billion, an increase of 5.0 percent from $41.4 billion in the 17-week fourth quarter last year." Press release   ...Costco Falls After Reporting Problem With IT Systems in Results by Matthew Boyle at Bloomberg. "Costco's information-technology problem, which roiled its bookkeeping and sent the stock tumbling on Thursday, was tied to workers getting access to financial data after they should have been cut off. While a company official was cryptic on their call with analysts, Costco later said that it has hired outside experts to [...]

  BETTER OFF? - Amazon eliminates monthly bonuses and stock grants after minimum wage increase at The Verge. "Currently, warehouse workers get two shares of Amazon stock when they’re hired ($1,952.76 per share as of writing), and an additional stock option each year. After the changes take effect, the RSU program will be phased out for stocks that vest in 2020 and 2021, and it will be replaced with a direct stock purchase plan by the end of next year." Read more   Walgreens takes minority stake in digital makeup company Birchbox at CNBC. "Walgreens will experiment with adapting the [...]