Walgreens Q3 comp sales in its U.S. drugstores fell 1.1% from the year-ago quarter, which Walgreens attributed to its “de-emphasis” of tobacco products at CNBC. "Walgreens Boots Alliance on Thursday beat fiscal third-quarter earnings estimates as higher prescription drug sales helped the company regain its footing after CEO Stefano Pessina dubbed last quarter “the most difficult” since the company was formed." Read more   Amazon launches new in-store pickup option with Rite Aid as first partner at Reuters. "The new option, called Counter, will launch with pharmacy Rite Aid Corp offering the service in 100 stores, with an expansion [...]

  Wayfair workers plan walkout in protest of company's bed sales to migrant camps at CNN. "...plan a walkout from company headquarters Wednesday...According to a woman identifying herself as an employee of the company, Wayfair employees learned last week that an order for about $200,000 worth of bedroom furniture was placed by BCFS..." Read more   Mnuchin: ‘We were about 90% of the way’ on China trade deal and there’s a ‘path to complete this’ at CNBC. Read more   Walmart now accepts SNAP for online grocery orders at all of the company’s 2,500-plus pickup locations by Sarah Perez at [...]

  Amazon’s Prime Day will start July 15 and last 48 hours at The Verge. Read more   H-E-B unveils Austin digital tech hub; plans for 650 workers by Lori Hawkins at Austin American Statesman. Pics/Read more   Home Depot CEO Craig Menear appears on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" "Home Depot CEO Craig Menear said the company aims to minimize the impact that potential tariffs will have on prices by cutting costs elsewhere along its supply chain. The company makes 70% of its goods domestically, which also lessens the effect, Menear said in an interview Monday..." Video / Transcript [...]

  Amazon launches domestic airline ticket sales in India, alarming airlines at Reuters. "The (airlines) have nothing left if Google is in that position, or Amazon,” Travelport Chief Executive Gordon Wilson said at a CAPA Centre for Aviation conference this month. “I think the airlines are being very watchful over this.” Read more   Mattress Firm and the maker of Tempur-Pedic mattresses are getting back together at USA Today. "...less than a year after a bitter dispute over accusations that Mattress Firm was illegally selling lookalike products under the similar name "Therapedic." Read more   Walmart Will Pay $282 Million [...]

  Kroger Q1 comp sales (ex-fuel) +1.5% Press release   ...Reuters: Kroger quarterly results beat as digital push pays off "Sales fell 1.2% to $37.25 billion, as Kroger operated fewer stores following the sales of its convenience store business. Analysts had expected sales of $37.21 billion." Read more   ...Kroger Pilots 30-Minute Grocery Delivery at Progressive Grocer. "Kroger Rush is now available at two stores in the grocer’s home market of Cincinnati...The Oakley and Newport Marketplace stores can make the quick deliveries within a 3-mile radius." Read more   Items pitched at Walmart’s Open Call by Kim Souza at Talk [...]

  Target CEO Brian Cornell reiterates forecast, apologizes to customers for weekend outages at CNBC. "There was no impact to the company’s earnings forecast as a result of the outage, said Cornell in an interview on Wednesday with CNBC’s Becky Quick on “Squawk Box.”...“Within a couple of hours, our teams were able to identify the root cause and push the fix to our stores and get us back up and running,” he said. “But disappointing performance.” Video/Read more   Walmart’s Kickstarting a $1 Trillion Driverless Delivery Market by Keith Naughton & Matthew Boyle at Bloomberg. "This area has the least [...]

  A glitch stalled checkout lines at Target stores worldwide Saturday at AP News. "After an initial but thorough review, we can confirm that this was not a data breach or security-related issue, and no guest information was compromised at any time,” Target said." Read more   ...TARGET SAYS SUNDAY OUTAGE NOT RELATED TO SATURDAY - Target customers report issues checking out for second day after weekend outage at CNBC. "Target spokesperson said the company’s payment processor, NCR, experienced issues at one of its data centers. As a consequence, Target was unable to process card payments at some stores for [...]

  Walmart in blockchain collaboration with FDA at Reuters. "IBM, Merck and Walmart have been chosen for a U.S. Food and Drug Administration pilot program that will explore using blockchain technology to improve the security of prescription drug supply and distribution." Read more   Target expands same-day delivery options - Shoppers pay a flat fee of $9.99 per order at CNBC. "Up until now, Target shoppers have been able to get orders delivered on the same day by being a Shipt member, which costs $99 per year. That option is still available for everyone, Target said, but the company is [...]