Archive for month: August, 2019

JCPenney halves losses, will begin selling used clothing at AP/Yahoo. “Shares of J.C. Penney surged…partnering with thredUP, a resale website where people can buy and sell clothes online. J.C. Penney will open threadUP shop in 30 stores soon…(comp) sales tumbled 9% in the second quarter, or 6% when the impact of the company’s exit from major appliance and in-store furniture sales are accounted for.” Read more

Tapestry Q4 net sales +2.0%: Coach comp sales +2.0% / Kate Spade comp sales -6.0% Press release

Walmart Canada rolls out nationwide delivery through Instacart at TechCrunch. Read more

Woman sues for gun ban in Kroger grocery stores after father’s murder at CBS This Morning. “Her son told her that her father, 69-year-old Maurice Stallard, had been shot. Stallard had been shopping for school supplies with his grandson at a Kroger grocery store in Louisville, Kentucky, when a gunman opened fire, killing two – including Stallard.” Video/Read more

CVS faces boycott threats after dispute with birth-control delivery startup Pill Club by Ruth Reader at Fast Company. “CVS has allegedly decided to cut its reimbursement rates to the service, and in response, Pill Club says it will have to stop working with the pharmacy chain…”The reality is that we would be out of business if every pharmacy manager did what CVS is doing. And thousands of women would be without the birth control they need (Pill Club says).” Read more

The Rise of Hand-Me-Down Inc. by Suzanne Kapner at Wall Street Journal. “Fifty-six million women bought secondhand products in 2018, up from 44 million who did so in 2017, according to the report. Shoppers ages 18 to 37 are driving the shift. A third of Generation Z and more than a quarter of millennials will make secondhand purchases this year, the report predicts.” WSJ subs.

Walmart accounts for about 2% of the firearms market today, the company estimates, “which we believe places us outside at least the top three sellers in the industry.” And the retailer says it has about a 20% share of ammunition. at MarketWatch. Read more

**A message from X1 Ebike – Up to 37 miles on a single 4-hour charge. Folds into the size of a golf bag in seconds! GPS tracking, VIN # & alarm for security. Video | Website | Contact

Amazon rolls back prices to 1959 with L.A. stunt to promote hit show — gas for 30 cents snarls traffic at The Verge. “Unfortunately, it seems that the allure of filling up a tank at 30 cents a gallon was just too much for the motorists of Santa Monica — police have issued traffic warnings recommending locals avoid the area, and apparently shut down the promotion at one point…” Read more

Amazon Uses a Twitter Army of Employees to Fight Criticism of Warehouses by Jonah Engel Bromwich at NY Times. “On Wednesday evening, a phalanx of Amazon employees known as “FC ambassadors” began tweeting again about how great it is to work at Amazon. When the ambassadors see others on social media discussing the brutal working conditions at Amazon fulfillment centers, its anti-union actions or anything else unflattering about the company, they step in to offer an on-the-ground perspective.” Tiered subs.

Fortune: 100 Fastest Growing Companies (Amazon #11, Etsy #16, Five Below #57) List

Facebook Marketplace: The Wild West of E-Commerce by Khadeeja Safdar at Wall Street Journal. “Frank McKenna, chief fraud strategist at PointPredictive, which makes software to detect loan and transaction fraud, said the current lack of oversight on Facebook Marketplace makes it ripe for payment fraud…“It is a scammer’s haven,” Mr. McKenna said. “They love it because they can create a fake profile and it legitimizes them.” WSJ subs.

Meijer welcomes 40,000 incoming college freshmen back to 21 colleges across the Midwest Press release

Amazon continues physical retail expansion with plans for new bookstore in Nashville and 4-star store in Boston by Nat Levy at GeekWire. Read more

Why Whole Foods CEO never snacks, barely drinks water and travels with a rice cooker at CNBC. “Mackey puts down his phone for the night at 9 p.m. and sets it to “do not disturb”; he does not answer work emails and texts until 7 the next morning. All his employees know that he is unreachable for those 10 hours. “People know not to email me,” he says. “My wife [is the only one who] can get through to me. She’s got the code.” Read more

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Jeff Bezos brings two 90-foot superyachts to waterfront Miami restaurant

Why Trump wants to buy Greenland and why Denmark won’t sell

8 in 10 workers admit to crying at work

‘Toy Story 4’  is 5th Disney movie to hit billion-dollar benchmark this year

The new mini Target in South Beach is open for business

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

**

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: Put your product or service in front of the most powerful retail execs in the world, send advertising inquiries to info@eyeonretail.net

Website: eyeonretail.net

Macy’s shares tank 15% as deep discounting leads to big earnings miss, cut forecast at CNBC. “…(comp sales) were up 0.3%, short of expectations for growth of 0.4%…“We took markdowns to clear the excess Spring inventory and are entering the Fall season with the right inventory to meet anticipated customer demand,” (CEO Gennette) added.” Read more

Walmart tops US online grocery market, with 62% more customers than nearest rival by Sarah Perez at TechCrunch. “The market still has room to grow, as well. Only 12% of U.S. consumers have tried at least one of the grocery services the report analyzed, up from 9% in June 2018.” Rankings

Kohl’s taps Facebook to ‘curate’ new and emerging brands by Adrienne Pasquarelli at Ad Age. “On Tuesday, Kohl’s announced “Curated by Kohl’s,” which will highlight products from new and emerging brands as discovered by Facebook…will debut in mid-October at more than 50 Kohl’s stores and Kohls.com. Starting in 2020, Facebook will help identify brands that advertise on its platform that may be a good fit for the Kohl’s program. Brands will try for the privilege through an application process.” Tiered subs.

Ross Stores Promotes Executives, Including CFO by Dave Sebastian at Wall Street Journal. “…finance chief Michael Hartshorn (promoted) to group president and operating chief…Succeeding Mr. Hartshorn as chief financial officer is Travis Marquette, who previously served as deputy CFO…promoting Michael Kobayashi to president in operations and technology.” WSJ subs.

Oregon passes law requiring eggs sold there to come from cage-free hens by Aris Folley at The Hill. Read more

Postmates plans to make its IPO paperwork public in September by Megan Rose Dickey & Kate Clark at TechCrunch. “Postmates has raised $681 million to date with its latest round coming in earlier this year at a $1.85 billion valuation. DoorDash, on the other hand, reached a $12.6 billion valuation in May with a $600 million Series G.” Read more

Entrepreneur 2019 Franchise 500 Ranking (7-Eleven #10, Ace #13, Pet Supplies Plus #46) List

**A message from Real Coconut Water: The sweetest coconut water you’ll find. 100% pure coconut water. PL or branded organic in Tetra Pak. Sell sheet | Website | Samples: info@eyeonretail.net

FAA bans some Apple laptops from flights over fire risk by Tal Axelrod at The Hill. “The products in question are some 15-inch MacBook Pros sold between September 2015 and February 2017.” Read more

Filtered Newark water still had 4 times federal level for lead. Feds don’t know why. by Karen Yi at NJ Advance Media. Read more

DuPont Can’t Strip Home Depot’s Paint Price-Fixing Suit. Law 360 subs.

Whole Foods employees demand Amazon break all ties with ICE and Palantir by Nick Statt at The Verge. “In particular, the letter calls Amazon’s rule “dystopian,” and Whole Foods employees say they will continue to combat the company by leaking information and attempting to undermine policies and business dealings that lead to the deportation of undocumented people and other rights abuses.” Read more

JD.com delivers blowout Q2 profits at Footwear News. “…second-quarter profits of $90.7 million, versus consensus bets of a $6.3 million loss…Revenues during the same period climbed 22.9% to $21.9 billion, also better than the $20.9 billion forecast by analysts.” Read more

Patagonia’s Director of Philosophy explains what it takes to build a mission-driven company at Fast Company. 2:34 video

Tipsheet Extra Stories

The 10 cities most vulnerable to automation

Employee dies after getting caught in machinery at Target warehouse

Overstock shares fall as CEO gets even more nutty and unpredictable

Why Disney’s $13 Streaming Bundle May Be a Double-Edged Sword

Amazon Rekognition Falsely Matches 26 Lawmakers To Mugshots

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

**

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: Put your product or service in front of the most powerful retail execs in the world, send advertising inquiries to info@eyeonretail.net

Website: eyeonretail.net

Amazon accused of hiring teenage interns in China factory by Gethin Chamberlain at The Guardian. “Some of the pupils making Amazon’s Alexa-enabled Echo and Echo Dot devices along with Kindles have been required to work for more than two months to supplement staffing levels at the factory during peak production periods, researchers found. More than 1,000 pupils are employed, aged from 16 to 18.” Read more

Police arrest armed man at Walmart in Springfield, Missouri at Ozark First. “According to Lt. Lucas, an off duty fireman who was at the Walmart is to thank in some part for the young man’s arrest. For now, investigators will review both the Walmart security footage and the armed 20-year-old’s social media profiles.” Read more/Video

Canadian Tire Q2 comp sales +1.9% Press release

…Canadian Tire Corp. buys all 65 Party City stores in Canada for $175M at CBC. “It plans to add stand-alone Party City stores as well as sell its products across 500 Canadian Tire retail stores and online at Canadiantire.ca.” Read more

Walmart removing violent video game displays, signs from stores by Kelly Tyko at USA Today. “Stores were sent a memo that called for “immediate action” to remove signing and displays that “contain violent themes or aggressive behavior.” The memo circulated on Twitter and Reddit, and Walmart officials confirmed its authenticity to USA TODAY.” Read more

Vitamin Shoppe to be acquired by Liberty Tax / Q2 comp sales -7.2% Press release

Home Depot’s CFO on How the Retail Giant Returned to Health by Sarah Nassauer at Wall Street Journal. “When we closed our Expo business Frank and I got in a plane and we flew to Florida…We walked into the store and the associates were there who were losing their jobs. I sat down and held the hand of the associates who were crying…I’m like, “It’s not your fault. We had a big, bad business model.”…I vowed to myself on that day that I would never allocate capital again to another store that needed to be closed, because it was just too hard…” WSJ subs.

Loblaw won’t face lawsuit over Bangladesh factory collapse after Supreme Court of Canada refuses to hear case at Financial Post. Read more

Foot Locker is opening more massive ‘Power’ stores across US—and it’s teaming with Nike to do it by Lauren Thomas at CNBC.”These so-called Power stores are four times as big as a typical Foot Locker store in malls. The newest will open Saturday in New York — in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. The retailer plans to open upwards of 50 Power stores over the next three years. It has three in the U.S. today: one in Detroit and two in Philadelphia.” Read more

Ingles Markets Q3 net sales +2.7% Press release

**A message from X1 Ebike – Up to 37 miles on a single 4-hour charge. Folds into the size of a golf bag in seconds! GPS tracking, VIN # & alarm for security. Video | Website | Contact

J.C. Penney faces NYSE delisting at CNBC. “The department store chain has seen its stock plunge more than 70% over the past year, down to 69 cents per share as of Thursday’s close.” Read more

…Pier 1 Imports on notice too Press release

For kids’ clothes, no one retailer has the lock on back-to-school season this year by Lauren Thomas at CNBC. “Target’s apparel displays are “looking phenomenal,” according to (research analyst) Driscoll…“Sometimes for my two-year-old I buy certain things at Walmart,” (mom) Szylar said. “Because she gets messy in pre-school, and Walmart seems to be affordable. You don’t really care if she gets those things dirty.” Read more

Cato July comp sales +4% Press release

Startup wants to turn today’s food app delivery workers into “solopreneurs” who build their own book of clients by Connie Loizos at TechCrunch. “(Dumpling now) has $3 million in backing from two venture firms that know the gig economy well, too: Floodgate, an early investor in Lyft, and Fuel Capital…” Read more

The Buckle July comp sales -0.5% Press release

San Francisco gives Postmates permit to test sidewalk delivery robots by Jay Peters at The Verge. Read more

Tipsheet Extra Stories

The billionaires behind the secret tech mecca in St.Louis

Amazon seeks to root out any ties to 8chan

HBO’s controversial Confederate series is canceled

Revenue in one of Sonos’s sales categories is up 221% thanks to Ikea

Field Agent: Best Grocery Back to School Displays

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

**

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: Put your product or service in front of the most powerful retail execs in the world, send advertising inquiries to info@eyeonretail.net

Website: eyeonretail.net

Barneys New York has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and will close 15 of its 22 stores at USA Today. List/Read more

For J.C. Penney CEO, debt haunts turnaround bid at Reuters. “Penney has about $1.75 billion in liquidity in the form of cash and money available under a revolving credit line…That makes Penney’s near-term debt payments manageable. But more than $2 billion comes due in 2023…” Read more

Blue Apron Q2 revenue -34% Press release

Walmart losses in Africa continue, new leadership working on turnaround by Kim Souza at Talk Business. “Massmart will officially report six-month earnings on Aug. 29, but the retailer said losses are expected to widen despite comp sales growth of 3.6%, with inflation being 2.7% of that gain.” Read more

Amazon seeks FCC’s go-ahead to test mobile broadband devices in Silicon Valley by Alan Boyle at GeekWire. “Compared with other parts of the spectrum, the CBRS band is expected to be easier to make use of, could enable local data transmission at speeds that are better than Wi-Fi, and should play well with 5G.” Read more

NY Times: Dear Walmart C.E.O.: You Have the Power to Curb Gun Violence. Do It. “The legally purchased weapons that were used in the mass shootings did not come from Walmart. But guns in America travel through a manufacturing and supply chain that relies on banks like Wells Fargo, software companies like Microsoft, and delivery and logistics giants like Federal Express and UPS. All of those companies, in turn, count Walmart as a crucial client.” Tiered subs.

Walmart wrestles with how to respond to active shooters at AP. “Melissa Love, a 26-year-old store associate in Long Beach, California, said Walmart’s active shooter training is inadequate and does not make her feel prepared. She said employees essentially watch a video and there is no chance to practice.” Read more

**A message from Real Coconut Water: Young Brazilian coconuts have a sweeter taste. 100% pure coconut water. PL or branded organic in Tetra Pak. Sell sheet | Website | Samples: info@eyeonretail.net

Amazon offers Prime Student members Amazon Music Unlimited for $0.99/month Press release

A first look inside Google’s top-secret design lab by Mark Wilson at Fast Company. “In any other setting, Ross’s upbeat, bohemian demeanor would evoke that of a high school art teacher or perhaps the owner of a crystal shop more than a design director at one of the most powerful companies in the world. Today she walks me, the first journalist ever allowed in the building, through the space…” Read more

US Foods Q2 revenue +4.6% Press release

Albertsons names chief HR officer, Portland division president at Supermarket News. “Mike Theilmann is joining Albertson Cos. as executive vice president and chief human resources officer, and company veteran Gineal Davidson has been promoted to president of the Portland (Ore.) division.” Read more

Squad, the ‘anti-bro startup’, is creating a safe space for teenage girls online by Kate Clark at TechCrunch. “Girls have been completely pushed off of Twitch,” (CEO Crawford) said. “The Twitch community didn’t want them there and they weren’t friendly to them.” Read more

When you buy kids’ clothes from UpChoose, you can exchange them later for bigger ones by Adele Peters at Fast Company. “…the old clothes are resold on the same platform to other parents. The company plans to expand to other products like toys and furniture.” Read more

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Giant Eagle plans tech hub for Pittsburgh area

Jeff Bezos spotted at Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony

Apple releases videos that show how the Apple Card works

‘Maybe think twice’ about blocking blue zone spots at Costco

Five apps you’ve never heard of that teens are using to shop

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

**

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: Put your product or service in front of the most powerful retail execs in the world, send advertising inquiries to info@eyeonretail.net

Website: eyeonretail.net