Archive for year: 2019

EU says it will investigate Amazon over possible anti-competitive business practices at CNBC. “Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said the EU opened a formal investigation to determine how Amazon uses data from independent retailers who sell on the company’s marketplace. The investigation centers on Amazon’s “dual role” as both a retailer and a marketplace, Vestager said.” Read more

Walmart CEO McMillon says the retailer has been playing ‘catch up’ in e-commerce at MarketWatch. “We’re not proud, we’re not egotistical,” McMillon said. “If somebody’s doing something better than we are, let’s copy and paste what we should. In the case of Amazon and others, clearly customers are responding to convenience.” Read more | 22:09 video

Yesterday: CBS interviews Jeff Bezos and Caroline Kennedy “The Trump administration’s official policy is committed to a return to the moon in the next five years. But the relationship between Mr. Trump and Bezos, at times, can seem light years apart. “To go back to the moon and the time frame that the administration wants to do, we absolutely need the support of the government to do that,” Bezos said.” Video/Read more

CVS Pushing Into Kidney Dialysis With Segway Inventor’s Help by Robert Langreth at Bloomberg. “CVS Health Corp. is beginning human trials of a new home dialysis machine that could shake up the $35 billion market for end-stage kidney care and create a new business for the drugstore chain.” Tiered subs.

True Value Retools Hardware Supply Chain by Jennifer Smith at Wall Street Journal. “Instead of having everything everywhere, we have all the things we need, in the right place,” True Value Chief Executive John Hartmann said in an interview. The company’s two-day window for fulfilling orders hasn’t changed, but “having larger quantities of the faster-moving items allows us to have higher fill rates on the products that are most important to our customers.” WSJ subs.

Union reaches tentative agreement with Safeway and Vons in Northern and Central California Press release

Lawmakers focus on Amazon during antitrust hearing by Monica Nickelsburg at GeekWire. “Congress asked four of the top tech companies in the world to testify on antitrust issues Tuesday — but once questioning got underway, it was clear that many of them only had eyes on Amazon. The Seattle tech giant fielded the several pointed questions from the House Judiciary Committee’s antitrust division.” Read more

...On Tuesday, Sen. Sanders, Rep. Ilhan Omar and 11 other House Democrats signed a letter to the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, asking the government to investigate Amazon warehouses. by Taylor Soper at GeekWire. Read more

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Rothy’s Makes This Year’s ‘It’ Shoe. But Can It Keep Growing Amid A Flood Of Copy Cats? by Amy Feldman at Forbes. “Obsessive Rothy’s customers wait in line outside the company’s miniature Fillmore Street store and join a private Facebook group for self-described Rothy’s addicts with nearly 14,000 members. “We’re creating a product that women love,” says (cofounder) Martin, 46.” Read more

Giant Food Stores second Giant Heirloom Market will open in the University City neighborhood of Philadelphia on Friday at Progressive Grocer. Read more

Large retailers saw 64% increase in sales on Monday, thanks to Amazon Prime Day by Sarah Perez at TechCrunch. “That’s up quite a bit from the 54% increase seen by these large retailers (those with over a billion in annual revenue) last year, the report notes…retailers with less than $5 million in annual revenue saw a 30% increase in their online sales on Monday.” Read more

Claire’s announces that ex-Party City president Ryan Vero has been appointed CEO Press release

Jeff Bezos closes out Prime Day by standing on top of Amazon’s massive glass spheres by Kurt Schlosser at GeekWire. “I love my job and tap dance into work every day, but not usually on top of The Spheres,” Bezos wrote in his Instagram caption.” Pic/Read more

After years of both opposition and support, a small-scale Target store will open Wednesday in San Diego’s free-spirited, laid-back Ocean Beach community at NBC 7 San Diego. “The plans had been in the works since August 2017, when just the idea of putting a Target store in the beachside community stirred controversy.” Read more/Video

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Forbes: Next Billion-Dollar Startups 2019

Do pets really love us – or do they just stick around for the food?

Nielsen: Candy and snack sales up in cannabis-legal states

CES will allow sex toys at next year’s show

What Kroger stands to gain from its new partnership with Myriad Genetics

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Costco June comp sales +5.4% (U.S. +6.3% / Canada +2.8% / Other Int’l +3.1% / Ecom +15.7%) Press release

Amazon plans to spend $700 million to retrain a third of its US workforce in new skills at CNBC. “The planned program is among the biggest corporate retraining initiatives ever announced, at a cost of roughly $7,000 per worker, or $700 million, the Journal said.” Read more

75 Best Large Workplaces for Millennials (Wegmans #16, Publix #34) at Fortune. List

Udelv partners with H-E-B on Texas autonomous grocery delivery plot by Darrell Etherington at TechCrunch. “This initial phase only covers one car and one store, and during this part of the pilot the vehicle will have a safety driver on board. But the plan includes the option to expand the partnership to cover more vehicles and eventually achieve full driverless operation.” Read more

Amazon apologizes after fining a college student $3,800 for returning a rented textbook 4 days late by Paige Leskin at Business Insider. “When I pointed out to him that the sum was exorbitant, he kept apologizing that I was frustrated, but that this was Amazon’s policy,” SanFilippo’s father told The Inquirer about the call with customer service.” Read more

Microsoft set to open first store in Europe by Nat Levy at GeekWire. “Microsoft pulled back the curtain on its first-ever retail outpost in Europe, a three-story mega-store just down the street from an Apple location in London’s signature shopping district. Set to open Thursday, the store is one of the company’s largest yet at more than 21,000 square feet.” Read more

Goldman says buy UPS, FedEx because concern Amazon is cutting them out is overblown at CNBC. Read more

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To stock Amazon’s shelves, merchants travel the backroads of America in search of rare soap and coveted toys by Josh Dzieza at The Verge. “I love living on wheels,” says Rose Pile, who travels in an RV with her husband and four sons. “If you don’t like your neighbors, if you don’t like your location, you just move.” “The best part is just seeing the country,” says Jamison Philippi, who recently spent nine months on the road clearing out closing Toys R Us stores.” Read more

Amazon’s Prime Day sales will jump 46% by Fareeha Ali at Internet Retailer. “The biggest reason for high growth: Prime Day will span 48 hours this year, 12 hours longer than last year’s 36-hour sale…Second, this year’s sale will feature more than 1 million discounts.” Read more

Cops bust $1 million-a-month gift card scam in Queens by Michael Gartland at NY Daily News. “The fence, allegedly controlled by the Nathoo brothers, employed a variety of confederates, including “fence manager, swipers, shoppers, fence employees, money launderer and more,” according to the DA’s Office.” Read more

Ryan Ross named President of the Williams Sonoma brand Press release

Amazon is coming under fire for ‘deceptive’ ratings and reviews on its website, and lawmakers are now demanding answers by Rebecca Aydin at Business Wire. “Democratic Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey and Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois wrote a letter to Amazon asking the company what it does about fake product reviews and ratings.” Read more

The Unlikely Rise Of Turkey’s E-Commerce Queen at Forbes. “Dogan-Boyner…is now one of the most successful women tech entrepreneurs in the world. For years, her father owned and published one of Turkey’s premier newspaper franchises, Hurriyet. She was born with a silver spoon, but had she not defied her father and quit her family business, Dogan-Boyner, 46, would not have built what is being called Turkey’s Amazon.com.” Read more

Hooters is expanding its family-friendly Hoots restaurants at NBC Today. Read more

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Sonic devices play high-pitched noises to repel teens

Atlanta drivers told to return money after $175K ‘cash storm’ on I-285

Former Home Depot CEO joins cannabis company

Sugar in fruit juice may raise risk of cancer, study finds

AT&T is first major wireless company to block spam calls automatically

How millennials replaced religion with astrology and crystals

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

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Amazon’s Push in Health-Care Supply Chain Has Faded, UBS Says by Tatiana Darie at Bloomberg. “UBS’s survey found that while hospitals still expect to increase their supply purchases through Amazon over the next three years, the percentage of respondents in talks for sourcing agreements with Amazon has declined to 7% from 11% last year. The bank surveyed 100 purchasing managers.” Tiered subs.

Shopping Can Make You Famous by Sanam Yar at NY Times. “Bella McFadden’s thrift-store finds have gained her a following of Gen Z shoppers who hunger for the ’90s they never experienced…Sales…have taken off on the popular e-commerce app, where she has more than 500,000 followers who admire her early-aughts aesthetics. They long to be styled by her. They know her as Internet Girl.” Tiered subs.

Facebook has become the storefront for direct-to-consumer brands by Adam Kleinberg at Ad Age. “The dirty truth about DTC is that it’s actually FTC: Facebook-to-consumer. According to (Jen) Tank, “It’s like trying to get into an exclusive club to meet cool people you want to have a relationship with, but you have to pay a friend of a friend to get you through the door.” Tiered subs.

Walmart heirs continue to downsize company holdings by Kim Souza at Talk Business. Read more

Home Depot shoppers threaten boycott over Trump-supporting co-founder by Chris Perez at NY Post. “The hashtag #BoycottHomeDepot went viral on Monday night as more and more people got word of Marcus’ support for Trump…Conservative author Nick Adams wrote: “I love how liberals are trying to boycott a store we all know they never go to.” Read more

$15 minimum wage would boost pay for 17 million but 1.3 million would lose their jobs, CBO says at CNBC. Read more

The Inside Story of Kim Kardashian West’s Billion-Dollar Shapewear Bet by Christina Binkley at Wall Street Journal. “At the time, it didn’t occur to anyone that there might be a widespread public backlash against trademarking the (Kimono) name of a ceremonial Japanese garment to use for a line of undergarments. “You would think we would have obviously thought it through a little bit deeper,” Kardashian West said.” WSJ subs.

Lidl to install over 4,000 solar panels at distribution facility in Ireland at CNBC. “Lidl said its new investment would mean that more than one-quarter of its energy requirements in Ireland would come from solar power.” Read more

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Lowe’s could get over $72 million in taxpayer incentives for new Charlotte tech hub by Katherine Peralta at Charlotte Observer. “Lowe’s has said it plans to create 1,600 jobs and bring about another 400 over from its headquarters office…Lowe’s is spending $153 million on the project, and the facility is slated to open in 2021.” Facility renderings/Read more

Tracy Anderson Partners With Barneys New York on Exclusive Fitness Capsule by Lisa Lockwood at WWD. WWD subs.

Lawsuit ruling over dog leash purchased on Amazon could greatly impact third-party seller business by Kurt Schlosser at GeekWire. “Amazon has argued that it is protected under the 1996 Communications Decency Act…But the Appeals court ruled that those protections do not apply in this case.” Read more

Norah O’Donnell to Interview Jeff Bezos for ‘CBS Evening News’ Kickoff by Brian Steinberg at Variety. “The anchor will hold a joint interview with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy in which they discuss the future of space exploration…O’Donnell is expected to interview both executives during her debut next Monday on “Evening News”…” Read more

Target Reveals First Look at Target Deal Days Press release

Costco parking lot abuzz after swarm of bees touches down by Morgan Modjeski at CBC News. “Photos of the swarm shared on social media showed a large part of the passenger side of a Ford F-150 covered in the insects. John Hildebrandt, the truck’s owner, said he’d never seen anything like it, estimating there were thousands of bees on his truck, which was parked at the Market Drive location.” Pics/Read more

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Lawyers bring fight to Sheetz over sales tax on mineral water

Juul arms to fight sweeping e-cig ban on its home turf

Jeff Bezos binges “Stranger Things” on Sunday with his kids

YouTube launches on Fire TV, ending dispute between Amazon and Google

From Nazis to hippies: End of the road for Volkswagen Beetle

Oakland City Councilman wants to close street near Home Depot due to crime

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Retailers eager to lodge antitrust complaints against Amazon and Google, citing ‘information bottleneck’ by Naomi Nix at Bloomberg via Seattle Times. “The Retail Industry Leaders Association, which also represents Target and Best Buy among others, said it’s prepared to present their concerns to the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission, which have carved up antitrust oversight of Silicon Valley’s biggest companies.” Tiered subs.

Arizona Governor to withdraw Nike financial incentives after shoe company pulls ‘Betsy Ross’ American flag sneakers at CNBC. “Nike has been planning to build a manufacturing plant on metro Phoenix’s west side, which was expected to bring 500 jobs to the area, The Arizona Republic reported on Monday.” Read more

Shrouded in secrecy, big new Amazon retail store in Seattle appears ready to open soon by Nat Levy at GeekWire. “A few unique characteristics make this store stand out and give credence to the possibility that it could be something different from the typical Amazon Go store…The total area of the retail space is about 10,400 square feet…much bigger than the 1,500 and 3,000 square feet of front-of-house area in other Go stores.” Read more

Coty shares plummet as $600 million turnaround plan falls short of expectations at MarketWatch. “Some may have been hoping for larger portfolio changes, or a major M&A announcement,” wrote Wells Fargo in a note. “At this point, Coty remains a long-term turnaround story, in our view, and we note that turnarounds generally never happen in a straight line.” Read more

Jim Walton donated $1.2 billion of the retailer’s stock last week at Philadelphia Inquirer. “The recipient wasn’t disclosed, but family members have regularly donated to the Walton Family Foundation, whose causes include education and the environment.” Read more

Amazon to create 1,800 jobs in France at Reuters. “The increase will bring Amazon’s total number of permanent staff to 9,300 by end 2019 and reflects the group’s commitment to the French market where it has invested over 2 billion euros ($2.26 billion) since 2010.” Read more

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Should Macy’s Build a Giant Tower in One of N.Y.’s Most Congested Neighborhoods? by Matthew Haag at NY Times. “What was once a manufacturing hub has given way to an overflowing corridor of tourists and commuters cramming onto sidewalks, roadways and subway stations. “Have you tried walking from here to Penn Station?” said Mr. Assile, 70, referring to the commuter train station. “It’s horrendous.” Tiered subs.

Some 50% of teens surveyed by Piper Jaffray in its most recent semiannual “Taking Stock With Teens” report said that Amazon was their favorite website at Business Insider. Read more

Home Depot Goes “Ad Wild” on Radio at Radio Ink. “The exact figure was 97,699… GEICO held onto second place…running a still-healthy 50,241 spots… Other advertisers in the top five included Lowe’s (44,328) which climbed two places…big mover for the week was Walmart, which went from 25th to eighth.” Read more

Golf participation increased last year for the first time since 2003 to 24.2 million people playing at least one round at National Golf Foundation. Read more

John Oliver rips Amazon over warehouse work by Kurt Schlosser at GeekWire. “…a top (Amazon) executive didn’t wait long to fire back on Twitter…Oliver’s 21-minute report on warehouses and workers focused a great deal on Amazon, with other jabs at retail rival Walmart as well as conditions at a facility that handles Verizon phones.” Read more

Endless AI-generated spam risks clogging up Google’s search results by James Vincent at The Verge. Read more

Sushi Chain YO Reels In Grocery Kiosk Operator by Ben Dummett at Wall Street Journal. “London-based YO plans to acquire Houston-based SnowFox, which operates 700 sushi kiosks—typically large sushi counters found in supermarkets across a swath of the U.S.—for more than $100 million, according to the person.” WSJ subs.

Tipsheet Extra Stories

How Millennials’ Wine Preferences Differ From Boomers

How Amazon and the Cops Set Up an Elaborate Sting Operation

Spies fear McKinsey helped hobble U.S. intelligence

Muskoka Brewery sues Molson for using image of Muskoka chair on t-shirt

Even Samsung’s CEO is embarrassed by the Galaxy Fold

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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: 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