Tipsheet: None or 1 at Con. Store | Egg Prices Triple | Prime Day Pushed?

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Walmart will limit customers and create one-way traffic inside its stores at NBC News. “…only five customers per 1,000 square feet can enter a Walmart, which will be about 20 percent of each locale’s listed capacity…And in many stores…markers will be put down to direct shoppers to one-way foot traffic “so to help more customers avoid coming into close contact with others as they shop,” according to (Dacona) Smith.” Read more

 

CVS launches drive-thru rapid testing in Rhode Island and Georgia at CNBC. “The new sites will be open to all patients, but in order to receive an appointment for a test, customers will be required to preregister and prequalify online. No one will be admitted without  preregistering.” Read more

 

Amazon is reportedly delaying Prime Day due to COVID-19 at Reuters. “Amazon.com is postponing its major summer shopping event, Prime Day, until at least August and expects a potential $100 million hit from excess devices it might now sell at a discount, according to internal meeting notes seen by Reuters.” Read more

 

The Container Store to close all remaining stores at MarketWatch. “…it will switch to click & pick curbside pickup and in-store appointments only, with just one customer at a time to be allowed into a store in select locations where it is allowed and employees want to work.” Read more

 

Tyson Foods deploys walk-through temperature scanners at three US sites at CNBC. “The scanners can check employees’ temperature as they walk into the building. Tyson gave CNBC an exclusive first look at video of how the walk-through scanners work.” Read more/Pics

 

Walmart ramps up cleaning efforts after 2 Chicago-area employees die from coronavirus by Dalvin Brown at USA Today. “(Walmart) said it was changing the way it approaches sanitation following the deaths, including hiring a third-party company to clean and sanitize high-touch surfaces at the store.” Read more

 

**A message from Gusto kitchenware. High quality – value priced – colorful kitchenware from the #1 cookware brand in Mexico. Information | Samples: info@eyeonretail.net

 

Walmart shareholders week events canceled, meetings to be virtual by Kim Souza at Talk Business. “Walmart said the employee celebration that was set for June 5, won’t take place because the logistics and lead time required to get 5,000 employees to Northwest Arkansas has created too much uncertainty to ensure everyone’s safety given the state of COVID-19 pandemic.” Read more

 

‘We can’t make enough mac and cheese’: Processed food is undergoing a renaissance as people settle in for a long stretch of cooking at home by Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz at Chicago Tribune. “It’s like we’re in the ‘70s,” said Nicholas Fereday, executive director for food and consumer trends at Rabobank, a bank focused on food and agriculture. “People are revisiting brands they haven’t touched in a while.” Read more

 

Etsy reminds sellers making cloth face masks: Don’t suggest they prevent COVID-19 infection at The Verge. “Etsy sellers have sold hundreds of thousands of cloth face masks in the past few days, the company says, and demand is likely to outstrip supply soon…” Read more

 

UK cell towers torched amid bogus conspiracy theories that link 5G with coronavirus at CNBC. “Meanwhile, a clip also surfaced on Twitter showing a woman harassing telecoms engineers laying 5G fiber-optic cables. The woman questions why the engineers are working and claims the technology “kills people.” Read more

 

Walmart India encourages customers to order online at Economic Times. Read more

 

For Grocers, Eggs Are Getting More Expensive Amid Coronavirus at Wall Street Journal. “Egg prices across the U.S. averaged $3.01 a dozen at the end of last week, compared with 94 cents at the beginning of March, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. That rise far outpaces cost increases for other common foods like ground beef. Wholesale costs for whole chickens, butter, cheese and ham have fallen, despite consumers rushing to stock up, partly because of plunging demand from restaurants.” WSJ subs.

 

Dollar General adds ex-Mars exec to board at Nashville Post. Read more

 

Walmart plans to grow advertising profit center by Kim Souza at Talk Business. “Stephanie Prasad, a senior market manager with Walmart Media Group, took part in a recent webinar with market research firm Edge by Ascential to explain the list of services available to suppliers wanting to grow online sales through advertising with Walmart.” Read more

 

Panic-buying for coronavirus affects diabetes patients: They can’t find rubbing alcohol at Kaiser Health News via USA Today. “We’re all supposed to be staying at home, and I’m out going to 10 different stores,” said Gregory, 33, whose diabetes could heighten her risk for COVID-19 complications. “That’s also not safe.” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra

Costco co-founder Jim Sinegal invests in virtual healthcare firm

New York City schools ban Zoom due to security concerns

Gun owners say rifles still malfunction after Remington class-action settlement repairs

Menards is preventing kids under 16 and pets from entering their stores

Ulta Beauty bumps Target from top pick list at JPMorgan

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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

Tipsheet: VT Stops Nonessential Sales | March 2nd Busiest Gun Month Ever

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Vermont tells big-box retailers to stop selling nonessential products at WCVB 5 ABC. “Large ‘big box’ retailers generate significant shopping traffic by virtue of their size and the variety of goods offered in a single location,” Agency of Commerce and Community Development Secretary Lindsay Kurrle said. “This volume of shopping traffic significantly increases the risk of further spread of this dangerous virus to Vermonters and the viability of Vermont’s health care system.” Read more

 

Amazon will start taking workers’ temperatures and provide face masks after public outcry at CNBC. “Temperature checks began last Sunday at select sites in the U.S. and will now begin to roll out to Amazon’s entire operations network and footprint of Whole Foods Stores in the U.S. and Europe by early next week, Clark said. Anyone who registers a fever over 100.4 will be told to go home and will only be allowed to return after they’ve gone three days without a fever, he added.” Read more

 

Detroit Amazon workers plan to walk out over handling of COVID-19 by Josh Dzieza at The Verge. “Workers at the facility, called DTW1, say management failed to notify them of the first new coronavirus case and was slow to alert them to the second, leading them to suspect there are more infections at the warehouse than they’re being told about.” Read more

 

Walgreens Q2: U.S. retail pharmacy business +3.8% / For nonpharmacy products, same-store sales were +0.6% at CNBC | Press release

 

Kroger’s sales jump 30% as shoppers stock up amid coronavirus crisis Press release

 

DoorDash now delivers from over 1,800 C-stores nationwide by Sarah Perez at TechCrunch. “…it’s expanding beyond food to also deliver from convenience stores, like 7-Eleven, Wawa, Circle K, Casey’s General Store and others.” Read more

 

Harris Teeter toppled from perch as top grocer in Charlotte market by Catherine Muccigrosso at Chalotte Observer. “Walmart has eclipsed Harris Teeter as the No. 1 grocer, taking 21.8% of the market share last year. That’s a leap from 17.8% in 2018 for Walmart, according to the Chain Store Guide.” Read more

 

**A message from Gusto kitchenware. High quality – value priced – colorful kitchenware from the #1 cookware brand in Mexico. Information | Samples: info@eyeonretail.net

 

Some Hobby Lobby stores forced to close because of COVID-19 shelter-in-place orders by Kelly Tyko at USA Today. “Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost tweeted Wednesday that he sent Hobby Lobby a cease-and-desist letter. “Hobby Lobby properly closed its stores during Ohio’s stay-home order. Now they’re open again – what’s changed?” Yost wrote. “Neither the order, nor the seriousness of the health threat, for sure.” Read more

 

Dollarama Q4 comp sales +2.0% Press release

 

March was the second-busiest month ever for gun sales at NY Times. “Americans bought about two million guns in March, according to a New York Times analysis of federal data…trailing only January 2013, just after President Barack Obama’s re-election and the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.” Tiered subs.

 

U.S. sales of alcoholic beverages rose 55% in the week ending March 21 at Fox 5 New York. Read more

 

PVH Q4 Revenue +5.0% Press release

 

BJ’s Wholesale Appoints Paul Cichocki as Executive Vice President, Membership, Analytics and Business Transformation Press release

 

Ross Stores will temporarily furlough the majority of its Store and DC associates until operations can resume in their areas Press release

 

Ethan Allen furloughing 70% of its workers at Fox News. Read more

 

Home Depot executes ‘stop-sale’ order for N95 masks, donates them to health care workers during coronavirus by Nathan Bomey at USA Today. Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra

Amazon sellers evade automated detection by placing ‘coronavirus’ in product images

How Covid-19 could redefine labor in America

FTC sues to undo Altria’s $12.8 billion deal with Juul

Zoom falls as much as 16% as CEO apologizes for security lapses

This co. claims its thermometer could help detect coronavirus hot spots faster than the CDC

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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

Tipsheet: Pence @ WM DC | Costco 2 Can Enter | Target Traffic -20.5% W3

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Traffic at Walmart, Costco and Target falls for the first time in weeks as coronavirus stockpiling behavior shifts at MarketWatch. “Walmart traffic was down 6.7% year-over-year for the third week of March…At Costco traffic fell 8.7% year-over-year for the third week of March…And at Target, traffic slumped 20.5% in the third week of March…” Read more

 

Hourly Amazon workers, fearing coronavirus risks, wonder why they must staff empty office buildings by Benjamin Romano at Seattle Times. “We couldn’t go home with pay because we’re considered essential,” the receptionist said, adding that there are about 130 people in her situation whose wages start at about $17.50 an hour. “I feel like they’re putting, at least within my company, hundreds of people at risk.” Read more

 

Vice President Pence to visit Walmart DC today in Virginia at NBC 12. “Pence is expected to tour the facility and highlight the distribution center’s supply chain operations.” Read more

 

Costco will not allow more than two people to enter its US warehouses with each membership card from Friday onward at Business Insider. “Costco explained on its site that this temporary change is for the safety of its members and workers “and to further assist with our social distancing efforts.” Read more

 

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio orders investigation of Amazon’s firing of strike organizer at CNBC. Read more

 

Best Buy to pay employees for two more weeks while stores remain closed by Kavita Kumar at Star Tribune. “Now, it will keep paying them through April 18. Employees who volunteer to work, chiefly by helping with curbside pickup and online orders, are being paid an additional $2.50 an hour.” Read more

 

JCPenney to furlough the majority of store hourly associates beginning April 2 Press release

 

FBI: ‘Costco stimulus check’ texts are fake, should not be clicked by Alex Riggins at The San Diego Union-Tribune. “The links in the messages contain malware, ransomware “or other fraudulent methods to steal identity, financial or other personal information,” according to Butler.” Read more

 

Guess? furloughing all of its U.S. and Canada store associates starting April 2, 2020 Press release

 

Retailers are boarding up their stores in Beverly Hills at TMZ. “…it’s being done to protect the store(s) from would-be looters crazy enough to break-in. The workers told us it was a temporary measure this specific Pottery Barn was taking in anticipation of bad actors. Also, because it looks like they’re going to be closed for a good long while here amid the outbreak.” Read more

 

How the small town of Roundup, Montana, became a prominent place for ‘prep centers,’ and an important part of Amazon’s supply chain at CNBC. 12:08 video

 

Target, Trader Joe’s and many supermarkets will give employees a break on Easter Sunday at Today NBC. Read more

 

Dollar Tree Reports Stunning COVID-19 Sales at Progressive Grocer. “On Tuesday, the company reported it has seen quarter-to-date same-store sales up 7.1% at Dollar Tree and up 14.4% at Family Dollar through March 29.” Read more

 

True Value to manufacture hand sanitizer amid COVID-19 pandemic Press release

 

Macy’s to be replaced on S&P 500 by Carrier Global at CNBC. Read more

 

Shoppers shout over the wall in China’s Wuhan at AP. “Neighbourhoods in the city are still shut off by two-metre-tall plastic walls, set up early in the crisis to enforce social distancing and isolate communities…Shoppers stood on chairs on Wednesday to get a glimpse of the goods on sale on the other side, shouting down to vendors to check on prices…” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra

Beer makers struggle to find bottles as coronavirus fears shut down recycling efforts

Zoom isn’t actually end-to-end encrypted

Marriott has confirmed a second data breach in three years

Grad student builds ventilator using Home Depot supplies

Australian shops ration booze to foil hoarders

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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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