At Aldi’s Empire of Austerity, a Fight Over Extravagant Spending by Matthew Campbell, Karin Matussek, Nicholas Brautlecht at Bloomberg. “The feud has upended decades of obsessive discretion at Aldi, whose owners are so secretive that the only widely published photo of Theo Jr. is a grainy, decades-old paparazzi snap. The given names and exact ages of Babette’s children—quadruplets who are about 26 and a sister who’s about 24—are so closely guarded that they were never revealed until last year, and the family won an injunction against a magazine that published them.” Read more

 

Can Target Fix Its Grocery Business? by Khadeeja Safdar at Wall Street Journal. “Perishable foods, which usually are the big traffic drivers at most grocery stores, have been a drag on Target’s profits, according to people familiar with the matter…Lauren Shaber, who lives in Tualatin, Ore., said she visits Target once or twice a month for home décor, cleaning supplies and other merchandise…“But I don’t go out of my way to do grocery shopping at Target because there are so many other specialty stores.”” Read more (subscription)

 

O’Reilly Auto Parts Store Torched During Unrest in Milwaukee at Milwaukee Business Journal. “In addition, a grocery store, a beauty salon, a liquor store and a BMO Harris Bank branch were damaged by protestors. There were also apparently threats on social media against Mayfair mall in Wauwatosa.” Read more | Pics via Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

 

Dallas: Irving approves plans for a WinCo Foods store at Irving Mall by Maria Halkias at Dallas Morning News. “WinCo came to Texas in 2014 and now has eight stores open in North Texas and an 830,000-square-foot distribution center under in Denton.” Read more

 

CFO out at Dick’s Sporting Goods by Paul J. Gough at Pittsburgh Business Times. “No reason for (Teri) List-Stoll’s departure was given in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Friday. It said that COO André Hawaux, 55, would be taking over as CFO until a permanent successor was named.” Read more

 

Thieves steal $150,000 of Costco’s Kirkland brand maple syrup in overnight heist by Damon Van Der Linde at Financial Post. “The company says thieves came into the company’s yard in Dorval, Que. the night of Sunday, Aug. 8, loaded a shipping container filled with about 20,000 kilograms of one-litre bottles of maple syrup onto a truck and broke through the fence. The empty container was later found abandoned in Montreal.” Read more

 

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Dollar General Celebrates 13,000th Store Grand Opening Press release

 

Sources: Dallas-based firm behind potential J.C. Penney campus acquisition by Candice Carlisle at Dallas Business Journal. “Dallas developer Sam Ware…is behind a bid to acquire the campus and leaseback 1.2 million square feet to J.C. Penney in a 15-year lease, according to real estate sources. That would leave about 600,000 square feet of vacant real estate for a new owner.” Read more

 

H-E-B announces winners of Quest for Texas Best competition by Greg Morago at Houston Chronicle. “Instead of breaking the tie, H-E-B decided to name two first place winners, each receiving $20,000. They were Kitchun of Austin (creators of “No Grain-Ola,” a no-grain granola made of seeds, nuts and fruit) and Bagel Dots of Houston, a start-up making frozen, bite-size bagels filled with cream cheese.” Read more / See the pics

 

Walmart on a quest to be Canada’s No. 1 grocer by Sophia Harris at CBC News. “According to CIBC Institutional Equity Research estimates, Costco has 10 per cent of the Canadian food market, and Walmart has seven per cent. But Charlebois predicts that Walmart will eventually come out ahead.” Read more

 

Supporters of medical marijuana protest Tampa Publix at WTSP 10 News. “Publix’s Carol Jenkins Barnett responded: “…Although I don’t normally discuss the details of my personal opinions, I think it is important to clarify my position. I am not opposed to medical marijuana. But I am very concerned about medical marijuana passing through a constitutional amendment.” Read more / See the video

 

Sheetz focuses on colleges with its cafes by Shea Beaumont at Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “…Now a third location has opened here near Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and there are plans to open one in Oakland near Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh…”It’s really a new concept with us, and we are playing in the sandbox, so to speak, and trying to figure it out,” said Steve Augustine, assistant vice president of real estate for Sheetz.” Read more

 

Recode: We read that 10,000-word interview with Apple CEO Tim Cook so you don’t have to by Johana Bhuiyan. “Apple CEO Tim Cook sat down with The Washington Post for a sprawling interview — almost 10,000 words! — and he didn’t even talk about the self-driving car project Apple is supposedly not working on…” Read more

 

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