Sam’s Club John Furner keynote speaker at Bentonville Bella Vista Chamber breakfast by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “Furner said last week at the retailer’s investor conference he was talking with an analyst, and answering a question when the analyst spotted Jet.com founder Marc Lore and quickly followed after him. When asked how Lore might work with Sam’s Club, Furner said running Jet and Walmart’s global ecommerce business was enough to keep Lore busy for a while.” Read more

 

Costco & Nordstrom team with University of Washington to debut new Urban Freight Lab by Taylor Soper at GeekWire. “The lab will initially aim to figure out better ways for e-commerce companies to solve the “last mile” Read more

 

Amazon fired dozens of Boston-area drivers — some think illegally by Dan Adams at Boston Globe. “A local civil rights group on Wednesday accused Amazon.com of illegally using criminal background checks as the sole basis for firing dozens of Boston-area delivery drivers, most of them black and Latino.” Read more

 

Vera Bradley says payment system hacked, delaying website upgrade at Reuters. “Vera Bradley, which had 112 stores and 44 factory outlets at the end of July, said the delay in the upgrade of its website “could impact its ability to generate positive comparable sales growth” in the fourth quarter ending January.” Read more

 

In REI’s Tearjerker, People Carry Out a Fellow Hiker’s Lifelong Dream in Tribute to His Life by Christine Birkner at Adweek. “…His lifelong dream was to hike the Appalachian Trail, but two heart attacks and his untimely death at age 53 left that dream unfulfilled. When his wife emailed producers of The Dirtbag Diaries podcast last year to help rally the outdoor community, they answered the call. And REI tells the story in a new film called Paul’s Boots.” See the videos / Read more

 

You might want to stock up on bourbon before it’s too late by Lisa Fickenscher at NY Post. “Jim Beam lovers may want to stock up on their favorite spirit. Union workers at two of the company’s Kentucky distilleries have voted to authorize a labor strike. If a deal on a new contract can’t be worked out by Friday, the workers may strike the following day.” Read more

 

Canada’s Best Brands 2017 (Home Hardware #2, Canadian Tire #6, Loblaws #7…) at Canadian Business. Top 25 list

 

Internet Retailer: 77% of respondents said they’d be less likely to recommend a retailer if it takes too long to issue a credit by Stefany Zaroban.”Online retailers spend a lot of time and money to turn customers into repeat buyers. But often, it’s how well the merchant handles returns of online orders that can be the deciding factor in keeping a loyal customer. That’s the principal finding in a new survey of 4,722 online buyers in the U.S. and Canada conducted earlier this month…” Read more

 

**A message from Fabe – Pillows hand-crafted in Italy prevent and relieve neck and back pain. Fabe’s Ergo Praxis pillow supports and aligns the head and neck to prevent cervical pain. Created in cooperation with Ludes University in Switzerland – it gets the body in the right position for a good night’s sleep. 100% Made in Italy. Ergo Praxis Specs | Fabe Website | Retailers request samples at info@shiftmarketinggroup.net. Italy-America Product Connection

 

U.K.: Sports Direct CFO steps down by Nina Trentmann at Wall Street Journal. “The move comes days after the company issued its second profit warning in a month and follows recent management changes that saw CEO Dave Forsey step down in September…” Read more (subscription)

 

Dairy farmers have tossed 43 million gallons of excess milk this year by Richard Morgan at NY Post. “It’s the most discarded milk in at least 16 years, according to a report on Wednesday.” Read more

 

How Measure 97 might affect Costco & other Oregon businesses by Jeff Manning at The Oregonian. “John McKay, chief operating officer of Costco’s northern division, declined to divulge what the company pays in Oregon taxes or what it would pay under Measure 97. But if Costco’s 10 Oregon stores meet the company average of $164 million in annual sales, the Costco stores collectively would face a new tax in excess of $40 million a year. “Our operating profit is right at about 2.5 percent,” McKay said. “Our Oregon operations would be operating at a loss. We would have to accept that or pass along the increase to our customers, neither of which we want to do.” Read more

 

Amazon’s online grocery delivery service hits Dallas by Sarah Perez at TechCrunch. Read more

 

CFO of Kum & Go speaks at Iowa State about his unusual path to becoming CFO by Jean Linde at Iowa State Daily. “Bergstrom started the Food Project, in 2010, to focus on boosting food sales by making healthy food products made fresh. Now ranked at the 22nd largest convenient store in the U.S., Kum & Go growth is constant in retail food products with more than 20 percent sales in food.” Read more

 

Hal Lawton, SVP of North America at eBay, named Independent Director at Buffalo Wild Wings Press release

 

Snapchat Geofilters Help Bloomingdale’s Connect with Next Generation of Shoppers at eMarketer. “eMarketer’s Tricia Carr spoke with Jonathan S. Paul, operating vice president of social media and paid media at Bloomingdale’s, about what the high-end retailer achieved through its Snapchat “Swipestakes” and the unprecedented benefits that sponsored geofilters can offer retailers.” Q&A

 

Amazon adding 120,000 workers to meet holiday demand via Fox Business. Read more

 

Ex-Price Chopper Exec Named CIO at Weis Markets Press release

 

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Obama: 7-Eleven wouldn’t hire Trump

Original ‘E.T.’ Artwork Auctioned for Nearly $400,000

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