Tipsheet: Barneys Stiffs | WM Clash | Rich Santa
Inside Walmart’s Corporate Culture Clash Over E-Commerce by Matthew Boyle at Bloomberg. “The digital divestments suggest that the online crew is losing the struggle, but the traditionalists have suffered as well. Walmart’s U.S. stores chief, Greg Foran, last month gave up one of the most powerful jobs in retail to run an airline in his native New Zealand. Foran, according to people who worked with him, had grown frustrated with the amount of time and money spent on things that didn’t matter to him, like Store No. 8, an internal incubation arm that promises to “transform the future of retail” by exploring things like virtual reality.” Tiered subs.
Walgreens in talks with private equity firm KKR at CNN. “Walgreens reportedly wants to go private, and KKR is said to be interested in buying it. The acquisition would almost certainly be the largest private takeover in history.” Read more
Just 100: America’s best corporate citizens at Forbes. Etsy #53, Amazon #75, Starbucks #93. Top 100 list
Amazon to open its ‘first grocery store,’ with new format separate from Whole Foods and Amazon Go by Kurt Schlosser at GeekWire. “Amazon is touting it as its “first grocery store.” The footprint will be larger than the chain of small Amazon Go cashierless convenience stores, and will feature a conventional check-out experience. An Amazon spokesperson confirmed to GeekWire that the company is opening the grocery store in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Woodland Hills, Calif.” Read more
Barneys stiffs staff and loyal customers after bankruptcy filing by Lisa Fickenscher at NY Post. “The company’s meager severance policy was limited to one week’s pay for every two years of service, a formula that was capped at five weeks, former employees told The Post. Staffers who worked less than two years at the company got zilch…Meanwhile, customers who failed to spot a tiny smattering of articles informing the public that Nov. 7 was the last day to redeem gift cards were shocked to learn over the weekend that the money on their cards was worthless.” Read more
Future 50: Companies with the strongest long-term growth potential at Fortune. Alibaba #11, Amazon #31, Facebook #49. Top 50 list
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Generation Z shoppers, age 22 and below, are less likely than millennials and Generation X to shop online, according to a survey from The NPD Group. at CNBC. Read more
Retailer Orvis.com Leaked Hundreds of Internal Passwords on Pastebin at Krebs on Security. “Orvis, a Vermont-based retailer that specializes in high-end fly fishing equipment and other sporting goods, leaked hundreds of internal passwords on Pastebin.com for several weeks last month, exposing credentials the company used to manage everything from firewalls and routers to administrator accounts and database servers.” Read more
Alibaba’s Singles’ Day sales top $38 billion at TechCrunch. Read more
…Sales growth for (Singles’ Day) this year eased to 26%, the weakest since the event started in 2009, in a reflection of how e-commerce sales in China have been slowing. Analysts, however, said the growth rate had slightly beaten their expectations. at Reuters. Read more
Google’s ‘Project Nightingale’ Gathers Personal Health Data on Millions of Americans by Rob Copeland at Wall Street Journal. “Google began Project Nightingale in secret last year with St. Louis-based Ascension, a Catholic chain of 2,600 hospitals, doctors’ offices and other facilities..Neither patients nor doctors have been notified. At least 150 Google employees already have access to much of the data on tens of millions of patients, according to a person familiar with the matter and the documents.” WSJ subs.
Dean Foods, America’s biggest milk producer, files for bankruptcy at CNBC. “Walmart began processing its own milk in 2017. Walmart’s decision sparked upheaval, leading Dean Foods to cancel more than 100 milk contracts with dairy farmers across eight states. Compounding the company’s problems, grocery chain Food Lion cut ties with the milk producer in 2018.” Read more
Disney Plus Users Complain of Login Problems, Service Errors on Launch Day at Variety. Read more
Santa visits reserved for shoppers who spend over $2,500 at London’s famous Harrods store at CNBC. “However, according to The Guardian newspaper, Harrods agreed last week to host 160 lower-spending families in the grotto following anger from customers. The Guardian reported that wealthier families will still be given 96% of the available timeslots.” Read more
Tipsheet Extra
Jeff Bezos might be looking to buy an NFL team
Amazon exec to leave after leading massive push into physical retail
Google plans to give slow websites a new badge of shame in Chrome
Rare deer-like species photographed for first time in wild
Capsule living: a ‘cheap’ option for young people flocking to LA
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