Home Depot is acquiring specialty distributor SRS for $18.25 billion in huge bet on growing pro sales at CNBC. “The acquisition is the largest in Home Depot’s history…CEO Ted Decker…said the deal increases Home Depot’s total addressable market by $50 billion. SRS Distribution sells supplies to professionals in the landscaping, pool and roofing businesses…has approximately 11,000 employees and 760 branches across 47 states. It also has a fleet of 4,000 delivery trucks and a dedicated salesforce that caters to the home pros, Decker said.” Read more

 

Walgreens Boots Alliance Q2 sales increased 6.3 percent year-over-year to $37.1 billion Press release

 

…Walgreens takes $5.8 bln hit on VillageMD bet amid CEO focus on profit at Reuters. “The impairment follows years of investment in the cash-burning operator of doctors’ clinics during Rosalind Brewer’s tenure as Walgreens CEO. Brewer wanted to expand the company’s reach as a healthcare provider.” Read more

 

China’s Xi tells U.S. CEOs that bilateral relations can have a ‘brighter future’ at CNBC. “The relationship cannot go back to the old days, but it can embrace a brighter future.” “China and the United States should help rather than hinder each other’s development, both in traditional areas such as trade and agriculture, and in emerging areas such as climate change and artificial intelligence,” the readout said.” Read more

 

More than a third of Gen Zers and millennials expect their parents to help with a down payment at Yahoo Finance

 

Protesters block entrances at Amazon HQ, objecting to planned use of fossil fuels in Oregon at GeekWire. “A Washington-based group called the Troublemakers organized the action, calling on the tech giant to cancel its plans to use natural gas from a new pipeline being built in Oregon. The gas would be used to power three data centers in the state.” Read more

 

Walmart can break off Capital One card partnership early, judge says at Yahoo Finance

 

Trader Joe’s upped the price of its bananas for the first time in decades as AP News. “Trader Joe’s recently upped the price for a single banana to 23 cents, a 4-cent — or 21% — increase from the grocer’s previous going rate for the fruit that had remained unchanged for over 20 years.” Read more

 

Diddy disappears from Macy’s, heavily marked down at Walmart as sources say sex trafficking probe under way at Fortune

 

BJ’s Wholesale to Open Five New Clubs in the Southeast and Midwest

• Maryville, Tennessee, in the Knoxville market. This will be BJ’s fourth location in Tennessee
• Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, the company’s second club in South Carolina
• Palm Coast and West Palm Beach, Florida, the company’s 38th and 39th clubs in Florida
• Carmel, Indiana, BJ’s second location in Indiana

 

Walmart will refile review application for its planned acquisition of Vizio to give regulators more time to review the deal at Reuters

 

Some Leaders of the Texas GOP Have Found a New Enemy: H‑E‑B Chairman Charles Butt at Texas Monthly. “This weekend, party officials in four counties in East and Southeast Texas voted to condemn the “Democrat billionaire” for involving himself in “advocating for policies contrary to the Republican Party of Texas platform.” Read more

 

Amazon’s senior employees may not get a cash pay raise this year at Reuters. “For this year’s compensation cycle, we are prioritizing cash base pay increases for employees whose compensation is weighted more heavily in base pay as opposed to stock,” an Amazon spokesperson said in an emailed statement.” Read more

 

Entrepreneur brothers broker deal with Lowe’s CEO Ellison during the 2023 Liberty Univ. CEO Summit at Liberty Champion. “Liberty University’s CEO Summit provides students with the unique opportunity to network with and learn from over 600 prominent figures…Adelin ended up approaching the CEO…(Ellison) looked at it and was basically like, ‘Good, I like this. Email me and we’ll put you in contact with our team.’ That was definitely the favor of God — it was incredible.” Read more

 

Businesses are in the ‘third quarter’ of the AI contest, says Walmart International’s CEO at Fortune (subs. required)

 

REI is building a campground near Grand Canyon National Park at Arizona Republic/USA Today. “(REI) recently purchased 20 acres of land south of Grand Canyon National Park for a Signature Camp that will host guests taking REI’s Grand Canyon trips. REI’s Grand Canyon campground will be its fourth Signature Camp. Others are near Bryce Canyon, Zion and Great Smoky Mountains national parks.” Read more

 

Amazon invests additional $2.75B into AI startup Anthropic at Yahoo Finance

 

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