Target.com: 60% of Traffic Came from Mobile Over Holiday Season by Nick Halter at Minn./St. Paul Business Journal. “…up from just 25 percent last holiday season.” Read more

 

ShopperTrak: Sales at 1,000 retail chains nationwide rose 4.6% to $270.1 billion in November and December, ShopperTrak, a Chicago technology company, said Thursday. The results beat ShopperTrak’s forecast for a 3.8% increase and marked the strongest growth since 2005, when sales rose 5.2%.” via AP/LA Times.  Read more

 

Family Dollar CEO: Merger turmoil drives management defections at HQ by Jennifer  Thomas at Charlotte Business Journal. “An analyst on that earnings call questioned how Family Dollar is responding to corporate defections, asking if the company is searching for replacements, reconfiguring the work load or just ends up with fewer members of the corporate staff. “Yes, yes and yes,” Levine responded, before jokingly adding, “And in addition sometimes we cry.” Read more

 

…No discussion of pending sale on conference call via Deon Roberts at Charlotte Observer.  Read more

 

She Said Yes; Walmart Clerk Says No To Engagement Photo With Gun at WFMY News 2. “But it’s the explanation that caught the couple off-guard. Wehner said the clerk told her the photo couldn’t be released because the weapon would promote a “gang culture.” “To automatically to be lumped into that category of a gang… that hits a little close to home for us, because that isn’t our intent at all,” Strobl said.” Read more / See the video

 

Amazon Secretly Working on New Platform for Inventors by Jason Del Rey at Recode. “One listing for a senior marketing manager asks, “Are you inspired by inventors who develop and launch new products? Do you want to market the world’s best end-to-end platform for startups? Do you see the opportunity to connect these entrepreneurs with Amazon’s hundreds of millions of customers through creative and strategic marketing?” The jobs, which appear to have first popped up in the fall, sit in the Hardlines category at Amazon, which consists of product groups such as toys, electronics and tools.” Read more

 

Macy’s to Close 14 / Open 2 at Cincinnati.com. “…resulting in annual savings of roughly $140 million. Macy’s says it plans to reinvest those savings into its business.” Read more

 

Macy’s mulls taking on T.J. Maxx, Nordstrom Rack in “off-price” wars by Phil Wahba at Fortune. “Separately, Macy’s said Thursday that comparable sales rose 2.1% during November and December, falling a bit short of Wall Street analyst expectations.” Read more

 

Lilly Pulitzer for Target line gets mixed reaction on Twitter by Lori Grisham at USA Today. “Some were excited to learn that the upscale designer would be partnering with the affordable retailer, others on social media argued the association would cheapen the Lilly Pulitzer brand following the death of the line’s creator and namesake in 2013.” See the Tweets / Read more

 

Amazon Marketplace sales soar nearly 27% during the holidays by Zak Stambor at Internet Retailer. Read more

 

J.C. Penney to close 40 stores this year by Maria Halkias at Dallas News. “The stores, which are mostly in malls, will close on or before April 4, spokeswoman Daphne Avila said…Penney will operate 1,020 stores after this batch of closings. About 2,250 employees are affected.” Read more

 

FAA bypasses Amazon, grants Spokane company commercial drone license by Sarah Aitchison at Puget Sound Business Journal. “The FAA has received 214 requests for exemptions from commercial use entities, and have granted 14, including these two.” Read more

 

New Target hires learn offers were rescinded by Leah Beno at KMSP-Fox Minneapolis. “Shortly after rebounding from the massive data breach, according to a Fox 9 source, Target hired about 40 people in August and September. People in that group spent the fall giving notice to current employers, leaving jobs, moving from out of state and buying homes in the Twin Cities, only to get a phone call two weeks prior to reporting for work that their job offers were rescinded.” See the video / Read more

 

The Real Story Behind Jeff Bezos’s Fire Phone Debacle and What It Means for Amazon’s Future by Austin Carr at Fast Company. “Some designers bristled at Bezos’s presence and privately questioned his taste, while others who were wowed by his wide-ranging insights loved his approach. Regardless, Bezos’s heavy hand certainly took getting used to, even for Chris Green, Lab126’s VP of industrial design. “In the beginning, Chris would take Jeff’s feedback a bit literally,” says Randall, the former Lab126 VP, “and there was many an evening spent over beers and sushi counseling him, saying, ‘Calm down, it’s going to get better.” Read more

 

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