What Target is cooking up for its stores by Kavita Kumar at Star-Tribune. “Here’s a rundown of some of Target’s recent experiments: Home redesign.  Instead of dishes and cups being stacked up on shelves, Target is testing more of a lifestyle layout…Target first began testing this redesigned home department at the Quarry store in November. It will be rolled out to 15 more stores this spring…” See the list of 8 experiments

 

West Coast ports to reopen after weekend shutdown by Chris Woodyard at USA Today. “At the normally busy Port of Los Angeles, cranes sat idly perched over ships stacked high with containers during the weekend while other loaded vessels bobbed at anchor offshore.” Read more

 

Bigger Container Ships Pose Bigger Risks by Gregory J Millman at WSJ. “Today, the newest and biggest container ships can carry around 18,000 twenty-foot-equivalent units—the industry’s capacity benchmark—but Dr. Hacegaba said in a study last year that industry watchers expect ships as large as 22,000 TEU to come into service by 2018, and that 24,000-TEU vessels are on the drawing board.” Read more (Subscription)

 

Target employees in tears as “unruly mob” demands better deals by Robert Bostelaar at Ottawa Citizen. “While retail employers everywhere wish they could remind customers that it’s the boss, not them, who sets prices, these staff are still further removed. Target’s liquidator is determining price cuts as the chain moves toward a mid-May closing.” Read more

 

New York man sentenced to 30 years in Home Depot bomb plot at Reuters. “A former Home Depot employee was sentenced to more than 30 years in federal prison for threatening to set off pipe bombs in some of the chain’s suburban New York stores in an attempt to extort money from the retailer, his trial attorney said on Saturday.” Read more

 

…Home Depot estimated spending about $1.5 million for security guards, bomb-sniffing dogs and other protection measures.

 

Amazon’s ‘Box on Demand’ Machine by Ina Steiner at Ecommerce Bytes. “Amazon is now boasting about how it is shipping items in right-size boxes. The Central Valley Business Journal uploaded a YouTube video this month accompanied by the following abstract: “Ever wonder how Amazon manages to ship your items in boxes that seem made for them? It’s because they are.” See the video

 

Target’s Imagine Dragons Commercial Break During Grammys Cost About $8 Million by Andrew Flanagan at Billboard. “With ad rates averaging $1 million per thirty-second spot during the broadcast, Billboard can estimate that the time on air alone cost Target about $8 million.” Read more

 

…It took more than 22,000 man hours, 2,500 square feet of LED lights, 575 people, 15 semi-trucks and more for Target and Imagine Dragons to pull off the act at The Bullseye View. “Take a look at the exclusive behind-the-scenes time-lapse video below to see the full stage come together in just 77 seconds.” See the video / Read more

 

Sellers Choice 2015: Sellers Rate Top Online Marketplaces by Ina & David Steiner at Ecommerce Bytes. “Etsy placed first overall in this year’s Sellers Choice, and was rated the highest for Customer Service and Ease of Use….Amazon placed second after coming in fourth place last year. And Bonanza placed third overall, a perennial favorite among readers taking the survey.” Read more

 

Is there a Better CEO than Jeff Bezos? by Charles Fombrun at HBR.  See the rankings

 

Canada: Shoppers Drug Mart’s addition of fresh food blurs the line between convenience and grocery stores by Hollie Shaw at Financial Post. Read more

 

Woman rescued from safe at Tractor Supply store by Dylan Johnson at Daily American. “Somerset fire Chief Stephen Miller said Mitchell became trapped in the safe at approximately 2 p.m. when she was playing a game in the store with her daughters, who closed the door on her.” Read more

 

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