“Dollar Tree pursued Family Dollar months before Icahn push” by Rick Rothacker at Charlotte Observer. “Dollar Tree first contacted Family Dollar Stores about a possible acquisition in late February, months before investor Carl Icahn began pushing for a Family Dollar sale, according to a securities filing Monday…The Morgan Stanley banker who fielded the initial call said Family Dollar CEO Howard Levine would be willing to talk to Dollar Tree counterpart Bob Sasser, but noted Family Dollar wasn’t for sale.” Read more

 

“Gander Mountain rolls out in-store pickup for online orders” by Nick Halter at Charlotte Bus. Journal.  “The St. Paul-based company softly launched the service in a few Minnesota stores a few months ago, said spokesman Jess Myers. Now it’s been implemented in all 142 stores in 26 states.” Read more

 

Trader Joes: “The really big ruckus over ‘Two Buck Chuck’ by Jane Wells at CNBC. “Charles Shaw wine, aka “Two Buck Chuck,” is one of the best-selling products ever sold at Trader Joe’s, topping 800 million bottles in 12 years. Now the man behind the brand is seeing red…A blog suggested that Two Buck Chuck is inexpensive for several unflattering reasons, including large-scale machine harvesting, which ends up throwing everything into the wine, including animal blood.” Read more

 

NY Times on RetailMeNot:  “A Campaign to Pique the Interest of Those Who Revel in a Deal” by Jane L. Levere. “Sucharita Mulpuru-Kodali, who follows e-commerce for Forrester Research…said “the golden opportunity” for the company is “in-store retail. There are 150 places you can get deals online, but not 150 places you can get deals offline. Offline shopping is still the vast majority; it’s their promise for the future.” Read more

 

“R.I.P., department stores? Not yet.” by Phil Wahba at Fortune.  “Beating up on department stores is a favorite pastime of retail haters. And yet, despite accusations of having a passé business model, dusty stores and an aging customer base, U.S. department stores have staged a comeback in the last two years—and are arguably more vital than they have been in a long time.” Read more

 

“Woolworths to Slow Growth of Masters Hardware Stores in Australia” by Petrina Berry at aap via Yahoo.  “Woolworths has now dumped its pledge for Masters to break even and have 90 stores in 2016. The retailer, which currently has 49 Masters stores, will slow the rollout of new outlets to between 10 to 15 a year – about half as many as originally planned. Chief executive Grant O’Brien admits the rollout has been flawed.” Read more

 

****A message from Pro-Chlor Septic Tabs.  Homeowners with aerobic septic systems must chlorinate systems properly or face fines from mandated county inspections. Traditional flushable tabs won’t work.  Aerobic systems are commonly found in the Southern US and but are spreading elsewhere due to low system installation cost.  Septic tabs are the size of a hockey puck, deliver high retail margins, and offer repeat business. Contact info@shiftmarketinggroup.net for more information or go to www.gwtcinc.com

 

“CVS Opens First Store in Washington State” by Angel Gonzalez at Seattle Times.  “The Pacific Northwest is the last major U.S. market where the Rhode Island-based company was not present, said Hanley Wheeler, the company’s senior vice president of field operations. “We consider it a growth market,” he said in an interview at the store, which had an official ribbon-cutting Monday.” Read more

 

“Sears Names Alasdair James As Kmart’s President And Chief Member Officer” “Since 2007, Mr. James held roles of increasing responsibility with Tesco, where he most recently served as the commercial director for the company’s global business unit. Prior to that, he spent two years managing Tesco’s China operations as executive vice president and commercial director.” Read the release

 

“Nordstrom launches charitable private-label brand” by Angel Gonzalez at Seattle Times.  “Nordstrom said Monday it’s launching for the first time a private-label brand that will give 5 percent of its earnings to Girls Inc. and other nonprofits that seek to empower women and young girls…Nordstrom said the Treasure&Bond label will be available at 86 stores around the country and online” Read more

 

“Inventor’s Trash-Ease lands retail deal with Walmart” by Frank Witsil at USA Today.  “Cundy’s invention — which he initially sold through camping stores and credits his wife, Barbara Ann, with naming it Trash-Ease — is one of hundreds of American-made products that Wal-Mart agreed last month. The Trash-Ease, which is being manufactured in Ferndale and Traverse City, has gone through six iterations. It hangs a 13-gallon trash bag just about anywhere, on bleachers, picnic tables, even kitchen counters.” Read more

 

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About Eye-on-Retail

Eye-on-Retail is a daily tipsheet read by thousands of Retail Merchants/Executives every weekday morning. Eye-on-Retail is unique because it’s timely, smart and fun. It’s created bright and early every morning and delivered between 7-8 am CT. We love data, earnings reports, executive presentations and stories off the beaten path that get at what’s really happening in the world of retail.

 

“More Kroger Marketplaces Replace Furniture with Clothing” by Alexander Coolidge at Cincinnati.com.  “Our Marketplace store is an evolving format – customers have told us that they prefer an expansive apparel offering to furniture,” said Kroger spokesman Keith Dailey…By the end of 2014, 59 Marketplace stores will have a full clothing section with fewer furniture offerings…Kroger is tight-lipped about how many they ultimately plan to build, but the company will have more than 110 by the end of this year. Analysts predict Kroger could build another 200 or more within the next few years.” Read more

 

NY Times:  “In Ambitious Bid, Walmart Seeks Foothold in Primary Care Services by Rachel Adams”  “To make it profitable, you need to make it have more than just a clinical encounter,” said Dr. Glenn Hammack, the founding president and chief executive of NuPhysicia, which closed the six clinics it briefly ran in Walmart stores. “You also need to sell them prescriptions, a bag of chips, maybe a magazine while they’re waiting.” Read more

 

“Walmart Sets Its Sights on Africa—With Uncle Sam’s Help” by Alex Park at Mother Jones.  “Walmart vice president Maggie Sans announced that (Walmart) and its foundation had pledged $3 million to train 135,000 farmers in Kenya, Rwanda, and Zambia, including 80,000 women…Under the program, Kenyan farmers can expect to see their incomes double in a single growing season, Sans said.” Read more

 

“More from Market Force’s Grocery Study (Costco #1 in High-Quality Meat, Walmart #11 in Service)” by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “When all the category scores were tallied by Market Force, Trader Joe’s took the No. 1 spot as the favorite grocery store chain with a score of 85%. Wal-Mart ranked No. 11 with a score 32%, despite being the most shopped grocer in the nation.” Read more / See the Top 5 charts

 

“Hibbett Sports Expects Q2 Comp Sales to Increase .1%” “Net sales for the 13-week period ended August 2, 2014 are expected to increase 4.2% to $194.0 million compared with $186.2 million for the 13-week period ended August 3, 2013.” Read the release

 

“Walmart Savings Catcher Moves to #1 in Apple App Store” by Chantal Tode at Mobile Commerce Daily.  “The addition of Walmart’s Savings Catcher feature to its mobile application earlier this week pushed the app to the top of the Lifestyle category on the Apple App Store for the first time.” Read more

 

“Fred’s July Comp Sales +.7%” “Fred’s total sales for the month increased 4% to $148.0 million from $142.6 million in July 2013.” Read the release

 

WSJ:  “Amazon Takes a Long View With $2 Billion India Investment” by Dhanya Ann Thoppil. “The $2 billion investment, announced last week, “would never make financial sense” based on the current market, said Mr. Agarwal, vice president and managing director of Amazon Seller Services Pvt. “It makes sense to us when we start looking at the idea from a 10-year viewpoint. We are willing to invest money today to create that long-term shareholder value.” Read more

 

“18 Things That Are Sold Out at Honolulu’s Downtown Walmart Thanks to Hurricanes Iselle and Julio” at Honolulu Magazine.  ““Don’t worry about the hurricane,” a confident Walmart employee told us. “I sleep better at night knowing the air will be cooler.” See the pics / Read more

 

“Amazon Picks Favorites With Brands in ‘Pay to Play’ Move” by Adam Satariano at Businessweek.  “The 53-page report concludes companies that partner with Amazon get privileges, particularly in areas such as consumer goods, beauty and fashion where the Web retailer is trying to improve its selection. Those with direct distribution deals have about half as many listings from resellers, their products get more visibly featured, and the general presentations of pictures and other visuals are more attractive, according to the report.” Read more

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About Eye-on-Retail

Eye-on-Retail is a daily tipsheet read by thousands of Retail Merchants/Executives every weekday morning. Eye-on-Retail is unique because it’s timely, smart and fun. It’s created bright and early every morning and delivered between 7-8 am CT. We love data, earnings reports, executive presentations and stories off the beaten path that get at what’s really happening in the world of retail.

 

“WSJ Interview with Walmart CEO Int’l – David Cheesewright” by Shelly Banjo.  “With 80% of retail industry growth that is going to happen over the next 10 years coming from outside of the U.S., I have to be the growth engine for our business. We are disappointed with the growth levels from last year, so that’s going to have to be the priority.” Read more

 

“Dollar General Said to Explore Family Dollar Bid” by David Welch/Matthew Campbell/Matt Townsend at Bloomberg.  “While Dollar General had earlier passed on the chance to bid for Family Dollar, the company is re-evaluating its options out of concern that the smaller retailer may soon be out of its reach for good, two people said. There is no guarantee that it will make an offer, the people said, with one putting the chance of a bid at 50 percent.” Read more

 

“Three Hurdles for Dollar General in Its Family Dollar Bid” by Antoine Gara at The Street via Dallas News.  “As part of their July 28 merger agreement, Family Dollar agreed to pay Dollar Tree $306 million were it to accept an outside bidder. Those three factors will make it much harder and more costly for Dollar General to launch a counterbid for Family Dollar.” Read more

 

Canada: “Target faces steep competition as back-to-school season starts” by Marina Strauss at Globe & Mail.  “Target is at a disadvantage in not yet having e-commerce in Canada, even as it races to catch up on its digital strategies south of the border, Mr. Baer said…Wal-Mart is selling a 24-piece Crayola crayon for 25 cents, compared with $2 on average at competitors, according to the chain’s research, while it’s touting a Hilroy 32-page exercise book for 5 cents, compared with 35 cents at competitors.” Read more

 

***A message from Orchard Road Canning Co. – Target Millennials to Grow Home Canning Sales. Young female canners are the future of the category and there is untapped potential in the segment.  Orchard Road targets the demographic with a simple and elegant glass jar design and unique package graphics that feature authentic food-filled jars.  See the package design. See the sell sheet. www.orchardroadcanning.com.  Contact info@shiftmarketinggroup.net for more information.

 

“Walgreens nears deal to buy British pharmacy, but won’t invert” by Benjamin Snyder at Fortune. “Walgreens is close to buying a 55% stake in its British counterpart that it doesn’t already own, according to an anonymous source cited by The New York Times. But the company will keep its U.S. citizenship, the report said.” Read more

 

Twin Cities: “TargetExpress coming to Highland Crossing shopping center” by Kavita Kumar at Star-Tribune. “The Minneapolis-based retailer will open its new small-format location next July in the Highland Crossing shopping center, Target told the Star Tribune Tuesday. The St. Paul store will be about 17,000 square feet, slightly smaller than Dinkytown location, which opened two weeks ago.” Read more

 

Nashville: “Kroger introduces lower pricing” by G. Chambers Williams at The Tennessean.  “But the question is whether Kroger is doing this because of a competitive need, or an opportunity to boost natural and organic food sales,” he said. “Wal-Mart has announced that it is going to get much more active in natural and organics, so that could be part of the impetus for this — sort of a pre-emptive move.” Read more

 

“Walgreens July Sales Increase 6.1 Percent – Customer Traffic in Comp Stores -2.6%”  “Total front-end sales increased 1.4 percent in July compared with the same month in fiscal 2013, while comparable store front-end sales increased 1.1 percent. Customer traffic in comparable stores decreased 2.6 percent while basket size increased 3.7 percent.” Read the release

 

“Target signs legal brief backing gay marriage” by Jim Spencer at Star-Tribune. “In revealing Tuesday that it had signed a court brief backing marriage equality in a ­pending court case, Target joins other blue-chip names such as Starbucks, Apple and Intel that have sided publicly with same-sex marriage advocates in court cases or ballot issues.” Read more

 

“Shoppers Are Fleeing Physical Stores” by Shelly Banjo and Paul Ziobro at WSJ.  “Aside from a small uptick in April, shopper visits have fallen by 5% or more from a year earlier in every month for the past two years, according to ShopperTrak…On Tuesday, Walgreen Co. said customer traffic in the nonpharmacy section of the store fell 2.6% in July. CVS Caremark Corp. said declines in traffic contributed to a 0.4% decrease in front-of-the-store sales.” Read more

 

“Target Lowers Outlook” by Bob Pisani at CNBC.  “It now expects 78 cents a share for the just completed (July-ending) quarter, well below earlier guidance of 85–$1.00. They cited promotional markdowns and lower than expected sales in Canada; meanwhile, U.S. sales are “essentially flat.” Read more

 

“Wal-Mart’s women empowerment effort exceed goals” by Kim Souza at The City Wire.  “We met the annual goals in the first two years and our spending since then is $400 million ahead of our goal. We are actively working toward growing our women-owned supplier base,” Lemmon said. Wal-Mart has roughly 1,000 suppliers who made their way on to the retailer’s shelves through the women-owned business initiative.” Read more

 

“Walmart CEO Doug McMillon Attends DC Africa Dinner” by Judy Kurtz at The Hill.  “The official list of attendees sent out by the White House includes former President Carter, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg as well as current Mayor Bill de Blasio, along with an extensive list of Democratic lawmakers.”  Read more / See the guest list

 

“Amazon Same-Day Delivery Expanding – “Get It Today” Available in Six More Cities” “Amazon.com has expanded Same-Day Delivery with new “Get It Today” capabilities for customers in Baltimore, Dallas, Indianapolis, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington DC metro areas…Starting today, customers can order as late as noon, seven days a week and get things…delivered to their home the same day.” Read the release

 

***

About Eye-on-Retail

Eye-on-Retail is a daily tipsheet read by thousands of Retail Merchants/Executives every weekday morning. Eye-on-Retail is unique because it’s timely, smart and fun. It’s created bright and early every morning and delivered between 7-8 am CT. We love data, earnings reports, executive presentations and stories off the beaten path that get at what’s really happening in the world of retail.

 

 

“Target Beat Out J.C. Penney in Landing Brian Cornell” by Joann S. Lublin at WSJ.  “The battered department store chain pursued Mr. Cornell about succeeding CEO Mike Ullman. Penney, which has been seeking Mr. Ullman’s successor for a year, contacted Mr. Cornell earlier this year.” Read more

 

“Wal-Mart’s website to personalize shopping” by Anne D’Innocenzio at AP via SF Gate.  “Other retailers, including home-improvement chain Home Depot and office-supplies retailer Staples, have been ahead of Wal-Mart in the race to personalize the online shopping experience. In fact, a quarter of customers who visit Home Depot’s home page see product recommendations that are based on recent purchase or browser history, according to the company.” Read more

 

“Starbucks Pays Some of Its Employees Less Than Wal-Mart” at Motley Fool.  “Wal-Mart surprisingly far outpaces Starbucks. Even though the pay is lower at Starbucks, the study also highlights one of the reasons this may be is that “its establishments are smaller…Wal-Mart’s size makes it the easy target for low-wage criticism, but compared to other retail outlets,Wal-Mart’s pay policies are extremely unique.” Read more

 

“Target Canada opening new stores in Ontario, Quebec” at CTV News.  “Target says it’s opening three new stores in Canada, two in Ontario and one in Quebec, bringing the total number of Target stores in Canada to 130. The stores are in Mississauga and Barrie, Ont. and Candiac, Que. Target says three more stores are scheduled to open later this fall in Canada.” Read more

 

***A message from Orchard Road Canning Co. – Target Millennials to Grow Canning Category Sales. Young female canners are the future of the category and there is untapped potential within this segment.  Orchard Road targets this demographic with a simple and elegant glass jar design and unique package graphics that feature authentic food-filled jars.  See the package design. See the sell sheet. www.orchardroadcanning.com.  Contact info@shiftmarketinggroup.net for more information.

 

“Lawsuit blames Home Depot’s roof design in Joplin tornado deaths” by Wally Kennedy at Joplin Globe.  “The Joplin tornado was a seminal event that undoubtedly will lead to changes in the way these buildings are constructed,’’ he said, in a recent interview. “One thing that has already happened is a dramatic increase in requests for storm shelters inside of big boxes.’’ Read more

 

“Amazon donating 50m hours of computing time to White House for climate change research” by Emily Gertz at The Guardian.  “Walmart noted that it is already working with “eight of the largest food companies to ensure that tomorrow’s food supply is more sustainable” – in part by expanding its sustainable agriculture programs by 8 mn acres, although no time frame was mentioned.” Read more

 

Target or Walmart — which is busier in Canada? For shoppers, the choice is clear” by Francine Kopun at Toronto Star. “Shopper research conducted for the Star shows that Target stores across Canada seem to be failing to attract customers, at least compared to nearby Walmart stores. The data was collected on Saturday, July 26, at 40 different stores in 19 different cities, from Vancouver to Dartmouth.” Read more

 

Claim: “E-commerce to account of 50% of retail in China by 2020” at Want China Times. “Nie Linhai, deputy inspector for the ministry’s Department of E-commerce, said the prediction is if anything conservative. “I would say probably everybody will be involved in e-commerce by then.” Read more

 

“Ingles Q3 Comp Sales +2.1%” “The number of customer transactions (excluding gasoline) increased 0.3%, while the comparable average transaction size (excluding gasoline) increased 1.8% compared with the same quarter last year.” Read the release

 

“Mother-daughter duo find a market for packaged fresh fruit” by Robert Rodriguez at Fresno Bee.  “The mother and daughter team of Kim Gaarde and Brittnie Hammack have taken a simple idea of selling sliced tree fruit in a package and made it into one of the hottest food ventures in the San Joaquin Valley. In its first full year of operation, the Fresno-based company Fresh Fruit Cuts has landed its product on the shelves of the nation’s largest retailers, including Walmart, Sam’s Club and Target.” Read more

***

About Eye-on-Retail

Eye-on-Retail is a daily tipsheet read by thousands of Retail Merchants/Executives every weekday morning. Eye-on-Retail is unique because it’s timely, smart and fun. It’s created bright and early every morning and delivered between 7-8 am CT. We love data, earnings reports, executive presentations and stories off the beaten path that get at what’s really happening in the world of retail.