“Stephen Colbert gives shout out to Staten Island Lowe’s for fixing veteran’s wheelchair” by Ryan Lavis at Staten Island Advance. “I don’t see why all our veterans health issues can’t be helped by Lowe’s,” Colbert quipped, adding, “Why wait months to have that hip replaced at the VA when Lowe’s will fix you up in minutes with duct tape, chicken wire and a socket wrench set?” See the video / Read more

“Bezos pet projects blamed for huge losses in Q2 for Amazon” by James Covert at NY Post.  “Wall Street was caught off guard in particular by a forecast for an operating loss between $410 million and $810 million in the current quarter — more than half of which could be attributable to Bezos’ taste for high-priced talent.” Read more

“Amazon’s Sunday Delivery Now Covers 25% of U.S. Population”  Read Amazon’s News Release

“Wal-Mart’s U.S. fix-it man has never worked in the U.S.” by Andria Cheng at MarketWatch.  “Greg Foran, the 53-year-old New Zealand native who was put in charge of Wal-Mart Stores biggest division on Thursday, is a groundbreaking choice: He has never worked in the U.S.” Read more

“Greg Foran was Passed Over for Top Job at Woolworths (Australia) in 2011” by Eli Greenblat at Sydney Morning Herald (2011 article).  “Mr Foran’s shock resignation comes as Woolworths is engaged in a pitched battle for shoppers with smaller rival Coles, with the Wesfarmers unit outperforming Woolworths in terms of sales over the last nine quarters.” Read more

Barclays:  “Target Can Fix Its Canada Business” by Jonathan Ratner at National Post.  “We believe that a large opportunity remains in Canada for Target to take market share from existing competitors such as Sears Canada,” the analysts said, noting Target would be best suited to focus on the home and apparel segments.” Read more

“Cabela’s Q2 Comp Sales Down 14.2%” “Total revenue increased 0.6% to $761.2 million; Retail store revenue increased 3.4% to $500.4 million.” Read more

“Roundy’s CFO Karst Leaving to Join Rite Aid” Read the release

“Largest Target on East Coast to open its doors in Upper Merion” at The Times Herald.  “Most Target stores don’t have all these windows, but the fact that we are elevated above the parking level is very different for Target,” she said of the unique design. “For people driving down the highway they wanted to be sure it stood out. When it’s all lit up at night it looks really cool.” Read more / See the 5 in-store videos

“A group of activist workers wants Costco to stop buying plastic goods from a “sweatshop” plastic company” by Reuven Blau at NY Daily News.  “Ming and more than 100 of her former colleagues and supporters plan to rally outside the Costco in Sunset Park on Saturday. They want the company to stop buying from Reynolds, which is stocked with Pactiv products. “They are a sweatshop!” said Shu Rong Lin, 47, a former Pactiv packer.” Read more

“A Sort Of Creepy Reason To Love Costco” by Kim Bhasin at HuffPo.  “In the days following a massive fruit recall, the membership-based warehouse retailer actually called customers to tell them to toss their potentially Listeria-tainted peaches, nectarines, plums and pluots…Any time one of Costco’s approximately 70 million members buys something, the company logs the item number of the product they purchased, explained Craig Wilson, vice president of quality assurance and food safety at Costco.” Read more

“Lowe’s Kyle Nel to Speak at Ad Age Conference on Sep. 17th” at Ad Age.  “Kyle Nel, executive director of Lowe’s Innovation Labs, will share how the home improvement retailer is using physical lab spaces, along with a team of science-fiction writers, to help it envision what the future might look like.” Read more

Fortune: “Is T.J. Maxx the best retail store in the land?” by Beth Kowitt.  “It’s a bold statement, but it’s true.” Ron Hess, a professor of marketing at William & Mary’s Mason School of Business, puts it this way: “They are stunningly good.” Read more

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About Eye-on-Retail

Eye-on-Retail is a daily tipsheet that is must-read material for 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 around 7 am CST. 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. Enjoy!

Send story tips, news releases, comments & questions to: info@shiftmarketinggroup.net

“Target Canada Asks Suppliers for 2% Cost Break to Share in Its Struggles” by Marina  Strauss at Globe & Mail.  “In a recent letter to its suppliers, obtained by The Globe and Mail, Target said it is setting up the Target Canada Business Development Fund (BDF) by collecting “an incremental 2 per cent accrual against receipts at cost” from its vendors, starting in March of 2015. “The BDF will provide incremental funding for the key corporate initiatives, including investment in technology and supply chain, necessary to enhance the effectiveness of our business partnership and expedite our sales growth with you,” said the letter from John Butcher, new senior vice-president of merchandising at Target Canada.” Read more

“City plans to bill host Jim Sinegal up to $35,000 for Obama’s visit” by Patti Payne at Puget Sound Bus. Journal. “From our City Council’s standpoint, we shouldn’t pass this on to our citizens,” Sauerwein says. “We absolutely do not think the cost should be passed on to taxpayers.”…“We won’t know what the number will be until after he leaves and it’s all totaled up,” he says. “Any number I give you will be speculative.” But it is likely to be in five figures, and the Sinegals, as hosts, will get the bill.” Read more

“Costco and the perils of mixing politics and business” by Ben Carson at Washington Times.  “I should reveal that I have been a member of the Costco Board of Directors for 15 years. There are people on the board of several political persuasions, and we are all friendly and work well together because politics plays no role in business decisions. In the years that I have had the privilege of serving on the Costco board, I have never witnessed a single incident where politics influenced a business decision.” Read more

Opening today:  “First TargetExpress opens its doors in Dinkytown, MN” by Kavita Kumar at Star-Tribune.  “It’s too early to say how many TargetExpress stores the retailer might eventually open, Witherspoon said. But Target already is planning four more locations for 2015 — one in St. Paul’s Highland Park and three in the San Francisco Bay Area…Aside from basic socks and underwear, it doesn’t have an apparel section. Nor does it have furniture or patio sets. But it does have a full-size beauty department, along with the retailer’s fairly new beauty concierge service.” Read more

***A message from Dig It® Handwear.  Grow garden category sales with glove protection for manicured female hands!  Patented line of high-quality gardening gloves provides unique “pillow-top” protection for female gardeners.  Nationally distributed in Canada…Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary is an investor…now being offered to US Retailers for the first time.  View the line at www.digithandwear.com.  Peggable gloves merchandise easily–see the off-shelf display. Contact info@shiftmarketinggroup.net to get started.

“Dick’s Sporting Goods lays off all its in-store PGA pros” by Tim Schooley at Pittsburgh Bus. Times.  “Dick’s Sporting Goods has laid off all of the golf pros who work in its 560 stores nationwide, according to the Professional Golf Association of America and a report by ESPN. Three PGA professionals who were fired confirmed to ESPN.com that more than 500 full-time pros were let go Tuesday.” Read more

Farnsworth Group Study:  71% of all homeowners have purchased at least one home improvement product online within the past 12 months. “The study indicates that while consumers are purchasing home improvement products from a broad range of websites, home improvement store websites such as Home Depot and Lowe’s lead the way, as 46 percent of homeowners purchase products from these merchants online.”  Read more via 4-traders

“Former Dollar General CEO David Perdue Wins Georgia’s GOP Senate Runoff” at NPR.  “I’ve never run for anything in my life. I’m humbled,” Perdue told supporters gathered at a hotel in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta. With 99 percent of the precincts reporting, Perdue led Kingston by about 8,000 votes – enough for 50.9 percent of the vote.” Read more

“Justin Bieber Shops at Whole Foods” at Disney Dreaming.  See the pics

“Amazon quietly releases payment app” by Benjamin Snyder at Fortune.  “But it falls well short in terms of functionality. Amazon’s app, which premiered on Thursday, currently lets users only upload gift and store loyalty cards. Users can’t yet make mobile payments using credit or debit cards like rivals.” Read more

“Home Depot Donates Lawn Mower to Feisty Grandma Who Fought Off Thieves” at News 9 Texas. “The folks at Home Depot heard about our story and decided to donate a brand new lawnmower to Raquel Pineda. “I just managed to grab on to it and I said this little old granny ain’t gonna turn it loose,” Raquel said. The 63-year-old didn’t back down when three thieves tried to take off with her lawn mower. Raquel managed to hang on while the suspects drove off and dragged her for 25 feet. She lost a tooth and ended up with a cuts and bruises.” See the video / Read more

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About Eye-on-Retail

Eye-on-Retail is a daily tipsheet that is must-read material for 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 around 7 am CST. 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. Enjoy!

Send story tips, news releases, comments & questions to: info@shiftmarketinggroup.net

“Will grocery stores be forced to install $30,000 talking carts that help shoppers make better food choices?” at Daily Mail.”The USDA first recommends that SNAP shoppers be rewarded for their healthy food choices with movie tickets or discounts. SNAP shoppers will be helped meeting their healthy food quote with high-tech shopping carts. These so-called ‘MyCarts’ Will be color-coded and physically divided by differently healthy food groups and notify when the shopper has enough to qualify for a reward. ‘You achieved a MyCart healthy shopping basket!’ it will say.” Read more

“Harris Poll Names Top Regional Grocers” at Digital Journal.  “Hy-Vee, Publix, Wegmans and Costco receive highest brand equity scores” Read the release

NY Times:  “YouTube Stars Sell Target to College Set” by Stuart Elliot.  “Ann Le, Tiffany Garcia and Michael Balalis, a.k.a. Mikey Bolts, are unlikely to be household names in households of consumers in their 30s, 40s or 50s. But Target is hoping those monikers mean money as it seeks to reach members of the millennial generation who are shopping for apparel, electronics and home furnishings as they head to college.” Read more

Washington Post:  “Home Depot, Lowe’s bring the Internet of Things to DIYers” by Mohana Ravindranath. ” Before he started using Iris, Queens resident Hsi-Pei Liao said he rarely shopped at Home Depot or Lowe’s. But after his home was robbed in April 2013… Liao began installing motion sensors and cameras throughout his three-bedroom house….Lowe’s has a partnership with State Farm, giving its customers an insurance discount if they agree to share their Iris usage data.” Read more

“Best Buy CEO Joly is resolute on the issue of online sales taxes” by Kavita Kumar at Star-Tribune.  “While we match Internet prices, I cannot match the sales tax,” Joly said, noting that Best Buy’s operating margins are around 3 to 4 percent. “I cannot fight with an 8 percent price disadvantage.” Target executives have also met repeatedly with members of Congress to advocate for the bill and will continue to do so, said company spokeswoman Dustee Jenkins.” Read more

“Arkansas Business’ Executive Compensation List” by Gwen Moritz. “(Doug) McMillon…total compensation in fiscal 2013 of $25.6 million. The bulk of that — $23 million — came in the form of stock awards…The four highest-paid executives of Arkansas public companies work for Wal-Mart.” Read more

****A message from Simple Golf Products.  Give your customers affordable and easy-to-use golf products that don’t require a manual to operate.  Simple and straightforward beats complicated and overpriced everyday…and the PGA & USGA aim to return golf to “simpler, less fancified times”.  Check out the innovative Target Discs™ and Bunker Buddy™ training aids today and start selling more golf products tomorrow. 100% Made in USA.  Contact info@shiftmarketinggroup.net for more information.

“Tesco Replaces CEO as Trading Weakens” by Peter Evans at WSJ.  “Tesco said Chief Executive Philip Clarke would leave the company in October to be replaced by Unilever executive Dave Lewis…Tesco said on Monday that…profit in the first half of its financial year would be below expectations…Mr. Lewis, a 27-year Unilever veteran, will join Tesco on October 1. Mr. Clarke will then step down as chief executive, but remain with Tesco until January 2015, the company said.” Read more

“Millionaires prefer Facebook over Twitter” by Robert Frank at CNBC.  “The wealth research firm said 57 percent of the 1,300 millionaires in the poll responded that they use Facebook, while 41 percent use LinkedIn and 10 percent use Twitter.” Read more

Boston Globe: “At least 8 Market Basket employees fired, protesters say”  “At least eight Market Basket employees were fired Sunday, including organizers of a protest that has targeted the grocery chain in recent days by workers pressing for the return of ousted president Arthur T. Demoulas. Seven of those fired received a letter that arrived by courier, according to the employees or their colleagues. In some cases, a delivery person waited curbside for workers to return home from weekend activities to deliver packages with termination letters inside.” Read more

“Visa, MasterCard lose ruling versus retailers over credit card fees” by Andrew Longstreth at  Reuters via Chicago Tribune. “A federal judge declined on Friday to dismiss antitrust lawsuits filed against Visa Inc and MasterCard Inc by retailers who opted out of an estimated $5.7 billion class action settlement in 2012 over transaction fees.” Read more

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About Eye-on-Retail

Eye-on-Retail is a daily tipsheet that is must-read material for 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 around 7 am CST. 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. Enjoy!

Send story tips, news releases, comments & questions to: info@shiftmarketinggroup.net

Credit Suisse:  Target should cut its losses and exit Canada — soon by Jonathan Ratner at National Post.  “We think it may be more prudent for Target to cut its losses and devote 100% of its resources on the U.S. — which comprises over 97% of the company’s current sales…Mr. Exstein estimates the liquidation value of the 189 Zeller’s locations Target acquired will be significantly lower than the US$1.86-billion it paid in 2011.” Read more

NRF:  Back to school spending expected to be up 3% by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC.  “According to the National Retail Federation’s annual survey, total spending on back-to-school items is expected to reach $74.9 billion—up about 3 percent from $72.5 billion in 2013.” Read more

“Supervalu CEO: ‘I have no desire to be a big retailer. None.’ “ by Jim Hammerand & Mark Reilly at Minn./St.Paul Bus. Journal. “Supervalu Inc. CEO Sam Duncan told investors Wednesday that the company’s involvement in a deal for 18 Twin Cities Rainbow Foods stores was “strictly as a wholesale play” — a sign that Supervalu doesn’t plan on building itself into a major retailing force again.” Read more

Carl Icahn on Family Dollar CEO Levine: “The CEO shouldn’t be the CEO.” by Ely Portillo at Charlotte Observer.  “Sometimes these things take a long time,” said Icahn, speaking during an interview on CNBC. “I do believe there’s great synergy between Dollar General and Family Dollar. Family Dollar’s management is lacking.” Read more

“At Whole Foods, a ‘Survivor’-like ritual” by Abha Bhattarai at Washington Post.  “If there’s someone who’s not working hard, who’s not putting in everything they can, the team can say, ‘You know what? We don’t want you to drag us down,’ ” said Libba Letton, who handles corporate communications for the chain of specialty grocery stores. New hires are voted in — or out — by their teams after their first 90 days at the company. A two-thirds majority is required to keep an employee on board.” Read more

Target’s Jeff Jones Tweets Pic of Himself Sitting in Front Row at MLB All-Star Game  See the Tweet/Pic

***A message from Lock-it Block-it – Keep the Bad Guys Out and the Good Guys In. Adjustable window security bar blocks criminals from entering a home through open windows & helps prevent children from falling out. Windows can be open AND homes remain secured. Easy installation!  Watch the video. www.lockitblockit.com Contact info@shiftmarketinggroup.net  for more information.

“Nordstrom lauded for catalog showing models with disabilities” by Ben Miller at Puget Sound Bus. Journal.  “A Nordstrom spokesperson told the AP that “we serve diverse customers and it’s an opportunity for them to see themselves when they’re looking through the book or online. … We don’t promote it or go out and talk about it. We just think they look great.” Read more

Canada: “Loblaw shuffles management; Shoppers president to exit” by Marina Strauss at Globe & Mail.  “Domenic Pilla, president of Shoppers whose acquisition closed in late March, is leaving the retailer at the end of the year. He would “like to continue his career by pursuing opportunities to lead a widely-held public company,” the company said. He will be replaced by Mike Motz, currently executive vice-president and chief merchandising officer.” Read more

San Francisco: Another day, another innovation center (Visa) by Andrew Ross at SF Gate.  “The credit card company also used the occasion to herald its entry into the mobile payments world with Visa Checkout…Neiman Marcus, United Airlines, Pizza Hut, Staplesand TicketMaster. Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Chase, Citi and U.S. Bank are among the 180 credit card issuers and financial institutions that have signed up.” Read more

“New P&G at-home device takes on dry cleaner” by Alexander Coolidge at Cincinnati.com.  “The machine is on pre-order exclusively at Bloomingdale’s for a suggested retail price of $499. Swash machines also will be available at select Delta Sky Club lounges and will appear in retail stores like Best Buy and Bed Bath & Beyond in September. ” Read more

“Google opens D.C. lobbying office (with meatballs!) on Congress’s doorstep” by Stephanie Green at Mercury News.  “The office’s 54,000 square feet, for 110 employees, is a mere satellite compared with the company’s headquarters in Mountain View. Still, it’s home to several dining areas, a video-game room, a treadmill with a computer (the “walking desk”) and space-age capsules for afternoon naps. People are encouraged to bring their dogs to work. Cats can stay at home.” Read more

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About Eye-on-Retail

Eye-on-Retail is a daily tipsheet that is must-read material for 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 around 7 am CST. 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. Enjoy!

Send story tips, news releases, comments & questions to: info@shiftmarketinggroup.net