Archive for category: Eye-on-Retail

 

“California Legislature: Shift Breach Responsibility to Retailers” by Marc Lifsher at LA Times.  “Last week, two members of the Assembly touted a bill to strengthen consumer safeguards and limit the type of information collected and retained by retailers. The measure, AB 1710, may trigger one of the year’s biggest disputes over business-related legislation. “It’ll be a big fight, a tough fight,” said Bill Dombrowski, president of the California Retailers Assn.”  Read more

 

“How Home Depot’s Bernie Marcus won by refusing to let bitterness consume him” by Harvey Mackay at Atlanta Business Journal.  “In 1978, Bernie was fired as the CEO of Handy Dan Home Improvement Center chain…Bernie was 49 years old and had never been fired before. He called it “the low point in his life…Fortunately for Bernie, that influence was Sol Price, founder of Price Club, which has since become part of Costco. Price phoned Bernie and invited him to dinner at his home in San Diego…”  Read more

 

“Sam’s Club Picks MasterCard, Dumps Discover” by Peter Eichenbaum at Businessweek.  “Wal-Mart chose MasterCard Inc. to handle transactions for the merchant’s store-branded credit cards, ending a nine-year relationship with Discover Financial Services. The Sam’s Club warehouse unit also extended its agreement with General Electric Co.’s retail finance unit to provide the retailer’s store-branded cards in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.”  Read more

 

“Amazon launches Amazon Dash for delivery of groceries, household items” at Chicago Tribune via Reuters.  “Amazon.com Inc launched a new product named Amazon Dash on Friday that allows the user to add groceries and household goods to their shopping lists using the company’s AmazonFresh service…However, signing up for Amazon Dash is by invitation only while the AmazonFresh service is currently available only Southern California, San Francisco and Seattle.”  Read more

 

“Next up for disruption: The grocery business” by Dan Mitchell at CNN Money.  “Amazon, he believes, will finally prove that grocery delivery isn’t just about “hipsters doing fun things on their phones,” but rather will appeal to “the soccer mom who shops at scale…The unknown quantity in all this is Wal-Mart. It, too, is “experimenting” with delivery, and it alone has the resources and patience to compete head-to-head with a full-bore deployment of AmazonFresh.”  Read more

 

“Lunds goes after growth in a high-end niche with new concept store” by Mike Hughlett at Star-Tribune.  “The company plans to open a new Lunds supermarket — its 13th — next month in downtown St. Paul. But perhaps its most interesting project right now is Lunds and Byerly’s Kitchen…It’s got some grocery basics, but beverages and produce stand out. There’s a cheese shop and butcher’s counter too. But much of its 17,000 square feet is devoted to prepared food, from sandwiches to sushi to scads of hot dishes and salads, all made on site.”  Read more

 

“Walmart bets on India after recent break-up” with Bharti by Sagar Malviya at The Economic Times.  “The world’s largest retailer Walmart Stores has invested Rs 1,328 crore in its India unit, signaling bullishness on the country despite breaking with its joint venture partner last year, internal inquiries into wrongdoing that may have been committed locally and a foreign investment policy that doesn’t have too many takers.”  Read more

 

“Internet Ad Spend To Reach $121B In 2014, 23% Of $537B Total Ad Spend” by Ingrid Lunden at TechCrunch.  “In 2013, there was $13.4 billion spent on mobile ads, some 13% of all Internet ad spend and 2.7% of all global ad spend, but by 2016 that will rise to $45 billion, or 28% of Internet ad spend and 7.6% of total ad investments.  “Mobile will leapfrog radio, magazines and outdoor to become the world’s fourth-largest medium by the end of our forecast period.”  Read more

 

“J.C. Penney teams with supermodel Elle Macpherson for new lingerie line” at Dallas News.  “The collection will be in 300 of Penney’s 1,100 stores starting April 11. Penney says it will wait to see how the brand fares before deciding whether to roll it out to its other stores.”  Read more

 

Earnings Announcements this Week:

April 9:  Bed, Bath & Beyond

April 10:  Family Dollar, Rite Aid

 

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“Target’s Shopper Satisfaction Scores Down Sharpest with Middle-and-Upper Income Shoppers” by John Vomhof Jr. “Target’s customer service score fell 3.3 percentage points to 71 percent in the survey of 2,500 shoppers. Cowen found a “dramatic” decline among upper-income shoppers, with scores falling 9 percentage points to 70 percent.”  Read more

 

“California:  Lowe’s ordered to pay $18 million in hazardous waste lawsuit” by Karina Ioffee at San Jose Mercury News.  “Lowe’s has been ordered to pay $18 million for illegally disposing hazardous waste, including pesticides, batteries, fluorescent bulbs and other toxic materials, following a civil enforcement action filed Tuesday in Alameda County Superior Court.The suit alleged that more than 100 Lowe’s stores throughout the state routinely sent items such as spilled or returned paint or damaged batteries to local landfills that were not permitted to receive the materials.”  Read more

 

“Family Dollar lays off 135 at HQ” by Ely Portillo at Charlotte Observer.  “The cuts represent 6 percent of the company’s Matthews workforce…The layoffs cover all divisions and operating levels of the company’s headquarters, or the “Store Support Center,” as Family Dollar calls it.”  Read more

 

“Happening Today:  Sam’s Club CEO Rosalind Brewer to Appear on CBS This Morning”  CBS This Morning Link

 

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“Charlotte: Walmart Recaptures Top Grocery Spot” by Ely Portillo at Charlotte Observer.  “Chain Store Guide, which tracks retail sales, reported that Walmart captured 22.4 percent of the Charlotte region’s grocery sales, up from 20.4 percent last year. Harris Teeter’s share fell from 23.7 to 20.4, and Food Lion’s grew from 17.4 to 18.7.”  Read more

 

“The Home Depot Foundation names new leader” by Carla Cardwell at Atlanta Business Chronicle.  “Caffarelli’s successor, Gaven Gregory, will serve as executive director of the Home Depot Foundation and the Homer Fund. Gavin, a decorated Iraq war veteran, is considered to be a good fit for the foundation, which in the last couple of years has made a significant commitment to help the nation’s veterans.”  Read more

 

“Neiman Marcus Blends Store and Online Teams” by Maria Halkias at Dallas News.  “As part of this reorganization, the divisional merchandise manager positions over various categories will be responsible for both store and online merchandise. The current buying roles will remain the same, with buyers solely focused on one channel.”  Read more

 

“Hudson’s Bay:  Q4 Comp Sales +6.6%”  “…or 2.1% excluding the impact of foreign exchange, from the comparable 13-week period of Fiscal 2012.  Hudson’s Bay grew 5.2%.  Lord & Taylor declined 1.3% on a U.S. dollar basis.  Saks grew 3.1% on a U.S. dollar basis.”  Read the release

 

“London:  Kingfisher in Talks to Buy Mr Bricolage” by Tapan Panchal at WSJ.  “U.K.-based home-improvement retailer Kingfisher said Thursday it was in talks to buy French rival Mr Bricolage in a deal worth €275 million ($378.6 million) to boost its business in Europe.”  Read more

 

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“Shopper/DJ Who Raided Jason Wu Collection at Target, Now Suing Target” by Allie Conti at Miami New Times. “Wills, who also goes by “DJ Midas” and spins at the Delano, snatched up $5,300 of Jason Wu merch in less than a minute…Now Wills wants payback for the fiasco. One customer allegedly slammed him in the legs with her cart as her similarly aggrieved husband said he was going to “kick his ass.”…The Miami DJ is suing for emotional distress as well as negligence and false imprisonment.” Read more

 

“eBay Signs Retail Chains (Home Depot, Walgreens, etc.) to Same-Day Delivery Service” by Ina Steiner at eCommerceBytes.  “eBay Now service is exclusively for local brick-and-mortar retailers in certain cities: San Francisco and the Peninsula, San Jose, parts of New York City, Chicago and Dallas.”  See the list of participating retailers

 

“Twin Cities Reporter tests Walmart’s new ‘Savings Catcher’ program” by Tom Webb at Pioneer Press.  “Finally, after three days, Savings Catcher gave me the answer. I got a credit of $5.62 — about 4 percent — on my $134.14 bill. Considering that many online commenters had talked about saving a buck or two, that was a mild surprise, too.”  Read more

 

“Amazon raises the ante on Canadian offerings” by Marina Strauss at Globe & Mail.  “On Tuesday, the Seattle-based retailer launched about 700,000 items on Amazon.ca in two more categories: wireless accessories and musical instruments. It brings the number of product categories that it offers in this country – more than 20 – to nearly the same number as south of the border.”  Read more

 

“Northwest’s First Bass Pro Shop Will be Tourist Draw” by John Gillie at the News Tribune.  “A company spokeswoman said the Tacoma store, being the first in the Northwest, could draw customers from an even wider radius. The nearest Bass Pro Shop to Tacoma is in the San Francisco Bay area. The chain has announced it will build another Bass Pro in the Northwest, but that one is sited in Canada near Vancouver, B.C. Bass Pro also has announced a store in Anchorage.”  Read more

 

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Cisco CEO shares discussion with Walmart CEO Doug McMillon:  “He (McMillon) considered Wal-Mart to be a technology company first, a global powerhouse in retail and online sales second.”  at Channel Partners.  Read more

 

“Fred Meyer and Safeway Spend Over $1 Mil for Liquor Privatization in Oregon” by Nigel Jaquiss at Willamette Week. “Fred Meyer, a subsidiary of Cinncinnati-based Kroger, contributed $250,000 each to two different committees. The donations bring Fred Meyer’s contributions to the liquor privatization effort to $1 million…Safeway today disclosed even larger contributions, giving two checks totaling $656,000. That brings Safeway’s total contributions to $814,000.” Read more

 

“The Guardian:  No fan of Target’s anti-union video (surprise, surprise)” by Ucilia Wang.  “The recent leak of Target’s latest anti-union video highlights how effective corporate campaigns have been in undermining unionization efforts…It’s easy to make fun of both videos for the characters’ performance, the script or special effects…”  See the video / Read more

 

“Forbes: Walmart is On the Offensive” by Laura Heller.  “I’ve attended a half dozen retail conferences already this year and Walmart has had a speaker at all of them…there is a small army of Walmart executives are out in a concerted effort the likes of which I’ve not seen before from this retailer.”  Read more

 

“McKinsey:  There will be 500 million internet users in India by the year 2015”  by Preetam Kaushik at Business Insider.  Read more

 

“Kroger Buys Land in Cincy, Readies Second Largest Kroger Store in Nation” by Tom Demeropolis at Cinc. Bus. Courier.  “Kroger  will build a more than 145,500-square-foot Marketplace store at Oakley Station…This is expected to be the largest Cincinnati-area Kroger Marketplace and the second largest in the nation. The average Kroger Marketplace is about 115,000 square feet. The store is scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2015.” Read more

 

“Macy’s Promotes Former Chief Merchandising Officer to President” by Dan Horn at Cincinnati.com.  “Macy’s named Jeffrey Gennette the company’s new president Monday.  Officials at the retail giant said Gennette, formerly the company’s chief merchandising officer, will report to CEO and chairman Terry Lundgren, who previously held the title of president.”  Read more

 

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“Costco:  Peanut Butter from Bankrupt Vendor “not merchantable”, 950,000 Jars sent to Landfill” by Jeri Clausing at ABC News.  “After extensive testing, Costco agreed to a court order authorizing the trustee to sell it the peanut butter. But after getting eight loads, Costco rejected it as “not merchantable” because of leaky peanut oil…instead of selling or donating the peanut butter, with a value estimated at $2.6 million, the estate is paying about $60,000 to haul the 950,000 jars of nut butter — or about 25 tons — to the Curry County landfill in Clovis, where public works director Clint Bunch says it “will go in with our regular waste and covered with dirt.”  Read more

 

“Four New Fresh Grocery Concepts Invade St. Louis” by Kavita Kumar at St. Louis Post Dispatch.  “At least four such companies plan to set up shop — if they haven’t already — in the region…Fresh Thyme Farmers Market, Lucky’s Market, the Fresh Market and Fields Foods…“Our center store is fresh,” said Chris Sherrell, president of CEO of Fresh Thyme Farmers Market, which is planning to open 10 to 12 stores in this region. “Their center store is Coke and Doritos.”  Read more

 

Comp Sales:

Fred’s: +.1% Q4, +.6% FY ’13  Read the release

Restoration Hardware:  +17% Q4, +27% FY ’13  Read the release

Gamestop:  +7.8% Q4, +3.8% FY ’13  Read the release

 

“Wal-Mart Sues Visa for $5 Billion Over ‘Swipe Fees’ “ by Shelly Banjo at WSJ.  “Smaller retailers settled over the issue in July 2012, but dozens of large merchants including Wal-Mart, Target Corp. and Macy’s Inc. opted out so they could pursue suits of their own—hence the suit filed this week.”  Read more

 

***A message from Juicebar Chargers – Get ready for Hurricane season!  Juicebar’s Hurricane Travel Charger holds enough juice to weather a full week’s worth of hurricanes, blizzards and power outages! With up to 5 full smartphone charges or a full tablet charge and more, Juicebar’s Hurricane is the perfect sidekick when life disconnects you from the grid. Peggable, shipper display or open- stock.  See the full lineup at www.juicebarchargers.com.  Product video  Email: info@shiftmarketinggroup.net for program details.

 

“Neiman Eyes First NYC Store” by James Covert at NY Post.  “The Dallas-based upscale department store is nearing a deal to open a flagship store at Hudson Yards, the mega-development under construction on Manhattan’s West Side, The Post has learned.” Read more

 

“Lowe’s: Great Horned Owl Sets up Shop in Omaha Store” at KETV 7 Omaha.  “Store employees preparing the garden center at a northwest Omaha Lowe’s made an unusual discovery.  They found a baby Great Horned Owl that had likely been there for several weeks.”  See the video / Read more

 

“Selling Your Product to Walmart…or Not” by Rakesh Sharma at Forbes.  “When megastore Walmart.com approached Peak Design, a San Francisco-based outfit, to sell their products on the retailer’s site, they were in for a surprise: the startup declined their offer.  “They (major retailers) take their pound of flesh,” says Peter Dering, founder of the startup that makes camera accessories. He is referring to Walmart’s product margins and high turnover.”  Read more

 

“Random:  Russia dairy plant closed after workers’ milk bath” by Sergei L. Loikoi at LA Times.  “A Siberian dairy products plant was temporarily closed Friday after its workers had been found bathing in milk…In the photographs and video clips posted on New Year’s Eve by the dairy worker Artyom Romanov, a group of undressed employes relaxes in a container of milk as part of their New Year celebration. While still partly undressed, they then demonstrated cheese making in a clownish manner.” Read more

 

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