Tuesday’s Tipsheet: Walmart Shutters Goodies | Target to Open 33 | Kroger’s ‘Snowflakes’

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“Walmart Shutters Goodies Subscription Service” by Katie Evans at Internet Retailer.  “The Goodies Co., a subscription service from @WalmartLabs that launched as a test late last year, announced on its site that it is shuttering its operations. Goodies subscribers received a surprise box of food items at their doorsteps once a month for $7 a pop including taxes and shipping.”  Read more

 

“Target to open 33 more stores next month in Canada” by John Ewoldt at Star-Tribune.  “Target announced Monday that it will open 33 more stores in Canada next month, bringing the total number of Canadian stores opened this year to 124.  “It’s very clearly Target’s largest new store growth ever in a year,” said Amy Koo, an analyst at the Kantar Retail consulting firm in Boston. ..The rapid expansion hasn’t been entirely smooth. The retailer expected the Canadian stores to be profitable in the fourth quarter this year. Now the profitability expectation has been moved to the fourth quarter of 2014.”  Read more

 

“Sears May Spin Lands’ End Off” by Tim Parry at Multi-Channel Merchant.  “Sears Holdings Corp. said Oct. 29 that it is considering separating Lands’ End and Sears Auto Center from the rest of the company.  The company said in a press release that separating Lands’ End and Sears Auto Center would allow them to pursue their own strategic opportunities.”  Read more

 

“Kroger Knows Your Shopping Patterns Better Than You Do” by Tom Groenfeldt at Forbes.  “Kroger calls the 11 million pieces of direct mail it sends to customers each quarter “snowflakes” — because if any two are the same, it is a fluke. The redemption rate is over 70 percent within six weeks of the mailing…Kroger uses the coupon dispenser company, Catalina, for point-of-sale coupons, but with a twist dunnhumby insists on — unlike other grocery stores which will offer a Pepsi coupon to a Coke buyer, dunnhumby doesn’t try to convert customers.”  Read more

 

“H-E-B plans $100 million investment around downtown store” by Neal Morton at My San Antonio.  “H-E-B has disclosed plans for a $100 million expansion of its headquarters, a move that would double its downtown workforce by 2030 and transform the area just north of the historic King William neighborhood.  The master plan includes a grocery store, to be called Flores Market.”  Read more

 

“Struggling Sears to abandon flagship store in Toronto” by Marina Strauss at Globe & Mail.  “Sears Canada Inc. will abandon its flagship store at the Toronto Eaton Centre – one of the country’s prime real estate spaces – along with four other outlets in a leaseback deal that will generate $400-million for the struggling retailer but raises questions about the fate of its revival efforts.  The move also could pave the way for Nordstrom Inc., which is opening its first store in Canada next year, to nab the prized Toronto Eaton Centre site.”  Read more

 

“What the Harris-Teeter Acquisition Means for Kroger” by Michael Douglass at Motley Fool.  “Here is where Kroger can make a big difference. As the largest grocery chain in the US, it can bring scale advantages and additional capital resources to protect and increase Harris Teeter’s market share in the Southeastern US…Harris Teeter will have additional resources and management talent to compete and retain (and grow) market share.”  Read more

 

“Best Buy enlists star power for holiday ads” by David Phelps at Star-Tribune.  “Best Buy is employing some star power to fortify its television advertising for the holidays with the likes of actors Will Arnett and Maya Rudolph.  But the elephant in the TV spot is Amazon.com and other online retailers as Best Buy attempts to counter the “showrooming” phenomenon where customers shop the stores but order goods online.”  Read more

 

“Safeway’s Pain Could Be Roundy’s Gain” by Brian Stoffel at Motley Fool.  “The view from 30,000 feet is that Mariano’s is hitting the ball out of the park, while the rest of the players continue to be a drag. The problem is that while there are 11 Mariano’s stores — all located in Chicago — the traditional segment of the business has 150 locations. There simply aren’t enough Mariano’s locations to balance out the overall poor performance by the other chains.”  Read more

 

“RadioShack Goes Retro with First Custom Concept Store”  “A new “retro” RadioShack opens Wednesday, Oct. 30 at noon in the new Commerce Building in Sundance Square in downtown Fort Worth, Texas. The tenth RadioShack concept store open nationwide, this all new location was custom-designed for Fort Worth.”  Read more

 

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Monday’s Tipsheet: D.General Beats Walmart on Basket Price | Costco’s Mexico Expansion

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“Dollar General Beats Walmart for ‘Cheapest Basket’ “ at Kantar Retail “Dollar General’s total basket was the least expensive among retailers surveyed, edging out Walmart Supercenter’s basket by just $0.12.  This represents a substantial closing of the gap in the survey conducted last year, when Dollar General’s basket of OPP items was 18% cheaper than Walmart’s. The edible grocery and HBA sub-baskets drove Dollar General’s basket lead over Walmart.”  See the list

 

“Costco Has Room For Growth In Mexico” at Seeking Alpha.  “Costco started its operations in Mexico through a 50% owned joint venture, and its store count had been stagnant for the past four-five years. However, the warehouse retailer acquired the remaining 50% stake from its partner last year and has opened one store since. Costco plans to add another store in the current quarter and we expect it to continue expanding in Mexico in the future.”  Read more 

 

“UPS predicts ‘record’ holiday season” by Kyle Stock at SF Gate.  “The company estimates it will handle 4 percent more U.S. packages over the holidays, thanks, in part, to an expected 15 percent increase in online retail orders.  “We expect this year’s holiday season will be another for the record books, as we pick up more than 34 million packages on our peak day.”  Read more

 

“Target to ban criminal history box on job applications” by Janet Moore at Star-Tribune.  “The initiative, part of a budding “Ban the Box” movement across the country, calls for employers to wait until a prospective employee is being interviewed or has a provisional job offer before inquiring whether he or she has a criminal past.”  Read more

 

“Petco Opens First Store in Mexico”  “Petco has opened its first store in Mexico and announced plans for continued expansion in Mexico and Latin America through a previously announced joint venture with Grupo Gigante of Mexico.  Together, the companies plan to open as many as 50 Petco stores in Mexico and Latin America by 2020. Terms of the joint venture were not disclosed.”  Read more

 

“Former Sears Canada CEO to head Sephora’s North American arm” at Globe & Mail.  “The former CEO of Sears Canada, Calvin McDonald, has been named to the top job in North America at beauty giant Sephora.  McDonald resigned abruptly from Sears Canada last month in the middle of the retailer’s three-year turnaround plan.”  Read more

 

“Disney to open massive China store” at Reuters via CNBC.  “Walt Disney Co. said it plans to open its first China store in Shanghai, expected to be its largest ever, underscoring the need to cater to the nation’s growing middle class.”  Read more

 

“Sherwin-Williams Net Sales Jump 9.4%”  “Net sales in the Paint Stores Group increased 13.5% to $1.76 billion in the quarter and increased 9.0% to $4.54 billion in nine months due primarily to higher architectural paint sales volume across all end market segments. Net sales from stores open for more than twelve calendar months increased 10.9% in the quarter.”  Read more

 

“Holiday 2013: Five Trends To Watch” by Laura Heller at Forbes.  “Self-gifting is on the decline. Shoppers will cut back on impulse buys for themselves, according to another interesting tidbit from the NRF annual holiday survey. Shoppers have gotten better at sticking to a budget and treating themselves to something because the deals are too good to pass up.”  Read more

 

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Friday’s Tipsheet: Amazon Sls Jump 30% in NA | Wmart CEO Interview in China | Costco/Sam’s Ignoring Gen Y?

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“Amazon Revenue Jumps 24%” by Greg Bensinger & Michael Calia at WSJ.  “In its core North American market, Amazon sales climbed 30% to $9.5 billion.  For the third quarter, Amazon narrowed its loss to $41 million, or 9 cents per share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $274 million, or 60 cents per share, a year earlier.”  Read more

 

“Walmart CEO Mike Duke’s Exclusive Interview with BizAsia” at China.org.  “The retail giant’s CEO Mike Duke told BizAsia exclusively that this plan represents the company’s fresh efforts in exploring new business opportunities in China’s urbanization plan.”  See the video

 

“Ignoring Gen Y May Be Costco & Sam’s Achilles’ Heel”  by Kim Souza at The City Wire.  ““My concern for the clubs is that if they rely on Gen Y to reach these life stages later in life, it might be too late,” Altukhaim said. “At what point does a club membership become irrelevant when you’re dealing with a generation that already skews higher toward, for instance, Amazon and its Prime memberships.” Read more

 

“Target’s Rough Ride In Canada Will Persist In The Near Term” at Trefis.  “Target had about 68 stores operational in Canada at the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2013. Although the initial response was good, the company isn’t doing too well in terms of customer satisfaction. According to a survey conducted by Forum Research, only 27% of the customers polled were “very satisfied” with their experience at Target.”  Read more

 

“Wal-Mart Now Has More Solar Than 38 U.S. States; Drink!” by Tom Randall at Businessweek.  “Solar power and keg stands have one thing in common: Wal-Mart wants to profit from them.  In the race for commercial solar power, Wal-Mart is killing it. The company now has almost twice as much capacity as second-place Costco. A better comparison: Wal-Mart is converting more sun into energy than 38 U.S. states.”  Read more

 

“After Jumping the Gun Last Year, Target Pushes Back Holiday-Campaign Launch” by Natalie Zmuda at Ad Age.  “A year ago the retailer caught flack from consumers for launching its first holiday spot in mid-October. That ad, which focused on its Red Card branded credit card, featured an upbeat tune with the chorus, “Are You Ready?”  “We learned last year we just went too soon,” said Jeff Jones, chief marketing officer at Target. “Even though it wasn’t an overt commercial about Christmas products, people interpreted it that way.” Read more

 

“Cabela’s to Open 3 New Stores; Wants 67+  by 2015”  Cabela’s announced today plans to bring the extraordinary Cabela’s retail experience to three new markets – Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada; Garner, N.C.; and Sun Prairie, Wis.”  Read more

 

“Schnucks Grocery agrees to proposed settlement over data breach” by Kavita Kumar at St. Louis Post Dispatch.  “The aggregate cap that Schnucks would pay on the above claims would be $1.6 million…Furthermore, Schnucks would pay: up to $10,000 for each related identity theft loss, with the total capped at $300,000; up to $635,000 for the plaintiff and settlement attorney’s fees; and $500 to each of the nine named plaintiffs in the lawsuit.”  Read more

 

“Amazon’s Seattle biodome campus clears design board” by Chris O’Brien at LA Times.  “A Seattle city review board has given the thumbs-up to an ambitious and unusual biodome design proposed by Amazon as part of its new downtown campus.”  See the pictures

 

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Have a great weekend!

 

Thursday’s Tipsheet: Wmart to open 110 in China | Aldi = Most Simple Brand | 18 Depressing Sears Photos

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“Wal-Mart to open up to 110 new China stores by 2016” by Matthew Miller at Reuters.  “Wal-Mart will open up to 110 facilities in China between 2014 and 2016, in addition to the 30 it has already opened this year, it said at a press event in Beijing on Thursday.  Wal-Mart has closed 11 stores and is looking to close 15-30 others over the next 18 months, said Greg Foran, chief executive of Wal-Mart China, in what he called part of a rationalization process.”  Read more

 

“Target’s ‘Buy Online – Pick-up in Store’ Expands to all Stores” at AP via Boston Herald.  “Target Corp. said Wednesday that the service is now in about half of its 1,800 U.S. stores and will be expanded to the rest of its U.S stores by Nov. 1. The discounter is joining other retailers including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Best Buy Stores Inc. and Sears Holdings Corp. that have had similar services for a couple of years.”  Read more

 

“18 Depressing Photos That Show Why Nobody Wants To Shop At Sears” by Ashley Lutz at Business Insider.  “Brian Sozzi, chief equities strategist at Belus Capital Advisors, took poignant photos inside of New Jersey and New York Sears locations.  “To understand why Sears is in a ‘sell stores mode’ one must look no further than the stores themselves, where the truth is to be found,” Sozzi writes.  His photos show the sad reality of what Sears is today.”  See the photos

 

“Can Walmart Shake Up The Renewable Energy Sector?” by Ariel Schwartz at Fast Company.  “Walmart has 150 solar installations in seven countries, as well as 26 fuel cell installations in the U.S. and a smattering of experimental micro-wind and large scale wind projects. “One of the big paradigm shifts was that we had to start opening up our doors. In the past, we thought we could keep our heads down. We had to learn from experts, and we started meeting with NGOs and academia,” says Kim Saylors, VP of Energy at Walmart.”  Read more

 

“Walmart Unveils ‘Largest Green Roof in Portland’ “ by Steve Law at Sustainable Life.  “Walmart will unveil what’s billed as the largest green roof in the city of Portland when it opens its new store near Delta Park next month.  Nearly half the Walmart Supercenter’s 92,000-square-foot roof will be covered in vegetation and sediment, which will help cool the store and manage storm water.”  Read more

 

“Target & Walmart Are Top Brands with New Millennial Parents” at Ad Week “Millennials have a reputation as image-conscious and spoiled. But growing up at a time that saw America at war, 9/11 and economic uncertainty, this generation of new parents is actually less image-conscious and more pragmatic than you might think. In other words, bye, bye Apple; hello, Walmart.” See the Infographic

 

“Aldi Tops Ranks of ‘Simple’ Companies’ “ at Supermarket News.  “Grocery discounter Aldi was named to the top spot of a list of global brands ranked by their simplicity by Siegel + Gale, which announced findings of its annual Global Simplicity Index on Wednesday.  The report, based on a study of 10,000 consumers in seven countries, scored Aldi as the most simple global brand, up nine spots from last year.”  Read more

 

“Getting into Harvard Easier than Getting a Job at Wegmans” by Peter Van Allen at Philly Business. “Some 10,000 people applied for 500 positions at a Wegmans slated to open next month…About 500 new employees were hired from the applicant pool — a 5 percent acceptance rate.  By comparison, Harvard had an undergraduate acceptance rate of 5.8 percent in the most recent year.”  Read more

 

“Pop-Up Stores Raise a Question for Landlords” by Maura Webber Sadovi at WSJ.  “The issue took on new significance when home-furnishing retailer Crate and Barrel said it would operate pop-up stores for the first time in its roughly 50-year history. The temporary stores, which will be much smaller than a typical Crate and Barrel store, are set to open this and next month in Las Vegas, Des Moines, Nashville and Albany, N.Y.”  Read more

 

“Wal-Mart adds tablets to its store trade-in program” at The City Wire.  “Wal-Mart said today (Oct. 23) that customers can trade in their tablets at more than 3,600 stores and Sam’s Club locations nationwide. Similar to its new smartphone trade-in program, customers and members can receive up to $300 for their trade, which will then be applied toward the purchase of a new tablet.”  Read more

 

“99 Cents Only chain lays off 160 workers” by Shan Li at LA Times.  “99 Cents Only, which was acquired in 2011 by L.A. private equity firm Ares Management and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, operates 238 stores in California, 44 in Texas, 33 in Arizona and 17 in Nevada.”  Read more

 

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Wednesday’s Tipsheet: Walmart Wants 3 Yr Vendor Exclusivity | Amazon Ups Min Order for Free Ship to $35

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“Walmart Pursues Three Year Exclusivity Agreements with Vendors” by Kim Souza at The City Wire.  “Wal-Mart is working with key suppliers providing three-year contracts, over the typical one-year deals.  “Suppliers know they can get $300 million annually / for three years when they give us better costs and access to better exclusive product,” Duncan Mac Naughton (Chief Merchandising Officer) said in a breakfast meeting with analysts Oct. 15.”  Read more

 

“Amazon hikes minimum order for free shipping to $35” by Jay Greene at Seattle Times.  “Amazon hiked the minimum order price to get free shipping Tuesday by $10, to $35, a move that should reduce its massive shipping costs and could drive more customers to its Amazon Prime service.”  Read more

 

“Cerberus, others explore deal for Safeway” by Olivia Oran & Soyoung Kim at Reuters.  “Safeway, the second-largest U.S. mainstream grocery store operator with a market value of over $8 billion, is not running an auction currently, but is aware of the buyout interest and reviewing options with advisor Goldman Sachs Group Inc, the people said on Tuesday.”  Read more

 

 “Amazon Launches Huge Office in Vancouver” at Vancouver Sun.  “Vancouver’s tech sector is slated for another boost in jobs as Amazon seeks to expand its presence in the city.  The online retail giant plans to open office space with room for as many as 1,000 employees in Vancouver’s Telus Garden, Canadian technology news site Tech Vibes reported Tuesday.”  Read more

 

“RadioShack’s 3rd-Quarter Loss Widens” by Drew Fitzgerald at WSJ.  “Sales at stores open at least a year dropped 8.4% as the company liquidated many unwanted products, while gross margin slid to 30.1% from 36%.”  Read more

 

“Lowe’s Sweeps EPA Honors For Environmental Leadership” at MarketWatch.  “Added to the 2013 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence Award that Lowe’s received in March, the recent honors give Lowe’s the distinction of being the only retail partner to receive all three EPA awards.”  Read more

 

“Sobeys to sell 23 stores in Western Canada” by Marina Strauss at Globe & Mail.  “Sobeys Inc. has agreed to sell 23 supermarkets in Western Canada to get the green light from the federal Competition Bureau for its $5.8-billion takeover of Safeway Canada.  The stores to be divested, in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, are mostly Safeway supermarkets and some Sobeys stores, along with outlets operating under the Thrifty, Price Chopper and IGA banners.”  Read more

 

“Publix sells PIX chain” by Jacques Couret at Atlanta Business Chronicle.  “Publix Super Markets Inc. will sell its convenience stores concept PIX, which includes two stores in Georgia.  Circle K Stores Inc. will buy 11 stores in Florida and two in Georgia (Perry and Alpharetta), while Max Arnold & Sons LLC will buy one in Tennessee. The sales price was not disclosed.”  Read more

 

“Aaron’s agrees to stop spying on computer renters” by Stuart Pfeifer at LA Times.  “The Federal Trade Commission had accused Aaron’s and its franchisees of using software to monitor customers’ computer keystrokes and secretly watch them in their homes through the computers’ webcams.  In some instances, the company captured images of customers engaged in what the FTC called “intimate activities”.”  Read more

 

“The One Thing Successful People Do Every Day” by William Arruda at Forbes.  “Here’s the one personal branding habit you can’t be too busy for.  Document your wins. What’s the easiest way to do that? Keep a job journal.”  Read more

 

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Tuesday’s Tipsheet: Walmart Studies H-E-B. | McKinsey Retail Study | P&G’s ‘transformative’ New Plastic

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“Wal-Mart studies HEB for lesson in ‘fresh’ “ by Kim Souza at The City Wire.  “Jack Sinclair (EVP Grocery) last week told a group of analysts attending the retailer’s annual investor meeting that “HEB is the best food retailer in the world, particularly on fresh.”  He said Wal-Mart opened an office in San Antonio to work with HEB vendors to learn how to do fresh better, specifically meat and produce. At the time, he said “people still want to feel their apples before buying them,” which is why he believes mainstream grocery delivery in the U.S. in still years away.”  Read more

 

“How retailers can keep up with consumers” at McKinsey & Co. via @mohitspeak.  “While it is true that powerful forces are at work in retail today, we believe their full impact won’t be felt for years. (For instance, despite the e-commerce boom, brick-and-mortar stores should still account for approximately 85 percent of US retail sales in 2025) That said, incumbent retailers can’t expect to stay successful by going about business as usual.”  Read more

 

“Target’s marketing efforts are right on target with revamped ‘Bullseye View’ “ by John Reinan at MinnPost.  “Content is king in today’s marketing world, and the local king of marketing — Target Corp. — is providing an excellent example of a content-based strategy at A Bullseye View.  Recently revamped and relaunched, the site aims to tell “a deeper story” about Target to media members and other influencers, said Eric Hausman, who leads the communications team responsible for the site.”  Read more

 

“Why Family Dollar Is Not the Best Dollar Store” by Harsh Chauhan at The Motley Fool.  “Management had expected same-store sales to increase 2% in the recently reported fourth quarter, the metric actually stayed flat from the year-ago quarter. Compare this to Dollar General’s impressive same-store sale growth of 5.1% and Dollar Tree’s 3.7% jump in their latest quarters, and it becomes quite evident that Family Dollar is lagging behind.”  Read more

 

“Tesco admits to wasting 28,500 tons of food” by Katrina Bishop at CNBC.  “Tesco – the U.K.’s largest retailer by sales – has admitted that it generated 28,500 tons of food waste in the first six months of this year, drawing attention to the huge amount of food thrown away by British supermarkets.  Some two-thirds of Tesco’s bagged salads and just over half of its baked goods were wasted”  Read more

 

“J.C.Penney shares plunge after analyst sets $1 price target” at Chicago Tribune via Reuters.  “J.C. Penney Co Inc shares sank to a more than 30-year low on Monday after an analyst slashed her price target on its shares to $1 from $5, citing increasing concerns that the retailer “may engage in a financial restructuring in 2014.”  Read more

 

“RadioShack Gets $825 Million ‘Lifeline’ from GE Capital” by Dhanya Skariachan at Fox Business.  “RadioShack had been looking to refinance existing debt to cut borrowing costs and assure vendors and other key partners that it has enough cash to fund turn-around efforts led by Chief Executive Joe Magnacca.  The Journal reported that the new loan, around $835 million, will be secured by existing assets, including inventory.”  Read more

 

“Walmart And Amazon Get Ready To Rumble This Holiday Season” by Christopher Versace at Forbes.  “43% of U.S. smartphone users purchased a good via their device in the last month.That activity was skewed higher at Target  than at Walmart – 54% of shoppers used their smartphone to make an in-store purchase in the last month, compared to 38% of Wal-Mart customers. The Parks survey also revealed that more than 25% of consumer electronics shoppers in broadband households have used mobile commerce apps on their smartphone to help with an in-store purchase decision.”  Read more

 

“P&G finds way to make cheaper, greener plastic goods” by Alexander Coolidge at Cincinatti.com via Ad Age.  “Sources told Ad Age that former Chief Executive Bob McDonald said the new technology is among the company’s “most transformative,” comparing it to disposable diapers, and could save the company $1 billion a year by using less plastic and different raw materials.  The trade magazine said patents received for the technology has applications for products that could range from toothbrushes, mascara and tampon applicators to toys, auto parts and medical devices.”  Read more

 

“What Can We Expect From The Next Decade Of Marketing?” by Greg Satell at Forbes.  “In the past, we focused on rational benefits to entice consumers to support our brands. Show that you are better in a clear, rational way and, so the thinking went, you could build a loyal following.  However, we’re not rational, calculating machines, but emotional driven creatures who are subject to an whole array of cognitive biases. and new research has changed the psychology of marketing. For example, research shows that while a price promotion may spurs sales, it lessens enjoyment and can hurt the brand long-term.”  Read more

 

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Monday’s Tipsheet: Walmart Fights Amazon for Engineers | Hertz Kiosk in Lowe’s | Bezos’ ‘Shadow’

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“To Catch Up, Walmart Moves to Amazon Turf” by Claire Cain Miller & Stephanie Clifford at NY Times.  “Walmart  is trying hard to prove it is one of the cool kids.  For example, at press events in Bentonville, Ark., Walmart’s headquarters, the menu tends to be ham sandwiches, chips and iced tea. At a recent event in San Bruno, Ca. it was white asparagus panna cotta with house-smoked salmon tartar, morel mushroom macaroons and charcuterie from a whole pig. Borrowing a page from Google and Twitter, the company offers hack days when engineers can work on whatever they want.”  Read more

 

“Jeff Bezos’ ‘shadow’ most coveted job at Amazon” by Brad Stone at SF Gate.  “The man holding this job – and they have all been men so far – has had direct, almost unlimited access to CEO Jeff Bezos for as long as two years. He follows Bezos around, travels with him, sits in on his meetings, and confers with him at the end of many workdays.  The job title is unofficially the “shadow” to the CEO, or more formally, the technical assistant or technical adviser.”  Read more

 

“Reports on all-clear for Walmart India are premature” at The City Wire.  “Wal-Mart confirmed they are still are waiting to hear from India’s enforcement directorate.  “We respect the process and have cooperated with the government throughout the ED’s review and investigation. To our knowledge, the ED has not yet officially released its findings, so we have not seen the result of its review and cannot comment,” Wal-Mart spokesman Kevin Gardner said.”  Read more

 

“Lowe’s Offers Hertz Vehicle Rentals Via In-Store Kiosk”  See the Website

 

“Target Tagged With Falling Earnings Estimates” at Forbes.  “Earnings estimates for the fiscal years 2014 and 2015 have been reduced materially over the past sixty days. The Zacks Consensus Earnings per share estimate has declined $0.43 to $3.88 for 2014 and $0.43 to $5.00 for 2015.”  Read more

 

“Sears Canada’s new CEO sticks to turnaround game plan” by Hollie Shaw at Financial Post.  “There are strategic elements around the idea of focus, and amassing your forces,” said Douglas Campbell, who was a U.S. marine pilot before he became a corporate turnaround specialist. “You have got to be able to focus on a few simple things that you do well.”  For Mr. Campbell, 43, that means sticking to the plans put in place under the department store chain’s last CEO, Calvin McDonald, who left the retailer abruptly three weeks ago.”  Read more

 

“Dollar General Introduces New Fueling Station”  “Dollar General today announced the introduction of its first fuel station, as part of a test pilot project. The new fuel pumps are located at the Dollar General Market in Hanceville, Alabama.”  Read more

 

“Disruptions: Silicon Valley’s Next Stop: The Kitchen” by Nick Bilton at NY Times.  “While a growing number of start-ups like Chirp Farms have received money from big venture-capital firms, exactly how these companies plan to compete with the entrenched giants of the food industry has not been crystal clear…“What is happening right now is that Silicon Valley is starting to see opportunities for disruption in other areas besides traditional technology,” Ms. Miller said.”  Read more

 

” ‘Amazon tax’ for sales thrown out in Illinois” at CNBC.  “The 6-1 ruling represented the first time a court had invalidated an Internet sales tax law among 18 states that have them. It brought an immediate cry from traditional, store-based retailers for Congress to step into regulating taxes on web sales.”  Read more

 

“Facebook, Google agree to join forces on ad sales” by Susan Krashinsky at Globe & Mail.  “With the new agreement, starting in a few months Google will be able to include Facebook ads in its DoubleClick Bid Manager software, which helps marketers to bid on and purchase digital advertising across the Web (on Google’s own DoubleClick ad exchange as well as other digital ad exchanges.).”  Read more

 

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Friday’s Tipsheet: Dick’s 3rd Field & Stream Store | Amazon’s 14th ‘Tax State’ | Walmart Cleared

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“Kroger names next president and COO” by Alexander Coolidge at Cincinnati Enquirer.  ” Michael L. Ellis will become president and chief operating officer, effective Jan. 1 – replacing Rodney McMullen who is set to become chief executive on the same day…Ellis, 55, has been senior vice president of retail divisions since 2012, where he leads five retail supermarket divisions, plus Kroger’s jewelry and convenience store businesses. He previously served as president of Portland-based Fred Meyer.”  Read more

 

“Walmart to Close 25 Stores in China” by Laurie Burkitt & Shelly Banjo at WSJ.  “Based on its current expansion plans, China would still add more stores than it subtracts. Wal-Mart is set to open about 30 stores this year as part of a three-year, 100-outlet expansion effort, which will continue to 2015. Currently, Wal-Mart has 398 China-based stores.”  Read more

 

“Wisconsin 14th state to add sales tax to Amazon.com shopping cart” at Reuters.  “The new 5-percent “Amazon tax” will add about $30 million a year to state revenue…The 13 states in which Amazon is now collecting sales tax include Arizona, California, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia.”  Read more

 

“Groceries Become a Guy Thing” by Ann Marie Chaker at WSJ.  “In a survey of 900 meat-eating men ages 18 to 64, 47% were deemed “manfluencers” by Midan Marketing LLC, a Chicago market research group.  Manfluencers are responsible for at least half of the grocery shopping and meal preparation for their households.  Food company executives hope more men shopping means new opportunities for foods some men have traditionally shied away from in this country, including yogurt and hard cider.”  Read more

 

“Supervalu’s Quarterly Profit Beats Wall Street Estimates” at Reuters.  “The company reported net income of $40 million, or 15 cents per share, in the quarter ended September 7. It lost $111 million, or 52 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.”  Read more

 

“Dick’s Sporting Goods to Open third Field & Stream Store” by G. Jeffrey Aaron at Star Gazette.  “The three stores are part of a $1.8 billion, five-year expansion program by Dick’s that calls for building 55 Field & Stream stores across the country. Five stores are on the company’s drawing board as the first phase of the program, said Chemung County Executive Tom Santulli.  “Field & Stream is Dick’s exclusive hunting, fishing, archery and camping supply store,” he said. “The stores are made to compete with Cabela’s, Gander Mountain and Bass Pro Shops.”  Read more

 

“Wal-Mart Is Cleared by India in Probe of 2010 Purchase” by Rajesh Roy at WSJ.  “Wal-Mart Stores Inc. was cleared of allegations that it violated a prohibition on foreign investment in supermarkets, two senior officials familiar with the probe said.”  Read more

 

“Why China is still a foreign territory to Canadian retailers” by Hollie Shaw at Financial Post.  “A key barrier to entry is short retail leasing terms of one to three years on store spaces, he said, compared with much longer leasing periods available in North America.  “You barely have enough time to establish your store. The developer might swap you out for a watch business versus a doughnut shop.” Read more

 

“As U.S. demographics change, so does the menu” by J.M. Hirschsuzette Laboy at AP via Seattle Times.  “Salsa overtaking ketchup as America’s No. 1 condiment in the early ’90s was just the start.  These days, tortillas outsell burger and hot-dog buns; sales of tortilla chips trump potato chips; and tacos and burritos have become so ubiquitously “American” that most people don’t even consider them ethnic.  Welcome to the taste of American food in 2013.”  Read more

 

“Lowe’s Launches Natural Gas-Powered Truck Fleet”  “Lowe’s today announced it has launched a dedicated fleet of natural gas-powered trucks at its regional distribution center in Mount Vernon, Texas. Lowe’s dedicated fleet at Mount Vernon is among the first serving a major retail distribution center in North America to run solely on natural gas.”  Read more

 

Have a great weekend!

 

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