Eye-on-Retail 4/12/13: H.Depot dimisses Green Depot; Wmart’s “Print Plus” program; HD Supply IPO

 

“Target Takes Guests to Prom at Kate Young Collection Preview” by Jim Shi at BizBash.   ” To celebrate the launch of the Kate Young for Target collection, the Minneapolis-based retail giant, along with its longtime event production partner ExtraExtra, created a spring-fling-themed evening that was in alignment with the Hollywood stylist’s lineup of party-occasion dresses. “To toast Kate, we went through a couple of different concepts, but we kept coming back to the idea of a spring fling—“Pretty in Pink”—but in a very chic way,” said Target spokesperson Joshua Thomas.”  Read more: https://www.bizbash.com/target-takes-guests-to-prom-at-kate-young-collection-preview/los-angeles/story/25883#sthash.4WAoIV2E.dpuf  – See more at: https://www.bizbash.com/target-takes-guests-to-prom-at-kate-young-collection-preview/los-angeles/story/25883#sthash.4WAoIV2E.dpuf

 

“HD Supply files for $1 billion IPO” at Reuters.  “Industrial and construction supplies distributor HD Supply Holdings Inc, a former division of Home Depot Inc, filed for a $1 billion initial public offering of its shares to take advantage of the rebounding U.S. housing market…Home Depot continues to hold a 12.4 percent stake in the company, according to HD Supply’s prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday.”  Read more:  https://in.reuters.com/article/2013/04/12/us-hdsupply-ipo-idINBRE93B0EF20130412

 

“Rite Aid’s Profit Is First in Six Years” by John Kell at WSJ.  “The No. 3 U.S. drugstore chain by sales, behind Walgreen Co. and CVS Caremark Corp., swung to the black in fiscal 2013 due to two quarters of profitability in the back half of the year after 5 1/2 years of losses. In fourth-quarter results, posted Thursday, profit also was boosted by an inventory-accounting benefit.”  Read more:  https://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324240804578416353364150198.html

 

“How Walmart Wants Brands to Fuel Its Content Engine” by Jack Neff at Ad Age.  “In particular, earth’s biggest retailer is preparing an enhanced “Print Plus” program pairing digital “liquid content” from brands with its 80-million-circulation weekly circular. Brands will supply such things as recipes and how-to videos customers will see as they pass their smart phones over the print ads…As he detailed how Walmart churns out more content in an April 9 presentation, Clint McClain, senior director-marketing communications platforms at Walmart, said, “I’d be surprised if 15% of the content comes from us,” adding that he expects supplier will furnish “at least 90%.”  Read more:  https://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/walmart-brands-fuel-content-engine/240803/

 

“With Eco-Friendly Building Supplies, Green Depot Thrives in the Construction Rebound” by Nick Leiber at Businessweek.  ““Sustainability has become a competitive measurement,” says Ron Jarvis, a Home Depot (HD) vice president in charge of environmental innovation. “If you’re the producer of the purple widget that pollutes the most and uses the most energy, your competitor will use that against you, and you’ll be out of business before long.”  Still, Jarvis dismisses niche players such as Green Depot: “If you go into any of the boutique shops or the green shops and look at the products they have and compare them to the Home Depot products, we have the same products, and in most cases a better product, and in almost every case at a better price.”  Read more:  https://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-04-11/with-eco-friendly-building-supplies-green-depot-thrives-in-the-construction-rebound

 

“Canadian Tire Launches The Canadian Way, the Next Evolution of Its Digital Customer Experience” by Knowlton Thomas at Tech Vibes. “After years of struggle, Canadian Tire is finally making ground in digital innovation.  Recently, the retailing giant inked a deal with Communitech, a startup incubator in Waterloo: there are five Canadian Tire employees at Communitech on a permanent basis…Now the company has launched The Canadian Way, which was made in collaboration with Tribal DDB Toronto and is described as “the next evolution in Canadian Tire’s digital customer experience.” It’s a slick online product catalogue that includes interactive videos, social sharing and commenting, and user-generated content. All this from a company that at one point shut down its own online store just as e-commerce in Canada exploded.”  See the digital catalog here:  https://catalogue.canadiantire.ca/

 

“ShopSmart Finds Target, Walmart Offer Lower Prices, Bigger Savings on Over-The-Counter Drugs than CVS, Walgreens”  “ShopSmart’s secret shoppers compared prices of common name- and store-brand nonprescription medications available at CVS, Walgreens, Target, Walmart and supermarkets and found that Target and Walmart beat the drugstore chains every time. Walmart had the lowest prices on 26 items, the most of any of the retailers.”  Read more:  https://media.prnewswire.com/en/jsp/latest.jsp?resourceid=6638896&access=EH

 

“UMKC: Costco founder among entrepreneur honorees” at St. Louis Post Dispatch.  “The founder of Costco is among the entrepreneurs who will be honored at an awards celebration this fall at the University of Missouri-Kansas City…The dinner is planned for Oct. 21 at the new Henry W. Bloch Executive Hall for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.”  Read more:  https://www.stltoday.com/news/state-and-regional/missouri/umkc-costco-founder-among-entrepreneur-honorees/article_872ce0de-3f24-547e-bdc9-989a4f81b361.html

 

“Nearly One-Third of U.S. Homeowners Feel Motivated to Make Home Renovations Due to Improving Economy, Finds New CouponCabin.com Survey”  “A new CouponCabin.com survey reveals that nearly one-third (32 percent) of U.S. homeowners feel the improving economy is motivating them to make home improvements that they wouldn’t have done during the recession. Overall, more than six-in-ten (64 percent) U.S. homeowners report they are at least somewhat likely to make home renovations or improvements like re-tiling a floor, installing new carpet or re-doing a bathroom in the next 12 months.”  Read more:  https://media.prnewswire.com/en/jsp/latest.jsp?resourceid=6639215&access=EH

 

Thanks for reading…

 

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