“Walmart’s Ecom CEO:  “Wal-Mart was the Internet before the Internet came along”; Will Match Amazon’s Delivery Capabilities Within Two Years” by Dennis Berman at WSJ.  “The plan under way will augment fulfillment from existing stores and distribution centers with online-only facilities, Mr. Ashe said.  “This is not a side project,” Mr. Ashe said. “This is how we will be serving customers going forward.”  Read more

 

“America’s 50 Most Powerful People in Food for 2014 (Walmart’s McMillon #3, Costco’s Jelinek #13…)” at The Daily Meal.  “These men and women decide what and how you eat, whether you realize it or not…What kind of power are we talking about? The ability to make things happen, rewrite the rules, change the conversation, shift the paradigms. The people with power in the food world decide or influence what and how and where and why we eat.” See the Top 50 List

 

“Walmart’s Simon announces $10 million innovation fund” by Kim Souza at The City Wire.  “Simon joined 280 of the nation’s mayors in Washington, D.C., at the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting to announce the five-year program…Wal-Mart also announced it will host its second U.S. manufacturing summit in Denver, Colo., in August 2014. One focus of the summit will be to connect manufacturers in need of component parts to factories with excess capacity.” Read more

 

“Home Depot Acquires Blinds.com” (Company Release).  “Based in Houston, Blinds.com is the #1 online window coverings retailer in the world. The acquisition closed today, and terms of the deal were not disclosed.  “We’re delighted to welcome the Blinds.com team into The Home Depot family,” said Frank Blake, chairman & CEO of The Home Depot.”  Read more

 

“Target hotline temporarily runs out of Experian free credit monitoring activation codes” by Gitte Laasby at Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.  “A Target customer service rep confirmed to the Public Investigator when we called the hotline at 3:30 p.m. (yesterday) that the customer service phone number we recently gave out ((866) 852-8680) is, indeed, the correct number for customers without Internet access or email to call to obtain an activation code…There was just one catch:  “We’re temporarily out of codes,” the customer service rep said. “We should receive more within an hour or an hour and a half.”  Read more

 

“Whoa! H-E-B tempers prediction of rapid growth in DFW” by Lance Murray at Dallas/San Antonio Bus. Journal.  “Leslie Sweet, director of public affairs for the H-E-B, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that predictions by Stephen Coslik, chairman of Fort Worth’sWoodmont Co. were a stretch.  Coslik said that H-E-B has been buying a site a month in DFW and that it could have two dozen stores here in the next three to five years, the Star-Telegram said.” Read more

 

“Pittsburgh-Based Giant Eagle to Open First Store in Indianapolis; May Be Eyeing Marsh Takeover” by Scott Olson at IBJ.  “Giant Eagle said it’s exploring additional locations in the Indianapolis area but declined to divulge how many stores it might open and in what timeframe.”  Read more

 

“Publix Invades Charlotte, First Store to Open in February” by Ely Portillo at Charlotte Observer.  “The grocer plans a total of 14 local stores for its new Charlotte-based division. Publix is also opening stores in Cary, Winston-Salem and Asheville as it pushes into North Carolina.”  Read more

 

“Apple’s iconic glass cube store shatters in the New York cold” by James Nye at Daily Mail.  “While there was no immediate threat that the glass would shatter completely, the estimated cost to the Californian firm to restore the cube is estimated to be around $450,000…’It’s kind of ironic,’ quipped Marvin Washington, 53, of Midtown…’Everyone drops their phones and the screens break. Now, it’s happened to them.’ ”  Read more / See the pics

 

“Target CFO to talk to Senate Panel on Feb. 4th” at Denver Post.  “Titled “Privacy in the Digital Age: Preventing Data Breaches and Combating Cybercrime,” the hearing also will include other panelists from the Federal Trade Commission, U.S. Secret Service, Consumer Union and Department of Justice, the Senate said on its docket.”  Read more

 

“7 new Web domains to be released” by Andrea Chang at LA Times.  “On the Internet, .com is about to get some more company.  Seven new Web domains including .bike, .guru and .clothing are scheduled to be released Wednesday, the first of hundreds of online address extensions expected to become available over the next few years.”  Read more

 

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