Shareholder meeting shows Costco bounty by Angel Gonzalez at Seattle Times. “Costco’s worldly cornucopia was highlighted at the Bellevue gathering, where hundreds of stockholders lined up for freebies — from maple-leaf-shaped bottles of Canadian maple syrup to Spanish extra virgin olive oil, Kirkland Signature roasted seaweed and an instant coffee popular in Taiwan. There was also a mammoth-sized Toblerone chocolate bar and vats of vegemite, a spread popular in Australia.” Read more

 

Dick’s Sporting Goods not for sale after all by Josh Kosman at NY Post. “(Dick’s) will likely not be sold because CEO Edward Stack, whose family has most of the sporting good retailer’s voting stock, wants to keep control of the business, according to bankers familiar with his thinking.” Read more

 

Amazon smashes Street forecast; stock soars 14% by Karma Allen at CNBC. “Amazon issued fourth-quarter earnings of 45 cents a share, down from 51 cents per share a year ago, but soaring past expectations of 17 cents…The company said worldwide Prime memberships grew 53 percent last year—up 50 percent in the U.S. and “even a bit faster” abroad.” Read more

 

…Amazon’s Press Release “Full Year 2014 – Net sales increased 20% to $88.99 billion, compared with $74.45 billion in 2013.” Read the release

 

Sears Canada bused fired Target workers to its headquarters last week to talk jobs: ‘We care about you’ at Financial Post. “We felt like we had to reach out and say ’We’re here,”’ Boire said in an interview with The Canadian Press. “Saying ’We care about you’ and ’We may not have a job for you today, but we may in six months’ — it’s the right thing to do.” Read more

 

Dick’s Sporting Goods #1 in Omnichannel Study by Don Davis at Internet Retailer. “Those tests included delivering in no more than three days, correctly answering an e-mailed question within 24 hours and letting a consumer check out in no more than five clicks or providing one-click checkout…The other six, in alphabetical order, are Kate Spade (No. 176), Office Depot Inc. (No. 9), Ross-Simons Inc. (No. 213), The Home Depot (No. 16), Williams-Sonoma Inc. (No. 21) and Zappos.” Read more

 

Walmart greeter told to stop saying ‘Have a blessed day’ at My Fox Atlanta. “When asked if Phillips was specifically told to quit saying this, a Walmart spokesman wrote, “Yes and that was not correct guidance because it doesn’t reflect any Walmart policy.” The controversy sparked an online firestorm, with hundreds of comments and shares in support of Phillips’ posted on the FOX 5 Facebook page.” Read more / See the video

 

NY Post: Costco worker says management mocked his Tourette’s by Julia Marsh & Jennifer Bain. “The supervisors looked the other way when co-workers yelled “hut-hut-hut” at Fox, mimicking his uncontrollable grunts, the suit says…Fox is seeking unspecified damages and is currently on leave.” Read more

 

Best Buy shifts emphasis from Super Bowl ads to digital marketing by Kavita Kumar at Star-Tribune. “As often happens when a new marketing executive comes on board with their own ideas, other leaders in the department are on their way out. Best Buy confirmed to the Star Tribune that Scott Moore, a senior vice president of marketing who has been with the firm for more than a decade, and Gayle Malcolm, vice president of advertising, will be leaving the company.” Read more

 

Target’s Kim Carswell to Present at Sustainability Conference “Target began using How2Recycle on private label packaging in 2013 as an official member of the program. Hear Kim Carswell, Group Manager of Owned Brands Packaging, talk about Target’s top 10 takeaways from their participation in the program.” See the agenda

 

Amazon’s headcount tops 150,000 after adding nearly 40,000 employees in 2014 by Rachel Lerman at Puget Sound Business Journal. Read more

 

Canada: Target’s $8,000 cheque for student conference bounces at CBC News. “Their accounts were frozen,” Normand said. He also had to pay a $5 penalty for the bounced cheque.” Read more