Friday Tipsheet: H.Depot #1 Web Retailer | Costco ‘Sold’ 400K Vehicles LY | Target ‘Not Leaving’ Twin Cities
Target CEO invites civic leaders to HQ, reiterates commitment to Twin Cities by Kavita Kumar at Star-Tribune. “The 26th floor of Target Plaza South used to be a place that visitors rarely — if ever — glimpsed. But on Wednesday afternoon, Target Chief Executive Brian Cornell invited more than 50 community leaders to visit the nerve center of the Minneapolis-based retailer’s operations…“We’re not leaving town,” he said.” Read more
Fortune 500 2015 (Walmart #1, CVS #10, Costco #18, Home Depot #33…) See the full list
Home Depot nails the top honor in the first Internet Retailer Excellence Awards by Thad Rueter at Internet Retailer. “Kevin Hofmann, the chain’s online president, thanked the Home Depot team from top to bottom upon accepting the award. “Behind every e-commerce transaction is a person in a distribution center” and professionals performing other tasks, he said. He also predicted bigger changes to come in e-retail thanks to the continued merging of the physical and digital worlds. “The next five years will be the biggest retail transformation the world will ever see.” Read more
Costco Moves the Metal by Jeff Green & Jing Cao at Bloomberg. “Last year, Costco Wholesale moved almost 400,000 vehicles of all major brands in the U.S., twice as many as in 2008. Without fanfare, the membership-only merchant better known for selling flatscreen TVs and jumbo-size boxes of cereal has pulled within spitting distance of No. 1. car retailer AutoNation, which sold 533,000 vehicles last year. “ Read more
H-E-B Customers Limited to Three Cartons of Eggs in Texas by Robert Wilonsky at Dallas News. Read more
Target lays off 180 workers in India by Kavita Kumar at Star-Tribune. “Target is also closing 125 open positions at those offices. Before these cuts, Target employed about 2,800 workers at its tech operations in Bangalore.” Read more
J.D. Power Rankings: Lowe’s & Menards Beat Home Depot See the rankings
Target.com’s president challenges Amazon by Paul Demery at Internet Retailer. “How are you going to beat Amazon? The answer is simple,” Jason Goldberger, the president of Target.com and mobile operations at Target Corp., said in his keynote address today at the Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition 2015 in Chicago. “Target.com cannot beat Amazon. Target will beat Amazon.” Read more
Excited shoppers react to Mobile’s first Costco opening its doors at AL.com. Read more
Rite Aid May Comp Sales +2.1% Read the release
Fred’s May Comp Sales +0.3% Read the release
Walmart Annual Meeting Stories…
The man who’s reinventing Walmart by Brian O’Keefe at Fortune. “…his first day in the office after officially taking charge as CEO of the world’s largest retailer on Feb. 1, 2014. The problem: He wasn’t sure where to sit. (Doug) McMillon arrived early on that Tuesday and reported to his new workspace—the same modest, 15-by-17-foot room with cheap wood paneling that has belonged to each chief executive of the company going back to Mr. Sam himself. That’s when McMillon froze up a little. “I couldn’t sit behind the desk,” he says.” Read more
Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club continues to test delivery, pick up formats by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “Two weeks ago Wal-Mart began testing off-site pickup in Phoenix with the delivery truck parking in local business centers for two hours each week…Denver curbside pickup: 80% of its orders come from repeat customers….San Jose home delivery service tested for two years reports that 75% of its customers choose Wal-Mart over competitors.” Read more
How Wal-Mart is hoping to change grocery shopping by Sarah Halzack at Washington Post. “On Thursday, the company showed off its Wal-Mart Pickup-Grocery center, one of five pilot facilities…In the past month, Wal-Mart said it has also begun testing a version of their pick-up offering that would save shoppers an extra car trip by allowing them to pick up the groceries at their workplace.” Read more
Walmart U.S. boss admits half of all stores could look better by Phil Wahba at Fortune. Read more
Wal-Mart offers a peek at robot grocery pickers and other innovations by Kim Souza at The City Wire. Read more
Tipsheet Extra
Mom Calls Out Target For ‘Unnecessarily Gendered Marketing’
J.Crew blames sweaters for company’s struggles
Walmart’s No. 1 Selling Item Isn’t at All What You’d Expect
Macy’s bunks up with college-dorm retailer
Petco Takes ‘Full Responsibility’ for Retriever’s Death, but Says Heat Was Not the Cause
Build-A-Bear isn’t just a store anymore
Pharmacy Delivery Startup PillPack Locks In $50 Million To Take On Walgreens
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Eye-on-Retail Tipsheet is created early every weekday morning and read by retail merchants and executives worldwide. We love data, earnings reports, executive presentations and stories off the beaten path that get at what’s really happening in the world of retail. Contact us at info@shiftmarketinggroup.net.