Friday Tipsheet: McMillon Speaks at Conf. | W.Foods Riles Farmers | R.Hard. +15% | Wgreen Dir. Out
Doug McMillon Speaks at Retail Conference by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “When our numbers got bigger over the years we weeded out some of the risk takers which are important to the equation. You can manage a department to death,” he added…a participant asked McMillon what he would ask IBM’s Watson to fix or help fix at Wal-Mart. With a laugh, McMillon responded, “How do I get comp store sales up?” Read more
…“I was at a store in Denver, talking to a store manager and associates on how to make things better, and the manger pointed to a small food trailer in the parking lot, and he said, ‘They pay $10 an hour to start, and we pay $9,’ and I’m like, ‘That doesn’t need to happen,’” McMillon said. Read more
Costco to source eggs from Hillandale despite animal welfare video at Reuters. “Costco would not commit to a timeline for promised transition to only cage-free eggs at its stores despite calls by the Humane Society to do so. “We are going to be continuing to expand our cage-free business as fast as we can,” Craig Wilson, vice president of quality assurance and food safety, said on Thursday.” Read more
Could Michelle Gass become Kohl’s next CEO? by Alison Bauter at Milwaukee Business Journal. “Kohl’s Corp. has named chief customer officer Michelle Gass to the newly created principal officer position of chief merchandising and customer officer, filling the long-vacant chief merchandising officer position as Kohl’s begins a search for chief operating officer, another new position.” Read more
Walgreens director resigns; company says no conflict by Ameet Sachdev at Chicago Tribune. “Steven Davis, 56, is the only African-American on the drugstore chain’s 12-person board. The timing of his resignation is curious because Davis was re-elected to the board at the end of May. The company said he was leaving to devote more time to “other professional responsibilities.” Read more
Target’s Digital Advisory Board by Joann S. Lublin at WSJ. “Last summer…council members visited a store near Target’s Minneapolis headquarters…“You [should] know me when I walk in the store,” Mr. Yagan complained to Mr. Carl, as they toured it. With a personalized experience, he added, “you change my shopping habits when I am in the store.” Mr. Carl agreed: “We’re not pushing far enough fast enough.” Mr. Yagan continued his critique during a headquarters session later that day with most of senior management.” Read more (Subscription)
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Restoration Hardware Q1 Comp Brand Revenue +15% Read the release
Wal-Mart sees India, South Africa markets as long term projects by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “David Cheesewright told The City Wire that there are numerous challenges for foreign retailers seeking consumer-oriented retail in India. “When they make changes we will adapt. For now we have more than enough to worry about without doing to much there,” Cheesewright said.” Read more
Kmart Revamps Marketing Team, Hires CMO at Ad Age. “Kmart creative Mark Andeer has left the company, and the retailer has made personnel, structural and processing changes to its marketing team as part of an effort to evolve the brand’s overall marketing, the company said.” Read more
NY Times: Organic Farmers Object to Whole Foods Rating System by Stephanie Strom. “The longtime suppliers to Whole Foods are complaining that the program called Responsibly Grown can grant a farmer who does not meet the stringent requirements for federal organic certification the same rating as an organic farmer, or even a higher one.” Read more
Kroger to test online shopping at more stores by Alexander Coolidge at Cincinnati.com. “Kroger will continue to test in other Greater Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky and Dayton stores, and will open more locations soon,” the supermarket company said.” Read more
Loblaw vows to ‘act quickly’ if supplier lied about organic poultry by Jamie Sturgeon at Global News. “In a lawsuit filed in Ontario on Thursday, Cericola Farms Inc., a poultry producer, is alleged to have falsified labels on chicken products, marking them as organic when the poultry came from non-organic farms.” Read more
Tipsheet Extra
Wal-Mart to participate at the Goldman Sachs Sixth Annual dotCommerce Day Conference
An Inside Look at Facebook’s Approach to Automation and Human Work
How Apple’s holy war on mobile ads could backfire
Police: Shoplifter confronted by loss prevention employee fired shots inside Target store
The hot new retail startup from Lululemon’s design guru
Twitter removing the 140-character limit … for direct messages
Amazon, Apple Are Best-Perceived Brands Among LGBT Americans
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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. See our website at www.eyeonretail.net