Target’s Thursday Statement:  “With the benefit of hindsight, we are investigating whether, if different judgments had been made the outcome may have been different” by Jennifer Bjorhus at Star-Tribune.  “Target confirmed Thursday that the company had detected “a small amount of … activity” by the cyberthieves before the full scale of the breach was revealed.  “That activity was evaluated and acted upon,” company spokeswoman Molly Snyder said in a statement. “Based on their interpretation and evaluation of that activity, the team determined that it did not warrant immediate follow-up.  “With the benefit of hindsight, we are investigating whether, if different judgments had been made the outcome may have been different,” she said.  Target declined further comment.”  Read more

 

“Google bricks-and-mortar strategy shouldn’t mimic Apple’s” by Thomas Lee at SF Gate.  “Google seems to be exploring a number of options. In addition to the SoHo location, the company is rumored to be developing a store-within-a-store concept at Best Buy. Google recently built expanded displays at some Best Buy locations. Some have even suspected that the infamous Google barge that recently anchored at Stockton might someday become a floating Google store, or display space.”  Read more

 

“The one price Amazon is willing to raise” by Christopher Matthews at Fortune.  “Most of all, Amazon is raising its Prime prices (to $99) simply because it can…After years of duking it out in the rough-and-tumble world of commodity retailing, Amazon finally has a product no one else can offer — and it’s making a pretty safe bet that it can demand a higher price for it.”  Read more

 

“5 alternatives to Amazon Prime” by Brad Tuttle at Time.  “Get a Credit Card with Free Prime.  Certain American Express cards come with an offer of free Prime membership for one year for new members. At least one of the cards (Blue Cash Everyday) has no annual fee itself.”  Read more

 

“Bill Simon:  Pitch Your New Product to Walmart on July 8th” “And then on July 8, we’ll be having an Open Call in Bentonville for suppliers manufacturing in the U.S. and for suppliers ready to pitch new products or new categories.  “Duncan and I will both be there with our merchants and we will make our teams available. We want to hear from you about what else we should be selling at Walmart that we make right here at home.”  Read more

 

Leading Retailers to Present at March 19th ISI Retail Summit:

Walmart @ 11 am ET  Read the release

Lowe’s @ 11:35 am ET  Read the release

Home Depot @ 12:30 pm ET  Read the release

 

“North Dakota: Man Runs Ad Urging Wal-Mart to Let Girl Scouts Sell Cookies Inside (to escape -20 wind chills)” by Helmut Schmidt at Inforum.  “When John Kraft saw kids selling Girl Scout cookies in subzero temperatures outside the 13th Avenue South Wal-Mart, he decided to give the mega-corporation something to chew on.  The West Fargo man quickly snapped a photo of Chanon Anderson and her daughters, Riley, 11, and Isabella, 6. He later got their permission to use it for an ad.”  Read more

 

“Hibbett Sports Same-Store Sales Up 1.7% in Q4, Plans 75-80 New Stores”  “Net sales for the 52-week period ended February 1, 2014, increased 4.1% to $852.0 million compared with $818.7 million for the 53-week period ended February 2, 2013. Comparable store sales increased 1.8% on a calendar basis.”  Read the release

 

“Yesterday:  Lowe`s Presents at UBS Global Consumer Conference”  Listen to Webcast

 

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Have a great weekend!