“More Kroger Marketplaces Replace Furniture with Clothing” by Alexander Coolidge at Cincinnati.com.  “Our Marketplace store is an evolving format – customers have told us that they prefer an expansive apparel offering to furniture,” said Kroger spokesman Keith Dailey…By the end of 2014, 59 Marketplace stores will have a full clothing section with fewer furniture offerings…Kroger is tight-lipped about how many they ultimately plan to build, but the company will have more than 110 by the end of this year. Analysts predict Kroger could build another 200 or more within the next few years.” Read more

 

NY Times:  “In Ambitious Bid, Walmart Seeks Foothold in Primary Care Services by Rachel Adams”  “To make it profitable, you need to make it have more than just a clinical encounter,” said Dr. Glenn Hammack, the founding president and chief executive of NuPhysicia, which closed the six clinics it briefly ran in Walmart stores. “You also need to sell them prescriptions, a bag of chips, maybe a magazine while they’re waiting.” Read more

 

“Walmart Sets Its Sights on Africa—With Uncle Sam’s Help” by Alex Park at Mother Jones.  “Walmart vice president Maggie Sans announced that (Walmart) and its foundation had pledged $3 million to train 135,000 farmers in Kenya, Rwanda, and Zambia, including 80,000 women…Under the program, Kenyan farmers can expect to see their incomes double in a single growing season, Sans said.” Read more

 

“More from Market Force’s Grocery Study (Costco #1 in High-Quality Meat, Walmart #11 in Service)” by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “When all the category scores were tallied by Market Force, Trader Joe’s took the No. 1 spot as the favorite grocery store chain with a score of 85%. Wal-Mart ranked No. 11 with a score 32%, despite being the most shopped grocer in the nation.” Read more / See the Top 5 charts

 

“Hibbett Sports Expects Q2 Comp Sales to Increase .1%” “Net sales for the 13-week period ended August 2, 2014 are expected to increase 4.2% to $194.0 million compared with $186.2 million for the 13-week period ended August 3, 2013.” Read the release

 

“Walmart Savings Catcher Moves to #1 in Apple App Store” by Chantal Tode at Mobile Commerce Daily.  “The addition of Walmart’s Savings Catcher feature to its mobile application earlier this week pushed the app to the top of the Lifestyle category on the Apple App Store for the first time.” Read more

 

“Fred’s July Comp Sales +.7%” “Fred’s total sales for the month increased 4% to $148.0 million from $142.6 million in July 2013.” Read the release

 

WSJ:  “Amazon Takes a Long View With $2 Billion India Investment” by Dhanya Ann Thoppil. “The $2 billion investment, announced last week, “would never make financial sense” based on the current market, said Mr. Agarwal, vice president and managing director of Amazon Seller Services Pvt. “It makes sense to us when we start looking at the idea from a 10-year viewpoint. We are willing to invest money today to create that long-term shareholder value.” Read more

 

“18 Things That Are Sold Out at Honolulu’s Downtown Walmart Thanks to Hurricanes Iselle and Julio” at Honolulu Magazine.  ““Don’t worry about the hurricane,” a confident Walmart employee told us. “I sleep better at night knowing the air will be cooler.” See the pics / Read more

 

“Amazon Picks Favorites With Brands in ‘Pay to Play’ Move” by Adam Satariano at Businessweek.  “The 53-page report concludes companies that partner with Amazon get privileges, particularly in areas such as consumer goods, beauty and fashion where the Web retailer is trying to improve its selection. Those with direct distribution deals have about half as many listings from resellers, their products get more visibly featured, and the general presentations of pictures and other visuals are more attractive, according to the report.” Read more

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