CNN: Could this ‘chemist’ be the next boss of Walmart? by Poppy Harlow & Sheena McKenzie. “Could the 64th most powerful woman in the world (Rosalind Brewer), according to Forbes, one day have the top job at Walmart? “Oh boy, that is a good question,” she says, laughing a little nervously. “If ever I was afforded the opportunity, surely I would step up to the challenge.” Read more / See the video

 

“Walmart’s global e-commerce chief pokes at Amazon in rival’s backyard” by Blair Hanley Frank at GeekWire. “Is anybody selling the Fire phone?” he (Neil Ashe) said in response to a question on stage at today’s GeekWire Summit in Seattle, drawing a handful of laughs and a healthy crop of boos. “I guess, the more important question would be is anybody buying the Fire phone?” Read more

 

“Target’s Response To My Calling Out Their Girls’ Clothing Problem” by Stephanie Giese at HuffPo. “It seems that my last blog post, A Target Intervention on Behalf of My Daughters, has struck a nerve. To my surprise, it got a lot of national attention…I have been in touch with the Target Corporate Headquarters and I am so excited to report that they have read all of the comments that moms are leaving in response to that post! I am beyond thrilled to announce that I am going to start working with Target towards change, starting in my own house.” Read more

 

“Wal-Mart & other retailers tune in weather forecasts to spur sales” by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “Wal-Mart spokewoman Molly Blakeman said one use this summer by the retailer involved featured ads online, mobile devices and social media sites for patio furniture and grills. She said the retailer continues to use the collected weather data paired with its sales data and merchandise across the company’s entire big box format.” Read more

 

“Wayfair shares soar on first day of public trading” by Taryn Luna at The Boston Globe. “Investors embraced shares of Wayfair Inc. in their first day of public trading, driving the stock of the Boston online furniture and home goods retailer up more than 30 percent Thursday…“It’s a super-exciting milestone for the company,” said Niraj Shah, chief executive of Wayfair, who was joined by 90 company employees to ring the bell and open the markets in New York. “Online sales are doing really well, and people are realizing that the home goods market, furniture and décor, can be a really good category.” Read more

 

“As Wayfair Goes Public, Big Marketing Spending Raises Big Questions” by Jason Del Rey at Recode. “CEO Niraj Shah said he doesn’t believe the company will need to continue increasing marketing spending as revenue grows, meaning that the percent of revenue being spent on those costs should decrease over time…“What we’ve been saying is we’re trying to build a really big business, and to do that with a big base of loyal customers that come back more and more often,” he said.” Read more

 

“UPS, FedEx Want Retailers to Get Real on Holiday Shipping” by Laura Stevens, Suzanne Kapner & Shelly Banjo at WSJ. “Their challenge is convincing retailers to change their ways. UPS is trying to persuade e-commerce companies to hold their big sales in mid-December instead of in the countdown to Dec. 25. It also wants them to stagger special offers geographically—so a GoPro camera might be on sale one day in Texas and a different day in Florida.” Read more (Subscription required)

 

“Target opens its first liquor store in Minnesota since 1970s” by John Ewoldt at Star-Tribune. “Target Corp. announced in June it would soon open its first liquor shop in Minnesota in more than 40 years. And it opened the store quietly on Wednesday. For much of the afternoon, more employees than customers gathered around the cash terminals.” Read more

 

…See the Pics (10% off 6 or more bottles of wine) at Minn./St. Paul Bus. Journal.   See the 11 pics

 

“Rite-Aid: September Front-End Comp Sales +2.3%” “Same store sales for the 30-week period ended Sept. 27, 2014 increased 3.8 percent over the prior-year period. Front-end same store sales increased 0.8 percent while pharmacy same store sales increased 5.2 percent.” Read the release

 

“Yes, a lower calorie Pepsi you can only buy on Amazon” by David A. Arnott at Albany Bus. Review. “At the moment, launching new drinks through Amazon may seem like a mere novelty that gives them attention they wouldn’t get otherwise…But if companies keep their expectations low, launching with online sales-only could be an excellent way of gauging initial interest and drumming up demand for a product before shipping to physical stores.” Read more

 

“Billionaire Buffett Says Tesco Investment Was ‘A Huge Mistake’” by Paul Jarvis at Bloomberg. ““I made a mistake on that one,” Buffett, 84, said in an interview with CNBC today. “That was a huge mistake by me.” Read more

 

“Amazon Ad Sales VP Lisa Utzschneider: Still ‘Day One’ for Video Ads” at Ad Age. See the video

 

“Northern Colorado Costco opens to public” by Pat Ferrier at The Coloradoan. “Bryson joined 247 other shoppers who stood in the cold morning air waiting for the 155,000-square-foot store to open its doors at 8 a.m. Many were California transplants…Debbie Brown dragged her husband, Mike, to the opening “kicking and screaming,” he said. Both were among the 6,000 attending the VIP reception Wednesday.” Read more/Pics/Video

 

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