“The Top 100 Beloved Brands” at Adweek.  No Walmart?.  Top retail brands:

– Whole Foods #8

– Lowe’s #10

– Costco #20

– Target #21

See the Complete List

 

“Fortune’s 50 Most Powerful Women in Business”  See the Complete List

– #12:  Carol Meyrowitz, TJX CEO  Read more

– #24:  Gisel Ruiz, Walmart EVP & COO  Read more

– #15:  Rosalind Brewer, Sam’s Club CEO  Read more

– #45:  Carol Tome, Home Depot CFO  Read more

 

“Where Wal-Mart Isn’t: Four Countries the Retailer Can’t Conquer” by Susan Berfield at Businessweek.  “Wal-Mart is the biggest retailer in the world, with sales of $135 billion in 26 countries outside the U.S. But it doesn’t have stores in some of the world’s biggest markets. Not in Germany, not in South Korea, not in Russia. And as of this week, not in India, either.”  Read more

 

“Safeway says goodbye to Chicago, profit falls” by Jessica Wohl at Reuters.  “The Dominick’s chain in Chicago has been a “noticeable drag” on Safeway’s financial results, a “significant drain” on resources and its lowest performing division, Chief Executive Officer Robert Edwards said on a conference call with analysts…Safeway now has 72 Dominick’s stores in the market.”  Read more

 

“Walmart Ramps Up for Holiday Returns” by Kim Souza at The City Wire.  “Raul Castilla, director of reverse logistics at Wal-Mart, said each year the retailer processes 45 million cases of returned merchandise through its regional return centers. He said 40% of that volume will come through in January and February following the hectic holiday buying season…Inside each massive warehouse, Wal-Mart sorts the returned products into four tiers: Vendor for credit; donation to United Way; recycle; or landfill.”  Read more

 

“The Dollar Store’s Food-and-Cigarettes Strategy Is Working” by Vanessa Wong at Businessweek.  “The discount chain’s typical tobacco sale is $13. About 60 percent of shoppers who buy tobacco buy an additional $4 worth of goods…“The reason we did tobacco was to help solidify our refrigerated and frozen food supply chain, and it has done that,” Bloom said on Wednesday…Tantalizingly, Chief Executive Howard Levine did hint at “a major food set coming that will impact the back half of our year.”  Read more

 

“Family Dollar Opens Store #8,000”  “Today, Family Dollar hits a major milestone in its history as the Company opens its 8,000th store in Lancaster, South Carolina.”  Read more

 

“German Scientist Testing Retail Prices by Measuring Brain Waves” by Frank Thadeusz at Spiegel.  “Müller is searching for “neuronal mechanisms,” deeply buried in the human brain, “that we can’t just deliberately switch off.” In fact, there is a center in our gray matter that monitors proportionality independently of reason. This brain region functions according to simple rules. For instance, coffee and cake makes sense, while coffee and mustard triggers an alarm. Experts recognize the unconscious defensive reaction on the basis of certain waves that become visible with the help of electroencephalography (EEG).”  Read more

 

“Showrooming Increases 156 Percent from 2012”  “After consumers compared prices on their phones while in-store, 47 percent completed transactions; 45 percent went elsewhere to purchase items; and 7 percent did not make purchases. This shows that retailers have about a 50/50 chance against showrooming.”  Read more

 

“The Astonishing Story Of Jeff Bezos’ Biological Father Who Didn’t Even Know Bezos Existed Until The End Of Last Year” by Jay Yarow at SF Gate via Business Insider.  “Stone managed to find Jorgensen, now 69, who owns a bike shop in Glendale, Arizona.  Here’s how Jorgensen reacted when Stone introduced himself: “He had no idea what I was talking about. Jorgensen said he didn’t know who Jeff Bezos was and was baffled by my suggestion that he was the father of this famous CEO.”  Read more

 

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Have a great weekend!