“Wal-Mart opens first Walmart to Go convenience store” by Kim Souza at The City Wire.  “It’s been more than a year of planning, but the Walmart to Go convenience-store format quietly opened in Bentonville on Saturday (March 15), with the grand opening set for March 19.”  See eight pictures / Read more

 

“Home Depot goes into the movie business, will open 1st private store at movie studio” by Ellie Hensley at Atlanta Bus. Chronicle.  “(Home Depot) will open a first-of-its-kind private Home Depot store on the lot of the new Pinewood Atlanta Studios. The store will be closed to the public and exclusively for the use of film, TV and video production crews.  Home Depot at Pinewood will sell only items used to build production sets, including lumber, nails, doors, windows and other “expendables” that crews will tear down.”  Read more (subscription required)

 

@marinastrauss (Globe & Mail, Canada) “New Tar-zhay store at Stockyards in TO busy this aft, shelves stocked better”  See the Tweet

 

“Dallas Grocery War:  Turf Battles Likely to Lower Prices” by Maria Halkias at Dallas Star.  “This month, Kroger said it lowered prices on thousands of food and household items….Kroger currently serves 662,000 households every week in the North Texas market with 86 locations, and we continue to expand those numbers,” said Bill Breetz, Kroger Southwest president. “We know that price is important to every customer and at times can be a deciding factor where to shop.”  Read more

 

“Target warns data breach could be worse than reported so far” at Reuters.  “Our investigation of the matter is ongoing and it is possible that we will identify additional information that was accessed or stolen, which could materially worsen the losses and reputational damage we have experienced,” the company said in its 10-K annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday.”  Read more

 

“Inside Home Depot’s Utah Call Center (Orange Aprons Still Required)” by Jesus Lopez Jr. at Standard-Examiner.  “Orange aprons are still prevalent, and there are walls splashed with Home Deport orange, but instead of the lumber and tools, there is the sound of keyboards clicking and the buzz of phone conversations. “I love the little nuances,” the center’s director Dawn Colwell said. “The orange paint and all that, it feels like Home Depot.”  Read more

 

“Say goodbye to your supermarket” by Dan Mitchell at Fortune.  “The fact that Cerberus made a play for Harris Teeter before Kroger snapped it up is an indication that it wants to pursue a strategy similar to its bigger competitor: playing both ends of a rapidly splitting market.  Whether either company will succeed this way is still open to question. What’s beyond a doubt is that steering a middle course is bound to end in a tragic crash.”  Read more

 

“Lowe’s Hunts for New CIO” by Rachel King at WSJ.  “Lowe’s Cos. is looking for a new CIO. Kevin Summers, former CIO, left the home improvement retailer at the end of February. Paul Ramsay, the company’s senior vice president of information technology, has been named acting CIO.  The company will look both internally and externally to fill the position and Mr. Ramsay will be one of the candidates considered, said Lowe’s spokesperson Connie Bryant Breedlove.”  Read more

 

“New Amazon Prime fee makes shoppers do the math” by Kelli Grant at CNBC.  “Amazon has a complex system of shipping fees that vary by category and number of items per order, with two-day shipping rates starting at $5.99 to $12.49 per shipment. By that measure, at $79 a year, Prime paid off in as few as seven single-item orders or as many as 14. After the price hike, it will take eight to 17.”  Read more

 

“Sears to Spin Off Lands’ End” by Robert Channick at Chicago Tribune.  “Clothing retailer Lands’ End is set to spin off from Sears Holdings Corp. on April 4, according to an amended filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.”  Read more

 

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