Amazon quick to issue refunds for returned products by Spencer Soper at SF Gate. “The Seattle company takes 1.3 days on average to return cash, the quickest among online stores, according to research from StellaService, which tracks e-commerce data.” Read more

 

Obama to propose 30-day notification requirement for companies victimized by hackers at Fox News. “A White House official said Obama would announce the proposed legislation Monday, along with a measure aimed at preventing companies from selling student data to third parties and from using information collected in school to engage in targeted advertising.” Read more

 

Walgreens Boots Alliance unveils new logo by Jessica Wohl at Chicago Tribune. “Walgreens Boots Alliance unveiled a new logo Friday, a sphere meant to look like a globe that is a corporate departure from the red W that has been a fixture at its U.S. drugstores for years. The logo for the Walgreens stores is not changing, the company said.” Read more

 

PriceSmart expanding its warehouse clubs further into Latin America by Ronald White at LA Times. “With 36 stores, PriceSmart is the largest operator of warehouse membership clubs in Latin America, analysts say. PriceSmart is in an expansion mode. On Friday, during a conference call with analysts, Chief Executive Jose Luis Laparte said that “it was certainly one of the busiest quarters we have at PriceSmart with the opening of three new warehouse clubs in a six-week period.” Read more

 

Barron’s: Best Buy shares could rise 20 percent this year at CNBC. “The company is expected to report holiday same-store sales on Thursday, and while management says to expect “flattish” results, the street is looking for a 0.8 percent increase.” Read more

 

Dollar Tree expects to divest less than 300 stores to buy Family Dollar at Reuters. “Dollar Tree said it would likely sign an agreement by the end of the month with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission on the number of stores it would have to divest. Potential buyers will be presented to the FTC for approval within a month, the company said.” Read more

 

Family Dollar Issues Open Letter to Stockholders “The FTC staff informed Family Dollar and Dollar General on January 10, 2015, that its most recent economic analysis of the Dollar General proposal indicates that 5,850 stores are presumptively problematic…Most importantly, the FTC staff has made clear that Family Dollar’s price zones, which at thousands of Family Dollar stores take into account the presence of Dollar General stores.” Read the release

 

20 states join U.S. antitrust probe of Family Dollar merger by Diane Bartz at Reuters. “The attorneys general concern focuses on the likelihood that the loss of one of the chains would lead to higher prices for discount store customers.” Read more

 

Wal-Mart ZIP Code Class Ruling Ups Stakes For Retailers by Allison Grande at Law 360. “A California federal judge recently certified a class of consumers suing Wal-Mart Stores Inc. under the state’s Song-Beverly Credit Card Act over its collection of ZIP codes during sales transactions, a landmark achievement for plaintiffs that could ramp up the recent influx of suits brought under the data collection law.” Read more (Subscription)

 

Fire breaks out at Amazon facility in Virginia by Jacob Pramuk at CNBC. “It was not a production facility and caused no impact or risk of impact to operations,” an Amazon spokeswoman said.” Read more

 

Walmart to set up 50 more stores in India over next 5 yrs at CNBC. “CNBC-TV18 caught up with Walmart India CEO Krish Iyer on the sidelines of the 7th Vibrant Gujarat Summit, where he said the administrative reforms by Prime Minister Narendra Modi have been very encouraging.” See the video / Read more

 

Gawker Hits Target by Hamilton Nolan. “This internal Target training document, entitled “Managing Generational Differences,” was leaked by Target employees and subsequently forwarded to us. It is meant for training Target managers (“team leaders”) in the finer points of interpersonal communication with various “team members.” Read more

 

Nebraska Furniture Mart Gives DFW Shoppers a Reason to Look Around by Deeana Dewberry at NBCDFW 5. “The company has locations in Omaha, Kansas City and Des Moines. The location in The Colony will be the company’s first venture out of the Midwest. Ron Blumkin and his brother Irv, sit at the helm. “As Mr. Buffett so eloquently puts it, ‘the Blumkin kids, we won the ovarian lottery,’ ” said Ron Blumkin. “It’s true.” See the video / Read more

 

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