“Wal-Mart Feels Pinch From China Austerity Campaign” by Laurie Burkitt at WSJ. “The Chinese government’s push to clean up excessive consumption at its state-owned enterprises has hit overall consumer confidence and retail, Mr. (Scott) Price said in an interview Sunday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO Summit. “The austerity campaign was broad-based,” he said. “It wasn’t limited to the luxury market.” Read more (Subscription)

 

“Wal-Mart: Online rivals can’t sway Chinese moms” by Leslie Shaffer at CNBC. “Wal-Mart’s rival in the U.S., Costco, is among the competitors wading into China via e-commerce, but the world’s largest retailer doesn’t expect the additional online competition will hamper its growth on the mainland. “It’ll be awhile before 50-year-old moms allow somebody else to pick her fresh [groceries],” Scott Price, Wal-Mart’s CEO for Asia, told CNBC.” Read more / See the video

 

“Costco-GM promo moves more metal” by Arlena Sawyers at Automotive News. “Gina Paolino, president of Costco Auto, said the company expects its members to have bought about 35,000 program-eligible Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC vehicles when the Oct. 1-Jan. 2 promotion ends. That is up from 22,000 purchased in last year’s program, which was about two weeks shorter.” Read more

 

“This Verbal Confrontation Shows Why Walmart Will Never Accept Apple Pay” by Jason Del Rey at Recode. “At a recent payments conference called Money2020, (Mike) Cook’s public questioning of a top Visa executive made it clear that the credit card debate is alive and well and a big reason why Walmart isn’t accepting Apple Pay. Cook stepped to the microphone in the audience during the Q&A session of a panel discussion and made it clear he was as interested in simply making a point as he was in getting an answer to his questions.” Read more / See the video

 

“Wall Street Journal Kicks Off ‘Christmas Sales Tracker'” by Shelly Banjo at WSJ. “This holiday season, The Wall Street Journal will monitor those strategies with a new online tool—the Christmas Sale Tracker—which will follow the prices of 10 popular holiday gifts, including a doll set from the Walt Disney Co. movie “Frozen” and a Razor electric scooter, at big retailers such as Amazon.com Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp. and Toys ‘R’ Us.” Read more (Subscription)

 

“The Packaging Problem With Amazon’s Grocery Delivery Service, Amazon Fresh” by Jen Carlson at Gothamist. “I reached out to Amazon’s PR team regarding this—specifically asking why the cucumber and chives were delivered in their own big bags, and the problem New Yorkers may face when leaving piles of packaging outside of their buildings for pick-up. Read more

 

“Struggling Target Canada faces big test this holiday season” by Kavita Kumar at Star-Tribune. “Soberman, from the University of Toronto, says Target also has big incentives to make the expansion in Canada work. The retailer doesn’t have much more room to grow in the U.S., he noted. And if Target retreats from its first attempt at international expansion, that would suggest it can’t adjust to other countries.” Read more

 

“Retailers in focus this week on Wall Street” by Katy Barnato at CNBC. “Retailers will take center stage this week, with Wal-Mart, JC Penney, Kohl’s and Macy’s posting third-quarter earnings.” Read more

 

…Walmart Releases Q4 Earnings Thursday.  Read more

 

“Family Dollar-Dollar Tree merger delayed” by Jennifer Thomas at Charlotte Bus. Journal. “(Family Dollar) and Dollar Tree have agreed not to close their transaction prior to Dec. 30 in order to facilitate an ongoing review by the Federal Trade Commission.” Read more

 

“Sears Decides it’s No Longer a Retailer” at Reuters. “Struggling retailer Sears Holdings said it was exploring the conversion of 200-300 stores to a real estate investment trust (REIT) and offer it to shareholders through a rights offering to raise cash.” Read more

 

“Mike Myers’ pitch for a flagging retailer: ‘Sears Canada. My brother works there’” by Hollie Shaw at Financial Post. “The Canadian star of Wayne’s World and Austin Powers has made a video with his brother Peter Myers, a 32-year employee at the dwindling chain. It sees the actor arrive unannounced at the company’s Toronto headquarters to ask his older brother if Sears Canada is going away.” See the video / Read more

 

“Hundreds of Kids Harmed by Detergent ‘Pods:’ Study” by Lindsey Tanner at AP via ABC. “In the study, 144 had eye injuries, 30 went into comas and 12 had seizures.” Read more

 

“Walmart worker caught on camera ‘using sticks of Old Spice deodorant before returning them to store’s shelves'” by Jill Reilly at Daily Mail. “Cops did not address whether the used deodorant ended up being purchased by a customer.” Read more

 

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