Report: Walmart/Sam’s to Cut 1,000 HQ Jobs by Nov. 1 by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “The cuts would happen through layoffs and attrition, and may include up to 200 vice presidents. Wal-Mart Stores did not confirm nor deny the layoffs are planned and would not provide a statement.” Read more

 

Walmart launches rival sale to Amazon’s Prime Day by Hadley Malcolm at USA Today “In a blog post slated to go up Monday, Walmart plans to say that it is “standing up for our customers and everyone else who sees no rhyme or reason for paying a premium to save.” “We just don’t believe you should pay a fee to get a better price,” said Walmart spokesperson Ravi Jariwala.” Read more

 

NY Times: How CVS Quit Smoking and Grew Into a Health Care Giant by Hiroko Tabuchi. “Helena B. Foulkes, who leads CVS’s retail business, swept past the sales counter at a newly renovated CVS in downtown Manhattan. Where cigarette packs once lined up in neat rows, now there were nicotine gum and patches to help smokers quit. (There are no e-cigarettes either, much to the chagrin of that industry, which had hoped CVS would embrace its products as a lower-risk alternative.)” Read more

 

Q&A with Home Depot’s Carol Tome – How Home Depot Overcame a Difficult Cultural Shift by Kelly Spors at Greenleaf. “Many actions he took immediately were symbolic. For example, I sit on the 22nd floor of our Store Support Center in Atlanta and used to have a badge to bypass all the other floors on the elevator. He took those away.” Read more

 

Amazon Prime Day Will Usher in a New Era of Manufactured Shopping Days by Brad Tuttle at Time. “If Amazon simply wanted to bump up overall sales, period, it would have opened up Prime Day deals to non-Prime members. Instead, it’s pumping up Prime Day as the perfect time to sign up for a free 30-day trial of Prime, with the idea that many new members will turn into paying subscribers in a month.” Read more

 

Sam’s Club Exec to speak at Chile seminar at Undercurrent News. “Robert Fields, senior merchandise director-fresh meat, seafood and deli for the Wal-Mart division will address the push for four-star BAP status, the highest in the BAP program.” Read more

 

This Company Is Bringing Customers Savings by Being the Costco of Small Businesses by Jonathan Blum at Entrepreneur. “But not everyone believes Jet will fly. David Herberich, a senior director at San Francisco-based data analytics firm BeyondCore…warns it won’t be easy to find the accurate supply-chain information from the thousands of vendors Jet needs to set reliable prices….“Jet may have access to all the data in the world,” he says. “The question is how well they can handle it.” Read more

 

J.Crew is about to launch a new, lower priced chain by Phil Wahba at Fortune. “The first store, to open in a shopping center in Dallas in late July, will feature the same products specifically designed for and sold at J. Crew’s factory locations. “J.Crew Mercantile stores will feature a collection of value-driven merchandise with classic J.Crew style for women, men and children,” the company said in a statement.” Read more

 

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