Wal-Mart adds new restrictions to ‘Savings Catcher’ tool by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “Beginning Feb.14, we are removing some departments consisting mostly of items that do not have a like for like match at other retailers, such as produce and bakery items. Additionally, we are limiting our comparisons to offers of other mass market retailers, grocery and dollar stores, removing comparisons with drug stores,” the email stated.” Read more

 

Amazon Left Out of FAA Drone Plan by Bart Jansen at USA Today. “The FAA needs to begin and expeditiously complete the formal process to address the needs of our business, and ultimately our customers,” Amazon Vice President Paul Misener said in a written statement. “We are committed to realizing our vision for Prime Air and are prepared to deploy where we have the regulatory support we need.” Read more

 

Wal-Mart VP Marcus Osborne offers health insight to Bill Frist and friends by Eleanor Kennedy at Nashville Business Journal. “Osborne told Frist the usual guesses for Wal-Mart’s top selling product are things like Cheetos, Coke or other standards of the lazy, fat American archetype. In fact, Osborne said, Wal-Mart’s No. 1 seller by units is bananas.” Read more

 

Hamburg, N.Y.: BJ’s Store Damaged in November to Reopen by Erica Brecher at WGRZ NBC. “It wasn’t all bad news in November: Because BJ’s had to clear out its inventory immediately, a local food pantry was the recipient of an unexpected 17,000 pounds of food. This week, ahead of the reopening, pantry coordinator Brent Doyle expressed her thanks. “You know, nobody ever got rich writing product off. There’s not a large margin in grocery to begin with. And it’s actually easier for them to throw it away than to give it away,” he said.” See the video / Read more

 

Oakland: Walgreen’s Granted ‘Living Wage’ Exemption by Joe Garofoli at SF Gate. “The council’s Community and Economic Development Committee voted 4-0 to grant Walgreens the exemption — meaning if the store opens, it could pay the minimum wage rather than the living wage. But after hearing an earful from community activists at the meeting and elsewhere, Walgreens changed course. Or, as a Walgreens corporate spokesman said, Oakland “didn’t have accurate information on our policy” concerning a living wage.” Read more

 

Amazon: ‘No way robotics are ever going to replace humans’ by Rachel Lerman at Puget Sound Business Journal. “Each robot is connected to Kiva software, which is programmed to know what products need to go where and when. Hundreds of Kiva robots work in the DuPont facility, and Amazon has more than 15,000 total in operation globally.” Read more

 

Whole Foods reschedules annual meeting in wake of SEC ruling by Greg Barr at Austin Business Journal. “Whole Foods said its meeting, which had been scheduled for March 10, has been postponed.” Read more

 

Man stuns ex-wife in Walmart at My Fox Atlanta. “The two hadn’t spoken for 43 years until last December…On Saturday, Demetriades wanted to rekindle the old flames and drove from Tennessee to Fort Smith, Arkansas to propose to her.”Forty-three years is a long time and to say yes right away, I’m going to have to test him a little bit first! I will marry him though, because he’s a good man,” said Stumpf.” See the video / Read more

 

Frozen berries recalled across Australia in hepatitis A scare by Jenni Ryall at Mashable. Read more

 

The Invention Mob, Brought to You by Quirky by Steve Lohr at NY Times. “(Quirky) says a handful of companies have lined up for its new corporate partnership program, which builds on Quirky’s experience with G.E. Though it is not identifying them yet, the new partners will include large companies that make toys, audio equipment and kitchenware. The products created will carry the tagline “Powered by Quirky,” but will be sold under the big companies’ brands.” Read more

 

Happening Thursday: Walmart Q4 Earnings Release  Pre-recorded phone call at 6am CST

 

Hershey faces backlash after bid to ban British Cadbury by John Chesto at Boston Globe. “I’m mad as hell,” said Lane, who threatened to ban Hershey products from his store. “I’ve got two choices: Allow Hershey to bully me as a retailer, or take a stand and send a message.” Read more

 

Tesco set for thousands more job cuts by Matt Clinch at CNBC. “There will also be the removal of an entire layer of management from stores, the report added. Those in the middle managements roles affected – who are between the store manager and shop assistants – will be offered alternative positions…The Sunday Telegraph stated that total losses could reach 10,000, but the Financial Times and The Guardian had more conservative layoff estimates.” Read more

 

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