Monday’s Eye-on-Retail Tipsheet: Trader Joe’s Sues Pirate | Target Canada’s Poor Grade | Tesco’s Tablet

 

The Week Ahead:  Retailers set to Release Earnings:

Tue:  Home Depot, Best Buy

Wed: Lowe’s, Target

Thur: Sears

Read more

 

“Trader Joe’s Sues Man for Reselling Products in Canada” by Patricia Yollin at San Fran Chronicle.  “Michael Hallatt has spent more than $350,000 at Trader Joe’s in less than two years. But the popular grocery chain doesn’t ever want to see him again.  “I’m their best customer,” he said with a mix of pride and indignation.  Every week, the former Bay Area resident drives his panel van across the border to buy a few thousand dollars worth of merchandise at Trader Joe’s stores in the States. He then turns around and resells the goods at his own shop in Canada for a profit.”  Read more

 

“Target’s Canadian effort receives a poor grade from shoppers” by Marina Strauss at Globe and Mail.  “The Forum survey indicates that customers in Canada expect a better store experience. It found only 27 per cent of respondents are “very satisfied” with Target, down from 32 per cent in April. In contrast, 62 per cent are very satisfied with Costco, the same as four months earlier; 40 per cent are very satisfied with Wal-Mart, up from 39 per cent.”  Read more

 

“Hanging Out at the E-Mall” by Jenna Wortham at NY Times via Seattle Times.  “Many entrepreneurs have their sights set on better replicating those experiences online, creating a category of e-commerce loosely known as social shopping. Venture capitalists are opening their pocketbooks for these new start-ups, and even some of the biggest players in e-commerce, like Amazon and eBay, have introduced their own social features.”  Read more

 

“Not All Retailers Reaping A Bounty From Ecommerce Efforts” by Paula Rosenblum at Forbes.  “Closeout retailer Tuesday Morning has shut down its shopping web site. On first blush this may seem like a befuddling decision.  It is cold comfort to shoppers but it’s actually understandable when looking at pure dollars and cents. In fact, the very same dollars-and-cents issues have deterred TJ Maxx, Nordstrom Rack and even fast-fashion retailer H&M (until recently) from selling outside the four walls of their stores. Why? Well it turns out getting merchandise available for sale online isn’t as cheap as you might think.”  Read more

 

“28% in UK would Wear Google Glass to Unlock In-store Promotions” by Shukti Sharma at Retail Digital.  “As demonstrated by the report findings, over a third of UK consumers would use Google Glass to plan their shopping routes and over a quarter (27%) would use the technology to search for available stock and product ideas to purchase while in-store – rising to 45% for 18-24 year olds. More than one in five consumers (22%) said they would like to be able to unlock additional offers and promotions, via digital screens such as billboards or store window displays, highlighting Google Glass’s ability to harness impulse buys through instant offers.”  Read more

 

“A year on the job with Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly” by Thomas Lee at Star Tribune.  “Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly is a man who often uses metaphors to make a larger point. He says corporate turnarounds are analogous to riding a bicycle. “If you start veer to the left, you steer the bicycle to the right,” he says. “And if you start to veer to the right, you steer it to the left. The most important thing is to keep moving.”  Read more

 

“Food Lion’s new CEO: “We just have to get better” “ by Ely Portillo at Charlotte Observer.  “David Livingston, an independent supermarket analyst, said Food Lion lacks a distinguishing trait to draw shoppers. “They’re just average price. They’re just right in the middle of the road with everyone else,” he said.  “I think they’re just going to fall in the trash can with all the other tired old banners that couldn’t figure it out,” said Livingston.  Newlands Campbell plans to prove the doubters wrong. When she talks about Food Lion’s issues, she fastidiously avoids the word “problem,” instead referring to “opportunities.”  Read more

 

“More and more dollar stores are popping up” by Elisabeth Parker at Tampa Bay Times.  “Dollar General, with 10,600 stores nationwide, is the largest dollar store chain, although it’s no longer technically a “dollar” store. Less than 25 percent of goods sold at Dollar General are a dollar or less. Family Dollar sells about 28 percent of its items for a dollar or less. Only Dollar Tree sells everything in the store for a dollar or less.”  Read more |

 

“Tesco take on Apple and Amazon with new iPad style tablet” by Michael Somerville at Retail Gazetter via @shoppercentric.  “Sources told the paper it would match Amazon’s Kindle Fire in terms of quality – which costs £130 – but details are still scarce on how much Tesco will charge for its tablet.  Tesco won’t be the first supermarket to launch its own tablet as Asda released its own £99 tablet in July 2011.”  Read more

 

Follow on Twitter @retaileyeretail