Sam’s New COO | WM Loses Top Spot | Five Below +22.7%
Amazon knocks Walmart from the top spot on Fortune 500 for the first time in 13 years at GeekWire “Only four companies have ever held the No. 1 spot in the 72-year history of the Fortune 500 list: General Motors, ExxonMobil, Walmart, and now Amazon.” Read more | Fortune full list (subs.)
Sam’s Club names new chief operating officer at Talk Business. “Sam’s Club has promoted Steve Schrobilgen, who once worked as a club cart pusher, as its next chief operating officer and executive vice president. He replaces Tom Ward who retired amid recent management changes at Sam’s Club and other Walmart divisions.” Read more
America’s Richest Self-Made Women at Forbes. “Forbes found 43 self-made queens of capitalism, up from 38 a year ago…That’s despite the passing of two legendary women, (including) Gap cofounder Doris Fisher (d. May 2026 at age 94)…” Full list
Walmart+ arrives in Canada Press release
Why Berkshire Hathaway Went Window-Shopping at Macy’s at WSJ. “Macy’s shares have jumped about 18% since May 15, when Berkshire Hathaway disclosed its stake in the company…the $55 million purchase—based on Macy’s share price on the filing date—represented about 1% of Macy’s diminished market value.” WSJ subs.
Amazon engineers in Seattle slam employer for building AI data centers while laying off 30,000 staffers at CNBC. “The engineers spoke at a Seattle City Council meeting, where officials unanimously passed a proposal to limit new mega data center developments for one year.” Read more
Petco Q1 comp sales +0.7% Press release
As CEO of the $96 billion Sam’s Club, Latriece Watkins is testing her mettle at the warehouse retailer that produced CEOs for Walmart, Target, and Walgreens at Fortune. “Mentored by Doug McMillon and shaped by a decade on the merchant floor, Watkins is now betting that fewer choices and sharper curation can help the chain compete with Costco.” Read more (subs.)
Meet the AI-powered robot assistant helping Germans shop at Reuters. “A humanoid robot, which can switch between personalities and accents, is working as a shop assistant in Germany, as a robotics and AI-solutions company tests how the Chinese-made machine can be programmed to work alongside humans.” 2:16 video (subs.)
Five Below, Inc. Q1 comp sales +22.7% Press release
Screwworm fly detected in Texas decades after cattle threat was largely eradicated in US at AP. “…the case was in a 3-week-old calf in LaPryor, Texas, about 50 miles from the Mexico border…established a 12-mile quarantine zone, prohibiting the movement of any warm-blooded animal — including pets — outside that zone without an inspection.” Read more
Ollie’s Q1 comp sales +1.7% | Macy’s Q1 comp sales +3.0%
Amazon will show AI product images when you search for some reason at TechCrunch. “In what may be one of the more questionable uses of AI to date, Amazon announced…that it will display AI-generated images of products within its shopping app based on users’ search queries. That’s right — a retailer where people shop for real-world products thinks that displaying fake photos will “help” consumers better find what they’re looking for.” Read more
***Eye on Retail Tipsheet is off next week. See you on June 16th!