Tractor Supply Q1 Comp Sales +5.7% – Plan 110+ New Store Openings in FY ’15 “Comparable store transaction count increased 4.8% and average ticket increased 0.8%. The comparable store sales increase benefited from a solid performance in consumable, usable and edible (C.U.E.) products, including pet and heating consumables, while hardline products such as fencing, truck accessories and tools also performed well” Read the release

 

Corruption Allegation Costs Wal-Mart $612 million Since 2013 by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “The retail giant did not report the ongoing tally of FCPA expenses in any of its three reports issued on Wednesday (April 22). Wal-Mart does report the expenditures during its quarterly earnings releases leaving the public to keep their own tally.” Read more

 

Home Depot phasing out toxic vinyl flooring by Mitch Lipka at CBS. “As the world’s largest home improvement retailer, Home Depot’s new policy sends a strong signal to the marketplace that retailers want healthier building materials free of harmful chemicals like phthalates,”Andy Igrejas, director of Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, said in a statement.” Read more

 

…Lowe’s Faces Mounting Pressure to Stop Selling Flooring Chemical by Matt Townsend at Bloomberg. “The company said it’s working with suppliers to consider alternatives to offer the “best possible products.” Read more

 

…See the ‘Toxic Chemicals’ Study  Read more

 

Walmart: Doug McMillon’s Compensation Falls 24.2% to $19.4 Million by Mark Friedman at Arkansas Business. “Charles M. Holley Jr., executive vice president and CFO, saw his total compensation dip 9.4 percent to $8.2 million from the previous year…Rosalind Brewer, an executive vice president, saw her total compensation fall from $11.7 million to $9.56 million…Greg Foran’s total compensation was the highest on the list of executives at $19.5 million.” Read more

 

***New Product Spotlight: A Message from Tee Driver – Add Yardage to Drive Distance.  The Tee Driver helps you gain distance & accuracy on drives by placing your tee at a consistent height every time.  The easy-to-adjust Tee Driver finds your optimal tee height – then lets you lock it in. Hit the sweet spot of your driver every time!  See the sell sheet  Available in a peggable clamshell. Request samples at info@shiftmarketinggroup.net

 

Walmart Releases 2015 Annual Shareholders’ Meeting Materials  See the meeting materials

 

Former Target lawyer joins new Minneapolis firm by Nick Halter at Minn./St.Paul Business Journal. “(Joe Nunez) was directly responsible for 202 store openings, he said. Nuñez also worked on the Target North campus project in Brooklyn Park and distribution centers in other states.” Read more

 

Amazon will deliver packages to car trunks by Frank Catalano at GeekWire. “Amazon has announced a pilot program to make Prime deliveries right to the trunk of customers’ cars. If they drive an Audi. And live in Munich…The DHL driver is given a temporary, one-time digital access code to keylessly unlock the trunk (but not the rest of the car), puts the package in the trunk, and the vehicle is re-locked with the order inside.” Read more

 

Banks seek to block Target’s deal with MasterCard over data breach at Reuters. “The agreement between Target and MasterCard is nothing more than an attempt by Target to avoid fully reimbursing financial institutions for losses they suffered due to one of the largest data breaches in U.S. history,” said a statement on Wednesday from Charles Zimmerman of Zimmerman Reed PLLP and Karl Cambronne.” Read more

 

Texans blame secret military takeover for Walmart closings, secret tunnels by Dylan Baddour at Houston Chronicle. “It may seem crazy, but the fearful aren’t a totally marginal crowd. Online outcry over the original plans to hold the so-called realistic military training in American cities drew an official response from the U.S. Army Special Operations Command.” Read more

 

Ontario: Retailers divided about allowing Ontario grocers to carry beer by Marina Strauss at Globe & Mail. “While retailers say they welcome the province’s first steps to bring beer to supermarkets, some big chains are struggling with restrictions that will limit beer sales in each store to about $1-million a year and keep package sizes to six-packs.” Read more

 

Former Target employees burn their shirts by J.R. Rardon at Campbell River Mirror. “In native cultures, burning is a healing,” said Jacquie Creaser, a former Target manager who helped organize the gathering. “It’s closure; there’s no bitterness or anger.” Read more

 

Whole Foods Shows What A Salad Bar Would Look Like Without Bees (Hint: Not Much Salad) by Adele Peters at Fast Company. “Eight years after beekeepers first started reporting massive honeybee die-offs, the problem is still getting worse…To illustrate the scale of the issue, a Whole Foods store in Berkeley, California temporarily took pollinator-produced foods out of its salad bar.” See the pics / Read more

 

Ikea furniture piece so difficult to assemble it’s called the ‘Divorcemaker’ by Hilary Potkewitz at WSJ. “In therapy, so many couples mention fighting while shopping at IKEA or while assembling what they buy there that clinical psychologist Ramani Durvasula has started embracing the retailer as a tool for a communications exercise.” Read more (Subscription)

 

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Eye-on-Retail Tipsheet is created early every weekday morning and read by retail merchants and executives worldwide. We love data, earnings reports, executive presentations and stories off the beaten path that get at what’s happening in the world of retail. Contact us at info@shiftmarketinggroup.net.