“Target Lays Off 80 at HQ” by Kavita Kumar at Star-Tribune. “In addition to the layoffs, another 40 open positions at Target will not be filled, said Molly Snyder, a company spokeswoman. “We routinely evaluate our business to ensure we are positioned for profitable growth,” Snyder said in a statement. “As we open fewer general merchandise stores nationwide and focus more on smaller formats, we have made the decision to centralize our architecture, construction, engineering and facilities management teams to best meet the needs of the business going forward.” Read more

 

“How Home Depot CEO Frank Blake kept his legacy from being hacked” by Jennifer  Reingold at Fortune. “So how did Blake react? Let’s start by thinking about what he could have done. He easily could have handed off the problem to his successor…Blake didn’t do any of that. Instead, he acted the same way he has acted for the past seven-plus years when faced with a challenge: He took full responsibility, empowered his team to fix the problem, and kept the focus where it needed to be, squarely on the customer.” Read more

 

“Grocery Chain Sues Clorox For Refusing To Sell Bulk-Pack Products” by Ashlee Kieler at Consumerist. “According to the complaint, officials with Woodman’s say a representative from Clorox informed them that the company had created a “Differentiated Products Offering” and that the grocery store – which operates like a warehouse store – would be lumped in with other general market retailers, losing the ability to sell large quantity packs of products and, thus, losing business.” Read more

 

“Retailers Like Lowe’s Are Getting a Jump on the Holidays” by Stuart Elliot at NY Times. “Lowe’s, which has in recent years used social media platforms like Pinterest to advertise its coming Black Friday sales, plans to use Vine to tease shoppers about what is in store for Black Friday 2014. A dozen Black Friday Vines — scheduled to be released one a day, starting on Monday — will advertise deals on merchandise like DeWalt tools, Dyson vacuums, home safes and artificial Christmas trees.” Read more

 

“Lysol Bought The Top Google Search Ad For The Word ‘Ebola,’ And Then Changed Its Mind” by Lara O’Reilly at Business Insider. “But now, perhaps fearing a backlash from consumers accusing the brand of distastefully piggybacking on the public interest and concern around the deadly infectious disease, Lysol appears to have aborted the marketing campaign.” Read more

 

“Wal-Mart Expands Savings Catcher to Toys for Holidays” by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “CEO Doug McMillion did not provide any details to The City Wire when asked recently about the possibilities of an expanded scope to include general merchandise during the holiday period. His response were merely, “Thanks for the suggestion.” Read more

 

“Q&A With Costco’s CEO, Craig Jelinek” at Consumer Reports. “Over the past year, we have tested apparel items in plus sizes in about 60 percent of our U.S. warehouses; moving forward, we have decided to focus on expanding plus-size assortments on Costco.com.” Read the Q&A

 

“Apple Pay alternative CurrentC has been breached” by Wendy Lee at SF Gate. “An MCX spokeswoman told the Chronicle that the CurrentC app “was not affected” and that many of the e-mail addresses taken were from “dummy accounts used for testing purposes.” She did not immediately reply to questions on how the e-mail addresses were obtained.” Read more

 

“The 10 highest sales-generating malls in the U.S.” by Phil Wahba at Fortune. See the list

 

“Kroger CEO sees organics as ‘billion dollar brand’” by Steve Watkins at Cincinnati Bus. Courier. “It was introduced two years ago, and this year it will be a billion dollar brand,” CEO Rodney McMullen said of Kroger’s Simple Truth natural and organic brand. “When you think about a brand reaching that level in its second full year, not many companies can say that.” Read more

 

“Kroger leaders aren’t worried about Amazon in online grocery battle” by Steve Watkins at Cincinnati Bus. Courier. “We’re not fixated by it,” Kevin Dougherty, Kroger’s group vice president of digital and Vitacost, said of Kroger’s take on Amazon. “A decade ago, we decided we have to play our game and focus on our strengths. They may succeed, but what we do has worked for decades.” Read more

 

“Kohl’s Holds First Investor Conference in Seven Years” by Alison Bauter at Milwaukee Bus. Journal. “(CEO Kevin) Mansell said the company’s stores have “been efficient, but pretty short on inspiration.” The new agenda pushes the idea that engaging customers digitally on a very personal, granular level and in-person through an elevated in-store environment will provide the hook to keep customers coming back.” Read more

 

…Kohl’s CEO Sits Down for Interview “I don’t know if you know, but the University of Wisconsin-Madison is the single largest campus in the United States from which we recruit — we get more interns, we get more trainees. We have a massive internship program each year.” Read the Q&A

 

“Saks Backs Off Snaks 5th Avenchew Cease-and-Desist Order” by Teresa Novellino at New York Bus. Journal. “The news came as a big relief to Sarabella, whom we caught up with by phone this morning. “I’ve only been in business since June, and this wasn’t the kind of exposure that I wanted” Read more

 

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