CVS Health beats on fourth-quarter earnings and revenue at CNBC. “Same-store sales rose 3.2% during the quarter, with sales in its pharmacy unit up 4.1%.” Read more

 

A first peek inside Amazon’s new grocery store at Bloomberg. “The $800 billion grocery industry is keeping a sharp eye on a strip mall in the Woodland Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. There, sandwiched between a nail salon and a bank branch, Amazon.com Inc. is working on the first in a new chain of grocery stores set to open this year. The company has kept construction inside the store firmly under wraps, and, until now, no one has peeked in on Amazon’s latest plan to upend how food is sold. Based on never-before-seen photos of the facility at 6245 Topanga Canyon Blvd., as well as planning documents filed with the city, the store looks remarkably conventional…” Tiered subs.

 

Kohl’s eliminating around 250 positions in corporate restructuring by Sarah Hauer at Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “The departures include removing a layer of regional store leadership roles and positions, restructuring teams in our merchant organization, and changes to other positions in our corporate offices,” Johnson said.” Read more

 

Walmart’s marketing division realignment continues by Kim Souza at Talk Business. “Rich Lehrfeld, SVP of brand marketing, media and creative, will serve as the retailer’s interim chief marketing officer…“For the last number of months, he [Lehrfeld] has made a big difference focusing on how we bring the team together, drive the business and advance Walmart’s creative execution and reputation,” (Janey) Whiteside noted in an internal memo dated Jan. 31, and obtained by Talk Business & Politics on Wednesday (Feb. 12).” Details/Names

 

Jeff Bezos buys L.A. mansion for $165M and land from Paul Allen estate for $90M at GeekWire. Read more | WSJ article (subs.)

 

Report: Supermarkets should do a better job informing shoppers about product recalls at USA Today. “A vast majority of stores – 84% – failed to “adequately inform the public about recall notification efforts”…The only chains to get passing grades: Harris Teeter, Kroger, Smith’s and Target.” Read more

 

Walmart to Scale Back Jetblack After Investor Talks Fizzle by Sarah Nassauer at Wall Street Journal. “The New York City-based unit, which offers fast product delivery through text message, plans to rebrand and in coming months would cease to be a personal-shopping service, some of these people said. Its technology could be moved within Walmart, they said.” WSJ subs.

 

Shares of Stage Stores plunge amid bankruptcy speculation by Paul Takahashi at Houston Chronicle. “Stage Stores’ financial woes comes as the retailer is converting all of its department stores into Gordmans locations, betting the company’s future on the still-flourishing off-price segment of the retail industry.” Tiered subs.

 

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Peapod is shutting down grocery delivery in the Midwest and cutting 500 jobs at Chicago Tribune. “Chicago will remain the headquarters for Peapod Digital Labs, which runs the e-commerce technology for Ahold Delhaize’s U.S. grocery brands. Peapod Digital Labs employs about 450 people, half of them in Chicago, and plans to hire 100 more people this year.” Tiered subs.

 

Morgan Stanley Accused Of Draining Tops Markets Dry Law 360 subs.

 

Target apologizes for selling ‘Minnesota Badgers’ onesies at ESPN. “Target apologized to University of Minnesota Golden Gophers fans Tuesday for carrying a maroon onesie with the words “Minnesota Badgers,” the nickname of Big Ten rival Wisconsin.” Pic/Read more

 

Amazon headquarters in Madrid briefly evacuated after false bomb threat at Fox Business. Read more

 

Direct-to-consumer ‘is no longer a fad,’ Shopify COO says after strong Q4 earnings report at CNBC. “(Shopify) grew its top line by 47% year over year to $505.2 million in the December quarter…“We think we can be the entrepreneurship company. While other companies are trying to build empires, we are arming the rebels.” (COO) Finkelstein said.” Video/Read more

 

Alibaba beats estimates on record Singles’ Day sales at Reuters. “The company said sales during the 24-hour shopping event hit a record $38.4 billion in 2019.” Read more

 

Home Depot’s strategy for hiring 80,000 new workers: help them with paying for school at CNBC. “The program provides part-time hourly employees $1,500 for educational expenses on their first day, $3,000 to full-time hourly employees and $5,000 for salaried employees.” Read more

 

Officer Buys Plane Ticket Home For Heartbroken Woman Stranded In Walmart After Falling Victim To Dating Scam at CBS 13 Baltimore. “I think that she only had three dollars on her. She was essentially homeless,” Gilbert Police Officer Adam Walicke told CBS affiliate KPHO. Walicke thought about taking her to a homeless shelter, but “that just did not sit well with me.” Video/Read more

 

‘Stopped dead in his tracks:’ toddler in awe when he saw Target ad with boy in wheelchair at Fox 6 Now. “It was just a beautiful moment to see — him admiring somebody like him — because he doesn’t get to see that often,” said Garza-Pena. Garza-Pena took to Facebook to share the moment that brought her to tears, and to celebrate Target’s inclusivity. The post quickly went viral.” Read more/Pic

 

Tipsheet Extra

Amazon patents a launch system for snapping payloads into the air

7-Eleven reportedly among those eyeing a takeover of Speedway

.com prices could rise for the first time in eight years

Police confront black man wearing KKK robe outside Target

Popular Costco store to close

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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