Wal-Mart to allow shoppers on food stamps to order groceries online at some locations at CNBC. “Currently, Wal-Mart offers the EBT option for online grocery pickup at one store in the Houston area and four stores near Boise, Idaho. The company said it plans to bring the service to more markets “through the holiday season and beyond.” Read more

 

AutoZone Q4 comp sales +1.0% “AutoZone today reported net sales of $3.5 billion for its fourth quarter ended August 26, 2017, an increase of 3.3% from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016.” Press release

 

Kohl’s Announces Amazon Returns at Select Kohl’s Stores “82 stores across Los Angeles and Chicago will be offering free, convenient returns for Amazon customers starting in October. Kohl’s will pack and ship eligible Amazon return items for free, providing an additional service and convenience to Amazon customers within select Kohl’s stores.” Press release

 

NY Times talks to Best Buy CEO by Kevin Roose at NY Times. Read article

 

Target Has Never Played Background Music, Until Now by Martin Moylan at MPR News. “All Target stores with sound systems play the same tune simultaneously. The team charged with redesigning Target stores came up with a playlist of more than 1,500 songs. Welker described the selections as “playful and energetic and of the moment.” Artists include Stevie Wonder, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber and Justin Timberlake.” Read more

 

Wal-Mart Emerges as Potential Bidder for Lotte Group’s Chinese Supermarkets at Yi Cai Global. “There are around five firms currently in the race for South Korean conglomerate Lotte Group’s supermarkets in China, including CP Lotus Supercenter’s parent Charoen Pokphand Group, an American warehouse supermarket chain enterprise, thought to be Wal-Mart, and a US private equity fund, an insider familiar with the Korean distribution sector told Yicai Global.” Read more

 

Publix Listed As Best Place to Work for Women “Publix ranked No. 39 in the survey conducted by The Great Place to Work Institute. The ranking asked more than 400,000 women to assess their organizations’ culture, leadership, fairness and other elements essential for a great workplace.” Press release

 

**A message from Lock-it Block-it – Leave windows open AND secure. The Lock-it Block-it is a high-impact security bar that allows windows to stay open AND secure at the same time. Stop burglars – keep the summer breeze. 13 adjustment holes allow for inch-by-inch opening adjustments. Great for sliding doors/windows too! Video | Sell sheet | Retailers request samples: info@shiftmarketinggroup.net

 

Toys ‘R’ Us Has Filed for Bankruptcy Protection at Fortune. “Toys ‘R’ Us said it received a commitment for over $3 billion in debtor-in-possession financing from lenders including a JPMorgan-led bank syndicate and certain of the company’s existing lenders.” Read more

 

The 100 Best Places to Live in America at Money. List

 

It sounds as though the NBA may eventually set up shop on Amazon by Jason Del Rey at Recode. “This is my best guess — and it’s a guess — about what’s going on: The NBA and Fanatics have probably talked to each other about the right way to engage with Amazon to have some type of presence there. And maybe they’ve agreed on a partnership that makes sense. But those talks haven’t involved Amazon. Yet.” Read more

 

Jimmy Choo shareholders approve Michael Kors takeover at CNBC. Read more

 

Amazon reportedly tried to poach Satya Nadella by Nat Levy at GeekWire. “Doug Burgum, who ran Microsoft’s business solutions group and is now governor of North Dakota, mentored Nadella and was charged with keeping him in Redmond. Burgum argued at the time that Microsoft could offer more opportunities to Nadella than an online bookselling company liked Amazon.” Read more

 

IGA names John Ross to CEO post – currently President of Inmar Promotion Network Press release

 

Amazon makes Whole Foods’ prices more competitive with rivals in LA: JPMorgan at CNBC. “For products on JPMorgan’s natural and organics-focused shopping list, Ralphs is now 4 percent cheaper than Whole Foods, and Sprouts is less than 1 percent cheaper, Goldman and Palmer wrote. Ralphs and Sprouts were 11 percent cheaper on average than Whole Foods before Amazon acquired it.” Read more

 

JD.com announces $500M e-commerce and fintech joint ventures in Thailand by Jon Russell at TechCrunch. “Southeast Asia, a region of 600 million consumers, is forecast to see its internet economy grow to $200 billion by 2025 thanks to rising internet access.” Read more

 

Amazon has 76% smart home speaker U.S. market share by Taylor Soper at GeekWire. “…compared to 24 percent for Google and its Google Home device…CIRP also estimates 15 million Amazon Echo units sold across the U.S., which is up from 10.7 million in March and 5.1 million this past November.” Read more

 

What Trader Joe’s Figured Out About Work Culture That My Other Past Employers Haven’t at Fast Company. “At my last store, my coworker was having a rough time in his personal life and the frustration was beginning to show at work. We watched a manager take him out back, presumably for a stern talking to. In fact, the manager handed him a box of broken eggs from the spoils cart, taped a plastic pallet wrap up to the wall of our loading dock, and told him to throw eggs at the wall until he felt better. It worked.” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Mall shoe store was used as a front to deal heroin

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Plus-Size Lingerie Turns Into Rare Growth Market in U.S. Apparel

Post Holdings to Acquire Bob Evans for $77/Share

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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