Tipsheet: Bellevue HQ2 | HEB Sues H.Depot | Bezos Likes Art
US employers add a strong 225K jobs; unemployment up to 3.6% at AP. “The public’s confidence that jobs are plentiful is helping persuade more people without jobs to begin looking for one. Last month, 61.2% of American adults had jobs, the highest proportion since November 2008.” Read more
Lifeblood of Amazon merchants threatened as coronavirus infects Chinese workers at Reuters. “Running out of product on Amazon can wipe out a small business. Amazon’s algorithm gives top billing to sellers with the briskest and most recent sales. That prominent placement helps drive even more sales. “Going out of stock is the best way to kill that,” Plugable’s Thompson said.” Read more
Trump adviser, Bezos escalate feud at The Hill. “Navarro brushed off any connection between his frustration with Bezos and the president’s vendetta: “This is not about that. Period. Full stop.” He derided Bezos’s Instagram post as a “wonderfully banal passive aggressive post from the would-be author of ‘Zen and the Art of Counterfeit Trafficking.'” Read more
Coronavirus Cuts Chinese Tourism, and Luxury Retailers Suffer at Wall Street Journal. “If you think you see a Chinese shopper these days, it’s probably a mirage,” said Giovanni Cammaroto, who works in a Fendi store on the Italian city’s most upscale shopping street. “Until a week ago, we still had large groups of Chinese coming through, but in the last few days it’s been maybe one or two here and there.” WSJ subs.
**A message from Sweets & Snacks Expo. Save the date: May 19-21, 2020 at McCormick Place in Chicago. Your year starts here. Website/Register
Tapestry Q2 net sales +1.0%: Coach Q2 global comp sales +2.0% / Kate Spade Q2 global comp sales -4.0% Press release
…Tapestry Leadership Team Appointments:
* Liz Fraser as CEO & Brand President, Kate Spade
* Giorgio Sarné as CEO & Brand President, Stuart Weitzman
* Yann Bozec as President, Tapestry Asia Pacific
Speculation about Jeff Bezos excites art world at Bloomberg via Seattle Times. “Bezos, 56, bought two significant works during New York’s November auctions, according to art dealer Josh Baer…One piece, “Hurting the Word Radio #2” by Ed Ruscha, fetched $52.5 million at Christie’s, setting a record for the Los Angeles artist. The second, “Vignette 19” by Kerry James Marshall, sold for $18.5 million at Sotheby’s, more than doubling its high estimate.” Tiered subs.
…Jeff Bezos sells off another $1.6B in stock; he’s sold $3.4B over the past week at GeekWire. Read more
The Buckle January comp sales +7.4% Press release
Looking to cut emissions, Europe eyes a ‘sustainability’ tax on meat at Fortune. “The hope is to drive meat consumption down by two-thirds—essentially by driving prices at the butcher up by around 40% to reflect the environmental cost of meat production—in a novel new effort to combat climate change.” Read more
Sally Beauty Q1 comp sales -0.3% Press release
Yes, Virginia, there is an Amazon HQ2, but it’s actually 10 miles outside of Seattle by Monica Nickelsburg at GeekWire. “Amazon announced Thursday morning that it will expand to 15,000 employees in Bellevue in the next few years…The company’s employee base in Bellevue has grown from almost nothing to 2,000 employees in a little more than two years.” Read more
Walmart shooting suspect charged with federal hate crimes at AP. “Patrick Crusius, 21, has been charged with 90 counts under federal hate crime and firearms laws for his role in the Aug. 3 shooting that authorities said was aimed at scaring Hispanics into leaving the United States, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday.” Read more
College grads, baby boomers big winners in Trump’s economy at Reuters. “On average, Americans have seen a 17% jump in household wealth since Trump’s election, while wealth at the bottom half has increased 54%.” Read more
Tipsheet Extra
H-E-B Suing Home Depot, Others Over Cooler Tech
Apple’s contract for indie repair shops is so invasive that some refuse to sign it
Plastic ban coming to Canada in 2021
Satellites: The Night Sky Will Never Be the Same
This compostable packaging can tell you when your food is going bad
Wawa Alerts Customers of Criminal Attempts to Sell Breached Data
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