Tipsheet: CA Strike Averted? | HD Supply +1.5% | D.Tree ‘Hardball’ | Groc. ‘Happy Hour’
California grocery strike probably averted; contract includes pay raises, pension bump at LA Times. “The looming threat of a grocery store strike throughout Southern California appeared to be dissolving Monday as workers began voting on a new employment contract that seemed to appease all parties. Ralphs, Vons, Pavilions and Albertsons workers are voting through Wednesday on the deal brokered over the weekend…” Tiered subs.
HD Supply Q2 net sales +1.5% Press release
J.C. Penney looks to outdoor sports enthusiasts to reel in more consumer spending by Maria Halkias at Dallas Morning News. “Penney is expanding into the more rugged clothing with its own St. John’s Bay brand, both online and in about 600 of its 830 stores starting Thursday…It’s also creating outdoor shops with national brands — American Threads, The American Outdoorsman and HI-TEC — in about 100 stores and online starting Oct. 4.” Tiered subs.
Target to hire more than 130,000 temporary workers for its stores and distribution centers at CNN. “Last year, Target hired about 120,000 workers for the holidays. More than 40% of those employees stayed on with Target past the holiday season, according to the company.” Read more
Dollar Tree CEO on mitigating tariffs on Chinese imports: ‘We play hardball’ at CNBC. “I give great credit to both merchants’ teams. The things that we do, we’ve enlisted our vendors … The last thing we want to do is take any value out of the package at all,” he said in a one-on-one with Jim Cramer on “Mad Money.” “We play hardball, but I would say we’ve always been fair.” Video/Read more
The World Wastes Tons of Food. A Grocery ‘Happy Hour’ Is One Answer. by David Segal at NY Times. “Food that is nearly unsellable goes on sale at every one of S-market’s 900 stores in Finland, with prices that are already reduced by 30 percent slashed to 60 percent off at exactly 9 p.m. It’s part of a two-year campaign to reduce food waste that company executives in this famously bibulous country decided to call “happy hour” in the hopes of drawing in regulars, like any decent bar.” Tiered subs.
Amazon, Home Depot lease multistory Seattle warehouse by Keiko Morris at Wall Street Journal. “You have to go vertical because you can’t find a 50-acre space in the middle of a city close to the customer,” said Hamid Moghadam, Prologis ’s chief executive. Freight elevators capable of carrying forklifts and a ramp that enables trucks to drive right up to loading docks on the second floor help speed up delivery.” WSJ subs.
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Jack Ma officially retires as Alibaba’s chairman at TechCrunch. Read more
‘We blew it’: Forbes named 99 men and only one woman on its list of ‘most innovative leaders’ by Jena McGregor at Washington Post. “Nextdoor CEO Sarah Friar, who is on the board of directors of Slack and Walmart, tweeted: “At first I thought maybe they had a men’s and women’s list,” followed by the slapping-my-head emoji.” Tiered subs.
Dollar General Announces Plans to Expand to 46 States In 2020 Press release
Food Lion Owner Searches for New CFO to Boost Sales, Cut Costs by Nina Trentmann at Wall Street Journal. “Dutch grocer Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize NV is looking for a new finance chief to boost sales and cut costs across 10 countries, including the U.S., its biggest market…Chief Financial Officer Jeff Carr won’t return as a member of Ahold Delhaize’s management board after his current term expires in April 2020.” WSJ subs.
Docs show Amazon planned to open dozens of cashierless Go stores this year — what’s the holdup? by Jay Peters at The Verge. “According to documents from 2018 viewed by The Information, Amazon planned to open 56 Go stores by the end of this year and 156 by the end of 2020, but so far it has only announced 18. Just 15 of those are open to the public…” Read more
More than 900 Amazon employees plan climate change walkout on Sept. 20 in solidarity with youth activists by Monica Nickelsburg at GeekWire. Read more
Target’s personalized loyalty program launches nationwide next month by Sarah Perez at TechCrunch. “Target Circle, will launch nationwide on October 6th, following a year and a half of beta testing in select markets. The program combines a variety of features, including 1% savings on purchases, birthday rewards and personalized offers and savings designed to make the program more attractive to consumers.” Read more
Shopify boosts delivery network plans with $450M deal for robotics company 6 River Systems at Financial Post. Read more
Fred’s has filed for bankruptcy and will close its 300 remaining stores at CNN. “…liquidation sales will take place at its stores over the next 60 days. “Despite our team’s best efforts, we were not able to avoid this outcome,” said CEO Joe Anto in a statement.” Read more
Tipsheet Extra Stories
Department store selling asymmetrical jeans for $462
Salesforce launches new ads that explain what the company actually does
Swiftly raises $15.6M, launches supermarket OS to help retailers battle Amazon
Lululemon’s first fashion brand, 10 years in the making, is here
DMVs in these states cashed in by selling drivers’ personal data
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