Tipsheet: D.Tree Comp +2.7% | BJ’s Hires COO | Wmart Reduces Hours | Dick’s #628
Dollar Tree Q2 Comp +2.7% “Net sales increased 48.3% to $3.01 billion from $2.03 billion in the prior year’s second quarter. The increase was the result of $811.6 million in sales from the Family Dollar segment since closing on the acquisition.” Read the release
BJ’s poaches Hess Retail CEO to lead its business operations by David Harris at Boston Business Journal. “Christopher Baldwin will have responsibility for business operations at the Westborough-based wholesale club, with oversight of its merchandising, logistics, membership, marketing and club operations. He also will join BJ’s board of directors.” Read more Press release
The Bustle in the Frozen Food Aisle by Stephanie Strom at NY Times. “Nestlé has sunk $50 million into the center, which opened in July, in a bold effort to reinvigorate its frozen foods business…“We test more than 2,500 recipes every year here, using more than 800 raw materials, and it typically takes 100 recipes to get to a single product,” said Sean Westcott, director of the center.” Read more
Wal-Mart says it is reducing worker hours only in a ‘small number of stores’ by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “Kory Lundberg told The City Wire that a “small number of stores” – namely outlying supercenter locations – were recently asked to trim hours that have surpassed their budgeted levels in the past few months.” Read more
Consumer groups urge Costco to publicly reject GMO salmon by Lydia Wheeler at The Hill. “Friends of the Earth said more than 18,000 letters will be delivered to Costco this week…Costco said scientific research is being conducted and oversight of GMO foods falls under the FDA’s area of responsibility. “The FDA has not approved the sale of GMO salmon,” the company said. “Costco has not sold and does not intend to sell GMO salmon at this time.” Read more
In New Amazon Prime Program, Not All Goods Arrive in Two Days by Greg Bensinger at WSJ. “The program, nicknamed Ship by Region, lets certain sellers designate where they’re willing to ship goods in two days or less to Prime members…Amazon, for now, is limiting the option to a select group of sellers authorized to list items as Prime-eligible even when the goods are housed in non-Amazon warehouses.” Read more (Subscription)
Amazon is testing farmers market produce delivery by Russ Parsons at LA Times. “Tony Lee says he first created a huge database of farmers market vendors across the country, then organized it to create a rational supply chain. The company ran tests in Southern California and on the East Coast and when it had the bugs worked out, went to Amazon, which already has a grocery delivery service up and running in Amazon Fresh.” Read more
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JCP enters next phase of turnaround by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC. “The company is already proficient in the art of retail under under its seasoned merchandising team with what we think are the right brands and assortment,” Trussell wrote. “New CEO Marvin Ellison is now driving the next step of applying the science of retail to bring J.C. Penney up the curve.” Read more
Inside Kellogg’s Effort to Cash In on the Health-Food Craze by David Kesmodel & Annie Gasparro at WSJ. “…Several Kashi managers lobbied against the change, the people said, arguing that Kellogg sales people would prioritize Kellogg brands…Several Kashi veterans left around that time because they felt it no longer had a startup vibe, former Kashi executives say. Sales growth at Kashi flatlined…” Read more (Subscription)
Best Buy Achieves Price Parity With Amazon For First Time by Teresa Rivas at Barron’s. “(Best Buy has) closed the pricing gap with main online rival Amazon. That’s according to SunTrust Robinson Humphrey’s David Magee and his team, who write that recent price checks show that Best Buy “has essentially achieve pricing parity” with Amazon.” Read more
Dick’s Opens #626, #627 and #628
Macy’s new partnership aims to boost brand with millennials by Andy Brownfield at Cincinnati Business Courier. “Nineteenth Amendment showcases fashions from independent designers and offers pre-sales for 19 days during which customers can plunk down cash on the designs.” Read more
How JCPenney got its digital groove back by Artemis Berry at NRF. “I believe hitting bottom galvanized company leaders to take decisive, bold action or to die. Many more companies, especially in retail, would do well to learn from this lesson, although I’d be perfectly happy if our competitors fail to learn and go the way of the dodo.” Read more
Riot-torn Baltimore CVS is torn down at WMAR ABC 2. See the pics
Blue Bell-deprived Houston residents line up at 5:30 a.m. at Kroger store by Karen Robinson-Jacobs at Dallas News. Read more
Tipsheet Extra
Lowe’s to Build Bigger Store in Maui
A socialist Walmart employee explains why he’s running for Philly mayor
Google Life Sciences Makes Diabetes Its First Big Target
Jerry Jones expressed concern to Dez Bryant over alleged Wal-Mart tape
Amazon Prime Instant Video to launch in Japan next month
Google vs. Amazon in home improvement: Different approaches to crowded market
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Eye-on-Retail Tipsheet is created early every weekday morning and read by retail merchants and executives worldwide. We love data, earnings reports, executive presentations and stories off the beaten path that get at what’s really happening in the world of retail. See our website at www.eyeonretail.net