Tipsheet: Ex-H.Depot Exec to Target | Saks Servers Sue | Safeway #1 Grocery Site | Meijer #19 Private Co.
Wal-Mart says 95% success rate in suppliers removing 8 toxic chemicals from consumer products by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “Schade said Target and CVS are also getting on the bandwagon with chemical policies, but retail titans Costco and Amazon are behind with no chemical policy of any kind.” Read more
Macy’s tests artificial intelligence in stores by Erin Caproni at Cincinnati Business Courier. “(Macy’s) has teamed with IBM’s Watson to create Macy’s On Call, a “mobile companion” for shoppers that allows them to ask questions and receive answers without waiting for a sales associate.” Read more | Read the release
Forbes 2016 Ranking: America’s Largest Private Companies (Albertsons #3, Publix #8, Meijer #19, Love’s #22, Menards #37…) See the rank order list
Wal-Mart Is Now Selling Ugly Fruit And Vegetables by Maria Godoy at NPR. “Starting this week, America’s largest grocer says it is piloting sales of weather-dented apples at a discount in 300 of its stores in Florida.” Read more
eBay shares up 5% after beating earnings expectations by Katie Roof at TechCrunch. “The company beat expectations, posting earnings at an adjusted 43 cents per share, when analysts were forecasting 42 cents…also brought in $2.23 billion in revenue, compared to the $2.17 billion expected by Wall Street.” Read more | Read the release
Safeway’s grocery site bags the top spot in customer engagement by Tracy Maple at Internet Retailer. “Safeway Inc.’s site, shop.safeway.com, led the list of the 10 most popular U.S. shopping websites in June as measured by the average number of pages viewed per visit on desktop, according to web analytics company SimilarWeb.” See the top 10 list
More Pics from Amazon’s new Seattle HQ tour by Nat Levy at GeekWire Read more / See the pics
Philly: Target’s new store puts a bull’s-eye on Center City by Suzette Parmley at The Inquirer. “We have been extremely busy all day,” said manager Alex Defeo, 24, just after 5:30 p.m…”We’ve had a lot of millennials. They’re happy with what we have to offer, and I think we’ll fit well in this urban environment.” Read more / See the pics
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Kroger buys specialty pharmacy company by Bowdeya Tweh at Cincinnati Enquirer. “…one of its subsidiaries will buy Modern HC Holdings Inc., the corporate parent of Orlando-based ModernHealth. Modern HC Holdings is being folded into Kroger’s Axium Pharmacy business.” Read more
LAWSUIT – Former female servers at Saks Fifth Avenue eateries say they were fired because they were ‘not attractive enough,’ ‘getting old’ by Victoria Bekiempis at NY Daily News. “Under this new general manager, Michael Brafman, it “became clear to plaintiffs that only young, male servers fit within Centerplate’s image of fine-dining at Saks and its vision of creating ‘dining experiences reflective of the iconic luxury retailer,’” the suit claims.” Read more
Birkenstock quits Amazon in US after counterfeit surge by Ari Levy at CNBC. “Plagued by counterfeits and unauthorized selling on the online shopping site, the sandals company will no longer supply products to Amazon in the U.S. starting Jan. 1. Additionally, Birkenstock won’t authorize third-party merchants to sell on the site, according to a letter the company sent to several thousand retail partners on July 5.” Read more
Unrest in America fires up the pizza delivery business by Lisa Fickenscher at NY Post. “Political and social strife is driving Americans to eat at home instead of at their favorite neighborhood eateries, O’Cull claims, pointing to the casual restaurant sector, which has been down in customer traffic by 3 percent to 5 percent over the past several weeks.” Read more
Urban Outfitters gets political with anti-Trump, pro-Clinton, Sanders merchandise by Mike Sunnucks at Phoenix Business Journal. “Urban Outfitters calls its anti-Trump shirt and mug “the perfect t-shirt to communicate your somewhat decided indecision.” See the 12 pics / Read more
…This Is the Reason Urban Outfitters Bought a Pizza Chain by Peter Elliot at Bloomberg. Read the Q&A
Jet.com celebrates its first anniversary by Matt Linder at Internet Retailer. “To celebrate the company’s first anniversary, Jet is planning 11 days of deals starting Thursday, though a spokesman says the deals won’t be “massive Black Friday-type deals.” Read more
Walmart Launches New App for Canadians Read the release
Target hires Apple (and Ex-Home Depot) executive for logistics role by Nick Halter at Minneapolis/St.Paul Business Journal. “Target Corp. has hired former Apple Inc. executive Ben Cook as the senior vice president of global logistics, inventory allocation and replenishment. Cook was Apple’s director of logistics and supply chain for the America region. Before that, he held logistics roles at Kimberly-Clark and Home Depot.” Read more
Indian Retailer Makes ‘Fast Fashion’ Local by Preetika Rana at WSJ. “As demand for “fast fashion” spreads around the globe, an Indian retailer is betting it has figured out a way to take on the big global brands encroaching on its home turf…” Read more (Subscription)
Warby Parker is offering Snapchat-exclusive sunglasses by Anthony Ha at TechCrunch. Read more
Tipsheet Extra Stories
This Food Waste Activist Finally Got A Closed-Door Meeting With Walmart – It didn’t go as planned
Panera sues Papa John’s, alleges exec misappropriated trade secrets
Fruit of the Loom Opened a Fake Lingerie Store to Prove How Fancy Its Panties Really Are
C.E.O.s Meet in Secret Over the Sorry State of Public Companies
Watch Amazon’s Jeff Bezos try to eat and drink while in costume as a ‘Star Trek’ alien for his movie cameo
Walmart, site of 30-person brawl, now known for cops doing ‘Cupid Shuffle’
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