Activist investor Starboard urges Macy’s to strike real-estate deals via Reuters. “The letter suggested two separate joint ventures, one for Macy’s landmark properties like Herald Square (NY) and a second for its hundreds of mall locations…By Starboard’s estimate, the Herald Square store alone was worth $4 billion, while properties in San Francisco and Chicago were worth more than $1 billion.” Read more

 

Target Leaders Reflect on This Year’s Consumer Electronics Show at A Bullseye View. “Brian Cornell: “As I walked the CES floor, I was really impressed by what I saw from Samsung. They are driving incredible innovation across multiple categories – appliances, refrigerators, watches, speakers, phones, TVs and even air vents. They will be introducing some really terrific products in the near future and I look forward to seeing consumer response to these new technologies.” Read more

 

Family Dollar CEO Howard Levine to Leave Company via Fox Business. “Dollar Tree said Gary Philbin, who was named Family Dollar’s president and chief operating officer in July, will lead Family Dollar.” Read more

 

Kohl’s Weighs Next Steps As Woes Mount at Fox Business. “Kohl’s, a national department-store chain with roughly 1,200 stores, is debating whether to pursue more drastic action, such as taking itself private or breaking up the company, according to a person familiar with the situation.” Read more

 

Target teams with D’Amico & Sons, Freshii to bring fresh appeal to its in-store cafes by Kavita Kumar at Star Tribune. “The changes being tested at Target’s cafes haven’t sat well with everyone. Some people miss the popcorn and other cheap snacks. “Don’t take away the Pizza Hut!” exclaimed Erica Wilson as she snacked on some breadsticks in the cafe inside the Target store on Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis. “We still need pizza and breadsticks.” Read more

 

Investor group offers to buy American Apparel for $300 million at Reuters. “The offer has the support of American Apparel’s founder and former chief executive, Dov Charney, Hagan Capital and Silver Creek said in a statement on Monday.” Read more

 

**A message from ASD Market Week. The largest, wholesale tradeshow in the US is just around the corner! Are you ready? What sets us apart from other shows is the variety of impulse buys we offer in hundreds of product categories. These point of purchase displays are your biggest and best margin builders. No other show offers this advantage. ASD is nine shows in one location, conveniently located under one roof at the Las Vegas Convention Center, February 28 – March 2, 2016. Get ready to find the latest trends at ASD. Want to learn more? Check out the ASD Insider blog – a retailer’s guide to success!

 

Is package delivery coming to the trunk of your car? Volkswagen thinks so by Kevin Lisota at GeekWire. “At the Volkswagen keynote address at CES 2016, CEO Dr. Herbert Diess showed off BUDD-e, the company’s long-range electric concept vehicle. BUDD-e has a special drop box in the trunk of the car that can be digitally opened by a delivery service so that your packages can be delivered to you in a more convenient location.” See the pics / Read more

 

INTERNET OF THINGS HICCUP – Nest’s Smart Home Apps Are Back Online Following Outages by Lucas Matney at TechCrunch. “In the absence of any initial details from Nest, many users flocked to Twitter to vent their frustrations with the company’s products, and also reflect on the risks inherent to trusting connected devices with sensitive tasks like monitoring children.” Read more

 

…Tweetable: “Sick on my couch and the house is 60° because @nest decided not to work today. Anyone else having problems? #nest”

 

Amazon will stream President Obama’s final State of the Union speech, make it available on demand by Taylor Soper at GeekWire. “Amazon Video won’t carry the address live, but will make Tuesdays speech available on demand via its platform one day later until the end of the week. You can also watch all seven of President Obama’s past State of the Union addresses on Amazon Video.” Read more

 

Harvard Business Review: How Subscriptions Are Creating Winners and Losers in Retail by Chris Randall, Alan Lewis & Amanda Davis. “While some “traditional retailers” offer subscription services today, the number is relatively low. Yet in many categories, the model makes eminent sense for these established retailers and brands – in fact, they may even be competitively advantaged versus start-ups given their higher brand awareness, economies of scale, built-in customer base and ability to offer consumers the convenience of omnichannel shopping options.” Read more

 

Amazon’s ‘Mozart in the Jungle’ wins Golden Globe as Jeff Bezos gets another shoutout by Taylor Soper at GeekWire. Read more

 

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