Home Depot’s CFO talk to Jim Cramer by Abigail Stevenson at CNBC. “This year, Home Depot expects to sell 2.8 million live Christmas trees, and enough LED Christmas lights to circle the globe six-and-a-half million times. “We leaned to it in a big way, and we are going to have a knockout black Friday” (Carol) Tomé said.” Video interview / Read more

 

…Home Depot wants to grab a bigger chunk of Black Friday shoppers’ spending by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC. “In an effort to capitalize on consumers’ desire to decorate their homes, Home Depot — the largest seller of live Christmas trees — has grown its seasonal assortment five times over since launching the category a decade ago.” Read more

 

Malls are trying to use humanoid robots to get shoppers back from the internet by April Glaser at Recode. “For the first extended time in the U.S., shoppers at the Westfield Malls in San Francisco and Santa Clara, Calif., can meet the four-foot-tall roving android, where it will be working for the next three months. Shoppers at b8ta, a Palo Alto tech store, had a week to meet Pepper back in August.” Read more

 

US durable goods orders up 4.8% in Oct vs 1.5% increase expected at CNBC. Read more

 

Smart garbage can device will tell Amazon to automatically reorder stuff you throw away by Nat Levy at GeekWire. “GeniCan’s newest device is set for release in January. It will attach to a bin, and when people throw away items, they can scan barcodes and add them to a shopping list on their smartphone.” Read more

 

New Yorkers are lining up around the block and into the subway to buy Snap’s new Spectacles by Kurt Wagner at Recode. “I knew the lines were long, but then I saw this video from Mashable’s Sam Sheffer. Wow. It goes around the block, around another block, then down and back up a set of subway steps before extending another 100 yards or so. “I estimate probably 400 people are on line,” Sheffer said while walking the line on Facebook Live.” Read more

 

Department Stores Lure Black Friday Shoppers With $19.99 Women’s Boots by Suzanne Kapner at Wall Street Journal. “Belk Inc. started offering the heavily discounted boots as its “door-buster” seven years ago. The promotion was so successful that it has been repeated every year since, and adopted by rivals like Kohl’sCorp., Macy’s Inc. and J.C. Penney Co. “$19.99 is a magic number,” said Joseph Safdeye, chief executive of E.S. Originals Inc., a shoe importer that came up with the idea.” Read more (subscription)

 

A Federal Judge Just Blocked the Obama Administration’s Signature Overtime Rule via Fortune. “The Labor Department can appeal to the New Orleans, Louisiana-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, but that court has stymied the Obama administration before…the Labor Department could drop the appeal after Republican President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.” Read more

 

Amazon’s Treasure Truck trots out the turkeys during pre-Thanksgiving trip around Seattle by Kurt Schlosser at GeekWire. “Amazon’s lit up, roaming, deals on wheels destination was out and about delivering fresh, 14- to 16-pound free-range turkeys from Woodinville, Wash.-based meat company Porter & York. The $43 deal also included a Cuisinart thermometer, roasting pan and roasting bag.” Pics / Read more

 

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Couche-Tard profits hurts by a flood, a hurricane and an oil pipeline leak by Damon Van Der Linde at Financial Post. “Investors seemed understanding of these setbacks, with the stock gaining 0.60 per cent to $63.50 by market close Tuesday.” Read more

 

Barnes & Noble Q2 Comp Sales -3.2% Press release

 

Inside Bob Iger’s Massive Disney Empire by James Rainey at Bloomberg.”Nothing about Bob Iger’s middle-class upbringing in New York…suggests that he would find a muse in a Tokyo subway station. But it is there, in a tiny sushi bar, that the chairman and CEO of the Walt Disney Co. finds inspiration, in a wizened nonagenarian who spends most of his waking hours sculpting fine slices of blue fin and eel and combining them with rice that is grown exclusively for the restaurateur…” Read more

 

Amazon’s delivery drones just might be on the job in 2020 … at least in Britain by Alan Boyle at GeekWire. Read more

 

Amazon Is Turning Up The Heat On Counterfeit Products by Leena Rao at Fortune. “…testing a new set of digital tools called Brand Central to help merchants prevent other sellers from copying and selling their products, tech news site CNET reported on Tuesday.” Read more

 

How Apple Lost China to Two Unknown Local Smartphone Makers at Bloomberg. “Apple needs to offer something cutting-edge to appeal to maturing Chinese smartphone users,” Counterpoint Research director Neil Shah writes. Oppo and Vivo can use the time until then to cement their positions, he said.” Read more

 

Pilot strike could delay Amazon holiday deliveries by Chris Wetterich at Cincinnati Business Courier. “About 250 pilots who fly for ABX Air, a cargo carrier that serves DHL and Amazon.com, are striking, grounding flights from both Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport and Wilmington Air Park…ABX flies 35 flights a day for Amazon Prime Air.” Read more

 

GameStop misses its own sales estimates with Q3 earnings by Korri Kezar at Dallas Business Journal. “Next quarter, GameStop now expects comparable store sales to range between a deficit of 7 percent and 12 percent.” Read more

 

Don’t Give Up on the Guitar. Fender Is Begging You by Kim Bhasin at Bloomberg. “Almost everyone who picks up a guitar, about 90 percent, abandons it within the first year, according to Mooney. Many give up within three months, frustrated or unwilling to commit.” Read more

 

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