Tipsheet: L.L. Bean Orders Delayed | Amazon Furniture Push | Gander Mtn Suitor
Gander Mountain Said to Draw Sportsman’s Warehouse Interest by Jody Xu Klein & Steven Church at Bloomberg. “Sportsman’s Warehouse Holdings Inc. is planning to bid for as many as 80 percent of Gander Mountain’s stores, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. Sportsman’s Warehouse is still deciding whether it would keep the Gander Mountain name on those locations or run them under its own brand, the people said.” Read more
Wayfair shares tumble amid report of Amazon furniture push by Anita Balakrishnan at CNBC. “Amazon representatives told a group of retailers on Monday that it hopes to allow furniture sellers that do not deliver nationwide to join the platform, according to a report in Furniture Today. Retailers could list their products on the platform with a menu of services options, like “white glove delivery,” as opposed to giving their products to third-party shippers, according to Furniture Today.” Read more
Fred’s Expands Board As FTC Decision Nears On Rite Aid by Bruce Japsen at Forbes. “…adding Steven B. Rossi, CEO of Digital First Media, and Timothy A. Barton, former CEO of Frightquote.com, to its board as part of a “cooperation agreement with Alden Global Capital, Fred’s largest shareholder.” Read more
Adweek’s 2017 Power List: Our Top 100 Leaders in Media, Marketing and Tech (Bezos #1, Lundgren, McMillon) by David Gianatasio at Adweek. Top 100 list
Wal-Mart’s Tech Incubator Hires Co-Founder of Rent the Runway by Matthew Boyle at Bloomberg. “Jennifer Fleiss, who stepped down from the online clothing-rental service earlier this year, will lead an outfit called Code Eight, which will develop “highly personalized, one-to-one shopping experiences”…Wal-Mart’s tech incubator, called Store No. 8, was launched in March to identify trends that are reshaping the shopping experience, including virtual reality, robotics and personalized shopping.” Read more
Flush with funding, Instacart accelerates US expansion by Lora Kolodny at TechCrunch. “According to the company’s vice president of product, Elliot Shmukler, the company is operating in 41 U.S. markets today and is launching into four new markets this week, including Detroit, Las Vegas, Columbus, Ohio and across Texas’ Rio Grande Valley. New customers in Texas and the Midwest will be able to try its Instacart Express membership free for one year, he said.” Read more
Albertsons explores bid for high-end grocer Whole Foods by James Fontanella-Khan at Financial Times via CNBC. “No formal bid has yet been made, according to both people briefed on the situation.” Read more
Nordstrom tucks a tux-rental site into several stores by Janet I. Tu at Seattle Times. “The Black Tux, a suit- and tuxedo-rental company that operates primarily online, this week opens a store-within-a-Nordstrom store at Alderwood mall, one of six such locations.” Read more
Kroger Names Kristal Howard New Head of Corporate Communications and Media Relations Press release
WALMART OPEN CALL INCLUDES ACQUISITIONS – Applications for ‘Open Call’ event accepted through May 18 by Kim Souza at Talk Business. “Cindi Marsiglio, vice president of Walmart U.S. manufacturing…said meetings will be held between category buyers and the prospective suppliers, but also attending will be category leaders from Moosejaw, Jet.com, ShoeBuy and ModCloth, as well as Sam’s Club.” Read more
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Kroger Names Colleen Lindholz President of Pharmacy and The Little Clinic Press release
L.L. Bean orders delayed after systems upgrade problem by J.Craig Anderson at Portland Press-Herald. “L.L. Bean Inc. is experiencing shipping delays of up to a week on some customer orders as a result of problems with a systems upgrade…has sent letters to some customers apologizing for the delays and offering a discount of 20 percent on a future order.” Read more
The 16 Best Companies To Work For In Fashion 2017 (Gap, Nordstrom, Warby Parker, H&M) at The Business of Fashion. List/Read more
Albertsons Promotes Jewel-Osco President Mike Withers to EVP, Retail Operations Press release
“CLEARLY THE BEGINNING OF THE END” – Marsh Supermarkets said to cut staff amid new round of closures by Mark Hamstra at Supermarket News. “Marsh Supermarkets has cut back sharply on its headquarters support staff, according to sources, indicating that the company will likely continue to shutter locations. In addition, many of its direct-store delivery (DSD) vendors are demanding cash on delivery (COD) at some of the remaining locations.” Read more
Mondelez’s marketing whiz Dana Anderson exits for MediaLink by Lewis Lazare at Chicago Business Journal. Read more
Retailers’ Call Centers Bring Life to Dead Mall Space by Esther Fung at Wall Street Journal. “A giant home-goods retailer is moving into an indoor mall in west of Orlando this summer, but it isn’t opening a store. Instead, Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. is leasing roughly 75,000 square feet at West Oaks Mall for a call center, taking up about a third of the space that was formerly occupied by a Belk department store.” Read more (subs.)
CANADA – Wholesale sales fell 0.2% in February vs. -1.0% expected at Toronto Star. “The personal and household goods subsector posted the largest decline in dollar terms in February as it fell 1.7 per cent to $8.3 billion. The food, beverage and tobacco subsector dropped 1.0 per cent to $11.0 billion, led by the food industry.” Read more
Home Depot back at #2 for radio spots at Media Monitors via 4-Traders. “In last week’s Media Monitors Radio Spot Ten report..The Home Depot held steady at No. 2 with 38,299 ads…Lowe’s dropped to No. 4 with 35,022 spots…AutoZone jumped up to No. 8 with 25,264 ads and JCPenney ascended to No. 9 airing 21,938 commercials. Staples climbed to No. 10 with 20,972 spots.” Read more
Ivanka’s line is quietly being sold under another name by David K. Li at NY Post. “Florida-based Stein Mart, with 290 stores in the South and Midwest, has been selling Ivanka’s goods with the label Adrienne Vittadini Studio, Business of Fashion reported on Monday.” Read more
Tipsheet Extra Stories
Harvard Business School’s annual contest for entrepreneurs is a case study unto itself
Nat’l Assoc of Chain Drug Stores names Walgreens’ Gourlay as chairman
Shocking moment 60 teenage girls start a huge brawl in a Florida mall
Writers Guild Members Vote for Strike Authorization With 96% Support
Nearly every retailer says this is how they’ll bring back traffic – few are truly delivering
Trump’s ‘Buy American’ policy is getting support from an unlikely place: A Chinese e-com giant
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