Lowe’s cuts 95 corporate IT jobs by Katherine Peralta at Charlotte Observer. “Sixty of those positions are at its corporate headquarters in Mooresville, and the remainder are at other company locations in North Carolina and Texas, spokeswoman Connie Bryant said.” Read more

 

It’s still too damn hot out to buy winter clothes by Lisa Fickenscher at NY Post. “…sales at specialty apparel stores…were down by $393 million in August and September, compared with a decline of $376 million over the same period last year, according to Planalytics, which tracks weather trends for retailers.” Read more

 

HURRICANE MATTHEW – Florida Gov. Rick Scott warns residents to stock three days worth of food and water for what could be ‘biggest storm in 24 years’ via Daily Mail. “If the storm changes track, it could hit the Sunshine state as early as Wednesday and last through Saturday, according to the National Hurricane Center. There are currently no evacuation orders for Florida.” Read more

 

How a series of crises flipped Target’s internal comms strategy on its head by Diana Bradley at PR Week. “We wanted to make sure we were talking to team members in real-time,” said (Dustee) Jenkins. “A group of us started talking about how one of the things we most enjoy reading every morning was TheSkimm, so I met with one of its founders and talked with her about the process and approach they take.” Jenkins and her team set out to create Target’s version of the morning email newsletter. She also met with peers at other Fortune 50 companies, who told her their internal newsletters have an average readership of 30% to 40%.” Read more

 

Q&A: Wal-Mart CIO Karenann Terrell on What the Retailer Learns From Online Grocery Data by Kim S. Nash at Wall Street Journal. “We’ve observed that online customers have a very, very high level of satisfaction—above 90%—while for those shopping in the store, it isn’t nearly at that high level. We wanted to dig underneath and find out why.” Read more (subscription)

 

Walmart U.S. to close three stores as leases expire by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “Walmart U.S. plans to close two discount stores in west Texas and one campus store in Columbia, Mo., in the coming weeks as the leases on these properties expire.” Read more

 

Dick’s Sporting Goods names new CFO by Paul J. Gough at Pittsburgh Business Times. “Lee Belitsky has been executive vice president, product development and merchandise planning, allocation and replenishment. He has also served in a number of senior vice president roles over the past 19 years since joining Dick’s Sporting Goods in 1997 as vice president, controller.” Read more

 

What’s next for Cabela’s hometown of Sydney, Nebraska? at Omaha World-Herald. “Around here, it stings, say people in this company town of 6,800 — around 2,000 of whom work for the homegrown outdoors retailer…”I’m feeling like there’s been a death in the family,” said Jenifer Wamsley, a former Cabela’s worker…“Cabela’s has been what’s kept this town afloat and allowed it to thrive,” she said. “If Bass Pro doesn’t stick around, it’s going to be devastating.” Read more

 

Facebook is taking on Craigslist with its own used goods marketplace by Jason Del Rey at Recode. Read more

 

Tracy Morgan ‘refuses to release medical records subpoenaed as part of legal battle over $90M Walmart settlement’ by Ryan Perry at Daily Mail. “Walmart’s insurers, who are trying to avoid taking the hit for the payments, believe Morgan’s health problems can be disproved after he was spotted driving around New York in a Lamborghini and appearing at the Emmy’s shortly after the settlement.” Read more

 

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Ex-Home Depot CMO Trish Mueller Speaks at Industry Event by Rob Stott at Dealerscope. “FutureVision was capped off by an important closing keynote that featured recently retired Chief Marketing Officer of Home Depot Trish Mueller, who told the impactful story about her (successful) attempt to turn the hardware giant into an omnichannel organization.” Read more

 

Amazon bans incentivized reviews tied to free or discounted products by Sarah Perez at TechCrunch. “In general, shoppers have begun to distrust these reviews because they believe them to be biased…a recent study of over 7 million reviews indicated that the average rating for products with incentivized reviews was higher than non-incentivized ones. (That is, a 4.74 average rating versus a 4.36 average rating, out of 5 stars).” Read more

 

WalmartLabs open sources the application platform that powers Walmart.com by Frederic Lardinois at TechCrunch. “Over the course of the last year, Walmart.com — a site that handles 80 million monthly visitors and offers 15 million items for sale — migrated to React and Node.js. In the process of this transition, the WalmartLabs team built Electrode, a React-based application platform to power Walmart.com. It’s now open sourcing this platform.” Read more

 

Kroger Lights HQ Pink to Join in Fight Against Breast Cancer Press release

 

Home Depot #2 in Weekly Radio Spots at Inside Radio. “Home Depot committed 28,952 ads for its No. 2 rank, with Rite Aid placing 27,675 ads for No. 3. McDonald’s and Burger King are Nos. 4 and 5, respectively, with JC Penney at No. 6, O’Reilly at No. 7, NAPA at 8, Nabisco at 9 and Macy’s roaring from No. 26 a week ago to No. 10.” Read more

 

Former Macy’s worker pleads guilty to mail fraud by Bowdeha Tweh at Cincinnati Enquirer. “As part of a plea deal, Suraj Patel, 37, of Long Beach, California, would serve one day in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Patel would also pay Macy’s $924,000 in restitution.” Read more

 

Amazon launches stealthy employee shuttle system with nondescript buses and little fanfare by Nat Levy at GeekWire. “Fitting with the under-the-radar pilot status of the program, and unlike the highly visible Microsoft Connector shuttles, Amazon’s buses are not decked out with company branding. The nondescript shuttles sport an all white exterior and tinted windows.” Read more / See the pic

 

More free money, please: Alaskans bemoan sum of yearly check via Denver Post. “Yes, you could call it free money. But that doesn’t mean all Alaskans are happy about the $1,022 dividend checks nearly every resident will receive starting Thursday from the state’s oil wealth fund. Folks were looking at getting more than twice that amount…” Read more

 

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Safety commission: Best Buy will pay $3.8 million civil penalty

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Krebs: Who Makes the IoT Things Under Attack?

In a Tight Market, Stores Lure Holiday Workers With Perks

Windsor, Canada: Flood-stricken residents raid area hardware stores

Watch out, Amazon: Google set to launch Echo competitor at event Tuesday

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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