Tipsheet: New Handbags -23% | Murder Kroger’s Coffin | 41% New Fathers Switch | L.Liquid. +1%
Amazon can’t beat our Halloween mix-and-match creativity: Party City CEO by Elizabeth Gurdus at CNBC. “(CEO Harrison) said that where the chain goes beyond Amazon is in the opportunities consumers have at Party City to buy separate costume pieces and put them together more creatively, rather than simply ordering something preset online. “We take something thematically and really blow it out with multiple options,” Harrison said.” See the video / Read more
Sales at Lumber Liquidators grew for the first time in 6 quarters at Reuters. “Same-store sales rose 1 percent for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, compared to a 3.8 percent fall analysts polled by research firm Consensus Metrix had expected.” Read more
Handbag Sellers Slashing Their Lineups as Luxury Demand Wanes at Bloomberg. “In the three months through Aug. 31, the number of new handbags introduced by Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s fell 23 percent and 3 percent, respectively, compared with an increase of 5 percent and 11 percent the year before, according to Edited.” Read more
Final nail put in Murder Kroger’s coffin by Amy Wenk at Atlanta Business Chronicle. “…people came out for a candlelight vigil that mixed the macabre with the nostalgic. It was part parking lot party, with some sipping beers in paper bags, and part homage to what’s become a kitschy Atlanta landmark despite the site’s history with violent crime.” 7 pics / Read more
Amazon shelling out record sums for shipping in push for faster delivery by Todd Bishop at GeekWire. “Shipping revenue received from customers covered a little more than 55 percent of the company’s overall shipping costs in the quarter, in line with other recent quarters, but those overall costs soared 43 percent to nearly $3.9 billion.” Read more
P&G Boss Tries to Speed Up a Giant by Sharon Terlep at Wall Street Journal. “Sitting in his office at P&G’s headquarters, Mr. Taylor said he is confident that P&G’s best prospects remain rooted in fundamentals. That means selling to the masses by way of big retailers on the strength of meticulously collected consumer research, a massive research-and-development operation and the world’s biggest advertising budget. P&G, he says, needs to learn to do these things faster and more effectively…” Read more (subscription)
Warby Parker opening inside Grand Central Terminal by Teresa Novellino at New York Business Journal. “…the latest shop takes architectural and design cues from “grand civic buildings,” including terrazzo floors, marble countertops and Solari-inspired train arrival and departure board for eye appointments.” 7 pics / Read more
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This is the best day of the year to do your holiday shopping via NY Post. “Indeed, jewelry (save 10% by buying on Thanksgiving), appliances (12%), computers (13%), sporting goods (14%), tablets (18%) and televisions (20%) are all a good deal on Turkey Day…” Read more
Brooks Brothers acquires jewelry brand Alexis Bittar by Teresa Novellino at New York Business Journal. Read more
The cost of fraud: 7.6% of an online retailer’s revenue by April Berthene at Internet Retailer. “Of the merchants surveyed, the average yearly financial expense due to fraud and fraud prevention was $14.6 million and that represents 7.6% of annual revenue across all channels, including online and offline sales. Of that $14.6 million, 7% is attributable to chargebacks; 74% is for fraud management software, hardware and employees; and 19% comes from false positives.” Read more
41% of new fathers switch brands, study finds via PR Week. “43% of fathers surveyed said they changed brands because they wanted organic products, 39% said they did so because they didn’t want artificial additives, and 33% said they switched to brands that were allergen-free.” Read more
Spurs debut new round of H-E-B commercials at NBA.com. See the spots
Goldman Sachs pushes Apple to make rival bid for Time Warner by Josh Kosman at NY Post. “They are freaking out trying to convince Apple to come in,” the source said. Goldman has been left on the sidelines in advising on AT&T’s $85 billion agreement to acquire Time Warner.” Read more
San Antonio: Five shot in overnight party by man dressed as Freddy Krueger by Chris Quinn at My San Antonio. Read more
More of Target’s advertising reaching out to Hispanics as customer demographics change by Kavita Kumar at Star Tribune. “Although Target has been marketing to Latinos for years, the retailer began amplifying its efforts a few years ago. Research showed that its core customer had shifted from the suburban soccer mom to someone much more urban, Hispanic and millennial. “We kind of had a realization that we had lost sight of who our guest is,” (Rick) Gomez said.” Read more
Starbucks Struggles to Become Your Local Saloon by Brian Sozzi at The Steet. “When we asked the server how to properly drink the espresso cloud IPA, she said pour the espresso shot in and enjoy. Seeing as there was sufficient room in the beer glass and the espresso shot was small, we poured it into the glass as instructed. Then the below instantly happened…” See the pic / Read more
Coffee-Loving Millennials Push Demand to a Record by Marvin G Perez at Bloomberg. “Millennials account for about 44 percent of U.S. coffee demand, according to Chicago-based researcher Datassential. In the eight years through 2016, daily consumption among 18- to 24-years-olds rose to 48 percent from 34 percent, while it climbed to 60 percent from 51 percent among those aged 25 to 39.” Read more
Tired of Counting Piles of Cash, Venezuelans Start Weighing Them by Fabiola Zerpa & Andrew Rosati at Bloomberg. “It’s sad,” Gonzalez says. “At this point, I think the cheese is worth more.” Read more
Tipsheet Extra Stories
Parents worried about creepy clowns plan to carry guns trick-or-treating
Forbes: How Walmart And Big Box Stores Make Us All Richer
Sports equipment company to file bankruptcy
A-Rod and Shaq buy an eSports team
Soda is also on the ballot this election day
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