Wal-Mart Balks at Paying $600-Million-Plus in Bribery Case by Tom Schoenberg & Matt Robinson at Bloomberg. “With the impasse, prosecutors have gone back to elicit more evidence from witnesses about alleged bribe-paying in Mexico, the people said. That will put additional pressure on the company to settle. Some of the people familiar with the matter said the U.S. could propose a penalty well above $600 million.” Read more

 

Could Kroger buy out Whole Foods? by Alexander Coolidge at Cincinnati Enquirer. “Industry speculation that Kroger is mulling a takeover of Whole Foods Market powered the stock in both companies Thursday…” Read more

 

Nordstrom reverses course, yanks controversial drug-themed clothing by Moschino by Mary Lynn Smith at Star Tribune. “A Nordstrom official confirmed via a one-sentence e-mail on Thursday that the retailer will no longer offer the drug-themed collection. The move reverses the retailer’s decision earlier this week to keep the items in its stores. Saks, which appears to still offer the Capsule clothing line, has not responded to a request for comment.” Read more

 

Amazon Looms Quietly in Digital Ad Landscape by Mike Shields at Wall Street Journal. “They’ve been operating for a few years functionally in stealth mode. You have to ask the right people, or pull the right chains to get an understanding of what they’re doing,” said Evan Hanlon, director of strategy & platforms at the ad buying giant GroupM.” Read more (subscription)

 

Retailers Are Now Blaming the Election for Poor Sales by Matthew Townsend at Bloomberg. “They are reaching,” Perkins said. “I don’t think it’s affecting moms as they go out and do their weekly shopping. If it’s something you do on a regular basis, you’re going to stop doing it because you’re worried about which candidate is going to win? It doesn’t seem to be affecting Amazon’s sales.” Read more

 

Gap September Comp Sales -3.0% “Gap Global: negative 10 percent…Banana Republic Global: negative 9 percent…Old Navy Global: positive 4 percent.” Press release

 

Grocery e-retailers may soon be able to process food stamps online by James Melton at Internet Retailer. “Because of the inclusion of additional EBT processors, the deadline for retailers to submit letters of intent, which originally was Sept. 30, has been extended to Oct. 7. The deadline for application forms has been extended to Nov. 7 from Oct. 31. The USDA still expects to select participating retailers by Dec. 31.” Read more

 

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Investor community presses Wal-Mart execs for specifics on operating strategy, comp sales by Kim Souza at The City Wire. Read more

 

Bed Bath & Beyond Tests a Paid Membership Model by Imani Moise at Wall Street Journal. “… the home goods retailer is testing a membership model that for $29 a year offers a 20% discount on all purchases and free shipping.” Read more (subscription)

 

Fred’s September Comp Sales -4.9% Press release

 

Target urged to oust Wells CEO from retailer’s board as scandal intensifies by George Avalos at The Mercury News. “In quarter-page advertisement in the Star Tribune, Aaron Epstein urged Minneapolis-based Target to seek John Stumpf’s immediate resignation “to preserve the positive legacy bequeathed to us by our company’s (Target’s) founders.” Read more

 

Publix makes $1 million storm relief donation as Hurricane Matthew approaches Florida by Ashley Gribal Kritzer at Tampa Bay Business Journal. Read more

 

Fans wait overnight to purchase MAC’s Selena makeup line by Corilyn Shropshire at Chicago Tribune. “MAC Cosmetics’ new makeup line honoring Latin pop icon Selena Quintanilla-Perez drew a long line of about 100 people at one Chicago store Thursday…Alonso said she was hungry, thirsty and hadn’t been to the bathroom. She said she camped out for 12 hours — since 8:30 p.m. Wednesday — to ensure she could spend $377 to buy big chunk of the collection.” Read more

 

Home Depot Names Priceline CEO Jeff Boyd to Its Board of Directors Press release

 

Amazon gives $10 million to expand University of Washington’s computer science program by Ashley Stewart at Puget Sound Business Journal. “…to help the school as much as double the number of computer science students it trains each year.” Read more

 

Lawsuit Accuses Williams-Sonoma Of Selling Cheap Sheets At Steep Prices by Vanessa McGrady at Forbes. Read more

 

Save-A-Lot revamps as rivals vie for market share by Lisa Brown at St. Louis Post Dispatch. “As it faces a possible sale or spinoff, the Save-A-Lot grocery store chain is boosting the number of national brands on its shelves, remodeling to highlight fresh foods and adding stores…” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Hy-Vee buys site for Minneapolis-area store

Bob Evans resists venture into packaged food business

First fans in at Paisley Park see studios, handwritten notes — and Prince’s ashes

Hamleys Toy Store Targets China as One-Child Limit Comes to End

Testing out Amazon’s ‘Internet of Things’ button requires infinite patience

Crate and Barrel Is Using This Squarespace-like Tool to Make Buzzy Social Videos

Shyp Goes Nationwide By Letting You Comparison-Shop Shipping Services

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

 

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