Biden visits Saks – stops traffic on Fifth Avenue by Oli Coleman at NY Post. “Fifth Avenue ground to a halt as the block between 49th and 50th was cleared of traffic and eight blacked-out cars screeched up. A crowd of Secret Service agents swarmed outside Saks, whereupon the veep and his wife emerged from a car, waved to confused tourists and went inside.” Read more

 

Target’s IT chief set a new direction, starting with smaller budget by Kavita Kumar at Star Tribune. ““I mean we had over 800 projects. Even a company as big as Target doesn’t have 800 priorities.” The list has now been pared back to 80…Target currently has about 800 more open tech positions. “I could easily fill another thousand positions,” McNamara said.” Read more

 

Lowe’s New 360-Degree Videos on Facebook Aim to Teach Fans Home Improvement Skills by Christopher Heine at Adweek. “The initiative, called Made in a Minute, launches today on the brand’s Facebook page and will run through August. The company is buying Facebook ads to push the effort…” Read more

 

American University learns from Wegmans by James Goodman at Democrate & Chronicle. “American University’s initiative — including (Mary Ellen) Burris’ contribution to it — was reported online this week by The Chronicle of Higher Education, in an article titled, “What a University Can Learn from Wegmans” Read more

 

Neiman Marcus boss rumored to step down amid slumping sales by Lisa Fickenscher at NY Post. “Multiple industry insiders are whispering to On the Money that the company’s recent struggles are spurring rumors that Karen Katz, Neiman’s president and chief exec and a 31-year veteran of the company, is stepping down soon. “The subject keeps coming up,” one insider told our Lisa Fickenscher.” Read more

 

Amazon Japan Enticing Shoppers From an Unexpected Place: China by Grace Huang at Bloomberg. “China’s infatuation with Japanese products is now discovering a new source of satisfaction: the internet. And Amazon.co.jp is responding. On June 30, the web retailer quietly rolled out a Chinese-language version of its shopping site in Japan, along with new, reduced shipping rates to mainland homes and businesses.” Read more

 

Canada: Shoppers Drug Mart enters grocery wars, armed with fresh fruit and fish by Sophia Harris at CBC News. “Shoppers says it is “pleased with the results to date,” according to spokeswoman Tammy Smitham in an email. The company plans to remodel more stores and open 10 new Toronto locations this year that will include fresh food.” Read more

 

**A message from 2016 Sweets & Snacks Expo – The Most Innovative New Products winners have been announced! Winners were awarded in nine categories: chocolate, non-chocolate, sweet, salty, savory, novelty, seasonal, gourmet/premium and gum/mints. See the 9 winners & 36 nominees The 2017 Sweets & Snacks Expo is nearly 90% sold out and will take place May 23-25 at Chicago’s McCormick Place – Notify me when registration opens

 

Under-sized lobsters seized from Price Chopper as grocer faces fines by Michael DeMasi at Albany Business Review. “More than 1,100 pounds of under-sized lobsters were seized from Price Chopper stores and its distribution plant in Rotterdam, New York, as the supermarket chain faces fines from the state Department of Environmental Conservation.” Read more

 

Amazon adding 18 warehouses in third quarter of this year by Jason Del Rey at Recode. Read more

 

bon appetit: What’s the Deal with the Food at T.J. Maxx? by Maggie Lange. “…there’s a scheme behind the mess that makes for a successful, sneaky merchandise model…The buyers who acquire merchandise for T. J. Maxx call this a “treasure hunt merchandising philosophy,” says Victoria Taylor of Victoria’s Gourmet bacon spice…The buyers want the store to run out of items.” Read more / See the pics

 

Huge crowd of Seattle wizards converge on Amazon’s Treasure Truck for midnight release of new Harry Potter book by Kevin Lisota at GeekWire. “This is the first midnight excursion for Amazon’s Treasure Truck…The line of folks in line wrapped all the way around the parking lot, and the steady stream of cars driving in showed no signs of letting up when I left at 12:30AM.” See the pics / Read more

 

Analyst suggests U.S. athletic footwear has peaked – cites meeting with former Dick’s chief merchant by Sheena Butler-Young at Footwear News. “Binetti added that his recent meetings with a former chief merchant from Dick’s Sporting Goods and bankrupt sporting goods seller Sports Authority suggest that nonathletic retailers that have recently added athletic merchandise may be planning to reduce footage dedicated to the category in 2017.” Read more

 

How would Costco treat chickens? Latest technology is in plans for birds at Fremont-area plant by Barbara Soderlin at Omaha World-Herald. “The Humane Society of the United States, which worked with Perdue, said it has been in touch with Costco about the Nebraska plant, though it declined to share details about any conversations. “Our hope is that Costco and other companies will require standards around the same animal welfare issues that Perdue is now so proactively addressing,” said Matthew Prescott.” Read more

 

Dick’s giving Olympic hopefuls a boost by Stephanie Ritenbaugh at Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Of the athletes working at Dick’s locations, 18 Paralympians and seven Olympians so far have qualified for this year’s Summer Games in Rio….“They give you a duffle bag with USOC gear, and there was a pamphlet in there about the program. I’m from Pennsylvania, so I know what Dick’s is,” said Mr. Hill, of Darby, Pa.” Read more

 

Target coming to East Village development by E.B. Solomont at The Real Deal. Read more

 

Study: Raising the minimum wage did little for workers’ earnings in Seattle at Washington Post via Chicago Tribune. “…they calculated that workers’ earnings increased by $5.54 a week on average because of the minimum wage. Using other methods, the researchers found that the minimum wage hike actually caused total weekly earnings to drop — by as much as $5.22 a week.” Read more

 

SPAM-SPAM-SPAM – Spam is the most sought-after item on the “wheel of safety” at Home Depot RDC by Jason A. Smith at Valdosta Daily Times. “Though, contrary to what would be expected, Spam is the most sought-after item on the wheel, Falcon said. Associates will sometimes chant Spam when the wheel is spinning. It is a sort of jackpot, if you will.” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Walmart worker gives away his shoes to homeless man

Chip Ganassi: The real reason Target is leaving IndyCar

Saatchi Chairman Disciplined After Saying Women Lack ‘Vertical Ambition’

Target employees given lifesaving award

Starbucks hires top Under Armour executive as creative director

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

QUICK-SUBSCRIBE to Eye on Retail Tipsheet here