Tipsheet: Target’s Pantry Fighter | G.Mtn Confusion | Loblaw Eyes Weed | Coach Buys Spade
Target Restock bringing household supplies to a doorstep near you by Kavita Kumar at Star Tribune. “…customers will be able to fill a large box of a specific size with as many items as can fit in it, choosing from more than 8,000 household essentials, beauty and personal care items and dry grocery products. The box, which is limited to 45 pounds, will then be shipped for a flat fee and arrive on their doorsteps by the next day if they place their order by 1:30 p.m.” Read more
Hudson’s Bay taps debt adviser amid Neiman Marcus bid challenged by Jessica DiNapoli & Lauren Hirsch at Reuters. “The move is the clearest indication yet that Neiman Marcus’ $4.7 billion debt pile poses significant challenges to a merger between Hudson’s Bay, owner of the Lord & Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue retail chains, and private equity-owned Neiman Marcus.” Read more
Coach to buy rival Kate Spade for $2.4 billion via CNBC. “The $18.50 per share cash offer represents a premium of 9 percent to Kate Spade’s Friday close.” Read more | Press release
Apple offers first peek at plans to convert D.C.’s Carnegie Library into new store by Jonathan O’Connell at Washington Post. “This is a way of creating a reason to come to the store, to touch and feel our products, but also to have an engaging experience with someone who is passionate about the same thing,” said B.J. Siegel, Apple Retail’s senior design director.” Read more
New owner of Gander Mountain plans to keep at least 70 stores open, despite what company’s website says by Nick Woltman at Pioneer Press. “Among the stores he plans to keep open are those in Lakeville and Forest Lake in Minnesota; Wausau, Franklin, Kenosha, DeForest and Onalaska in Wisconsin; and Fargo, N.D., according to his tweets. Lemonis said he expects to release the locations of more stores that will remain open Monday.” Read more
Loblaw CEO says company is watching marijuana legislation by Linda Nguyen at Canadian Press via Financial Post. “Galen G. Weston said his focus remains on dispensing medical cannabis. But when asked whether Loblaw has closed the book on entering the recreational marijuana market, Weston said, “You can never predict the future” Read more
Buffett and Munger talk missing out on Google and Amazon by Steve Jordan at Omaha World-Herald. “Buffett praised Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. “I was too dumb to realize that was going to happen. I admired him, but I didn’t think he could succeed on the scale that he has.” Read more
J.C. Penney spending $97.5M to settle lawsuit by Korri Kezar at Dallas Business Journal. “The case, Alan B. Marcus Individually on Behalf of all Others Similarly Situated v. J.C. Penney Co. Inc., claims former CEO Mike Ullman and chief financial officer Ken Hannah misled investors about the company’s liquidity in August and September 2013, prior to a public stock offering in September 2013.” Read more
Amazon announces new bookstore in Washington D.C., its 13th nationwide by Taylor Soper at GeekWire. Read more
New Publix store is among the smallest in the chain at 30,629 square feet by Ashley Gurbal Kritzer at Tampa Bay Business Journal. “The new store has a young, almost hipster vibe, between prepared foods like bento bowls and signs directing customers to Florida-produced grocery items. (Fittingly, the grand opening was documented on Instagram stories.).” 15 pics/Read more
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Cornershop, a grocery-delivery app in Chile and Mexico, raises $21M by Matthew Lynley at TechCrunch. Read more
Jeff Bezos explains Amazon’s artificial intelligence and machine learning strategy by Todd Bishop at GeekWire. “Bezos: ‘I would say, a lot of the value that we’re getting from machine learning is actually happening beneath the surface. It is things like improved search results. Improved product recommendations for customers. Improved forecasting for inventory management. Literally hundreds of other things beneath the surface.’ “ Video/Read more
Madison Avenue gets less stuffy with new menswear shops by Lisa Fickenscher at NY Post. “Most of the trendy, new apparel is coming from online companies,” said Nicholas Forelli, director of leasing for Feil. “So I have been tracking down only online retailers to fill our spaces.” Read more
Fortune’s 100 Best Co’s to Work For (Wegmans #2, Publix #21, REI #28, Norstrom #94) List of 100
Crate and Barrel has made its temporary CEO permanent by Matt Linder at Internet Retailer. “Neela Montgomery has been handling the bulk of the CEO’s responsibilities since now-former CEO Doug Diemoz left the retailer last month. Montgomery spent more than a decade in a variety of roles with U.K. mass merchant Tesco Stores.” Read more
Retailers poaching fast-food workers by Leslie Patton at Bloomberg. “Wal-Mart’s not perfect, but compared to fast food, it’s much, much, much better,” Andrews said…Italian fast-casual chain Fazoli’s is trying to fend off retail, according to Dave Craig, vice president of human resources. “It’s a free-for-all right now,” Craig said.” Read more
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