Tipsheet: Wgreen CEO “Not a Retailer” | Amazon: Half have Prime / In-Store Test | WinCo #105
Nearly half of U.S. households have a Prime membership by Elizabeth Weise at USA Today. “Consumer Intelligence Research Partners estimated that there were 54 million Prime members in the United States at the end of 2015. That’s 21% of the U.S. adult population of 246 million.” Read more
…BUT GROWTH SLOWS – Is Amazon Prime nearing its peak? by Greg Bensinger at MarketWatch. “…the rate of growth in signups slowed to 35% from 54% in 2014, according to CIRP’s estimates.” Read more
Fortune: The Billionaire Behind Walgreens’ Quest for Global Dominance by Jennifer Reingold & Marty Jones. “One bottle of San Pellegrino water. It’s the closest thing to a personal item visible in Pessina’s office…There are no photographs with luminaries, no mementos of product launches or even stacks of files. Perhaps that’s because Pessina actually lives in Monaco and spends so much time on the road. It may also be because he isn’t interested in typical CEO activities. He doesn’t visit many stores or pose for selfies with the employee of the month. He doesn’t obsess over a particular SKU. “I am not a retailer,” he readily admits. “I am not a wholesaler anymore. I am a team builder and a company builder.” Read more
Walmart Canada Eliminates Free Plastic Bags “Customers will be encouraged to use reusable bags, which will be sold at a discounted rate of 25 cents. Walmart will continue to offer plastic bags at a fee of five cents per bag to those customers who request them.” Read the release
WSJ: How Bad Is Retail? Look at the Bonds by Matt Jarzemsky. “Investors have sent the price of bonds in J. Crew Group Inc. and Nine West Holdings Inc. down to 27 cents and 23 cents on the dollar as of Friday…That’s more than 70% below where they started 2015. Bonds issued by Claire’s Stores Inc. have lost nearly 39% to about 60 cents, Gymboree Corp. bonds have plunged by 32% to 26 cents. Some Toys “R” Us Inc. bonds fell to 69 cents in mid-December before rising again to about 82 cents.” Read more (subscription)
Walmart and the U.S. Conference of Mayors donate $2.84 million to five schools related to textile manufacturing Oregon State | Clemson | Cornell
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Office Depot earns a perfect buy online, pickup in store score by Tracy Maple at Internet Retailer. “Best Buy Co., The Home Depot Inc. and Nordstrom Inc. tied at 97% order fulfillment, followed by Staples Inc. at 91%. The index average was 82%.” Read more
Amazon’s other physical retail test: A mini bookstore for Kindle ebooks by Todd Bishop at GeekWire. “It only takes up a couple square feet, a small fraction of the size of Amazon’s first real bookstore in Seattle, but the company has been quietly making another foray into physical retail — offering individual ebook gift cards for sale under a pilot program at Bartell Drugs in Washington state…” Read more
Murphy USA shifts away from Walmart parking lots, will seek new ‘growth opportunities’ by Wesley Brown at The City Wire. “Murphy USA Inc. announced Monday that its board of directors has authorized a strategic allocation of $500 million to pursue new “growth opportunities” not tied to the company’s relationship with the Bentonville retailer.” Read more
Amazon Is Taking a Different Approach With Its Next Smartphone by Jason Cipriani at Fortune. “(Amazon) is approaching Android smart phone manufacturers to put retailing apps on its smartphones at a “factory” level, the report said. Translation: Instead of simply pre-installing some of Amazon’s mobile applications on a device, Amazon wants to have its core services—such as its Firefly product scanning technology—integrated directly into the device’s operating system.” Read more
WinCo to Open Store #105 “The store is located at 231 NE Terry Lane in Grants Pass, Oregon. The store is somewhat smaller than most traditionally sized WinCo Foods stores, measuring approximately 72,000 square feet.” Read the release
P&G Tests Tide Pickup Laundry Service in Chicago by Jack Neff at Ad Age. “With the slogan “Life over laundry,” the service offers wash-and-fold service for everyday laundry at $1.59 a pound.” Read more
Dick’s will Donate Patriots AFC Championship apparel to ‘countries in need’ by Mina Corpuz at Boston Globe. “Dick’s Sporting Goods says it’s donating the goods to nonprofit World Vision…“We don’t sell the product if the team loses, because they’re not the champion,” he said.” Read more
Chase to introduce new ATM machines that only need an app to withdraw cash by Kalhan Rosenblatt at Daily Mail. “The machines have already been tested in states like Washington, but a wider roll out in the thousands is planned for later this year. The upgrade to eATMs will allow customers to ditch the magnetic strip and instead log into an account using an app.” Read more
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