U.S. consumer spending posts biggest gain since 2009 at Reuters. “Inflation pressures were benign in March. The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index excluding the volatile food and energy components was unchanged after edging up 0.1 percent in February.” Read more

 

Walmart Bets on TV Shows for Families, Date Night in Media Push by Lucas Shaw & Matthew Boyle at Bloomberg. “The retailer plans to bankroll at least a half-dozen original programs over the next year, and will unveil the first few to advertisers in New York this week, people familiar with the plans said. Walmart has talked with several Hollywood studios about rebooting family-friendly projects from years ago, said the people…” Tiered subs.

 

‘Biggest bear’ on Target upgrades the stock, says shares to rally nearly 50% at CNBC. “Barclays’ Matthew McClintock upgraded Target to overweight from equal weight and raised his 12-month price projection to $115 a share from $85. The new target represents a 49% surge from Friday’s close of $77.12.” Read more

 

Big-box retailers set their sights on digital NewFronts by Garett Sloane at Ad Age. “The NewFronts, a time for YouTube, Twitter and Hulu to showcase their best content and ad products for the coming year, were conceived as an alternative to the dusty mode of TV upfront ad presentations. And this year, advertisers expect an especially dynamic NewFronts thanks to the retailer invasion, and the internet ad landscape converging with commerce, content and data.” Tiered subs.

 

Labor union raises concern over Amazon’s move to one-day shipping at MarketWatch. “The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, a longtime critic of Amazon’s workplace practices and a backer of unionization at Amazon warehouses, said in a statement Friday that it worries the increased workload could be bad for fulfillment-center employees.” Read more

 

Walmart Hints It Will Match Amazon 1-Day Delivery at eCommerce Bytes. “One-day free shipping…without a membership fee. Now THAT would be groundbreaking. Stay tuned,” Walmart tweeted on Friday.” Read more

 

Mom and pop grocery stores are dying off in San Diego. Can this tech entrepreneur save them? by Brittany Meiling at San Diego Union-Tribune. “Mercato’s software integrates with an independent grocer’s point-of-sale system…This allows small shops to quickly get their inventory online (through Mercato’s marketplace), allowing them to offer customers online grocery shopping.” Tiered subs.

 

Amazon on pace to spend $7 billion on video and music content this year at CNBC. Read more

 

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Hedge funds accuse Bed Bath & Beyond of rampant nepotism by Carleton English at NY Post. “A trio of hedge funds seeking to take over Bed Bath & Beyond’s board published a 168-page presentation Friday blasting the ailing retailer for overly cluttered stores, “excessive compensation” and self-dealing.” Read more

 

The Millions Amazon Spends to Protect Jeff Bezos by Casey Coombs at Daily Beast. “Earlier this year, Amazon installed bulletproof panels in founder and CEO Jeff Bezos’ Seattle office, perched in a glittering high-rise on the company’s urban campus. Designed to withstand multiple shots from a military assault rifle, the inch-and-a-half thick fiberglass panels meet the highest level of bullet and blast resistance, according to the manufacturer.” Read more

 

Indian fashion has local, global retailers ‘mesmerised’ by Rasul Bailay at The Economic Times. “Fashion accounted for about 24% of sales at Big Bazaar around five-six years ago, but the category now accounts for 37% of the chain’s annual revenues, said Rakesh Biyani, joint MD of Future Group.” Read more

 

Vacasa has partnered with Wayfair to bring interior decorating services to vacation rental property owners by Ruth Reader at Fast Company.  Read more

 

TikTok Is the Latest Reason Teens Are Addicted to Their Phones by Christopher Mims at Wall Street Journal. “The app, owned by Chinese startup Bytedance, is growing in popularity with young people at a rate that could make it the next Snapchat.” WSJ subs.

 

The Dollar General Draft Cart shuttled fans around during NFL draft at The Tennessean. “Nashville’s got a new ride in town…The ride, AKA the Dollar General Draft Cart, has been spotted jetting around the city this week while the 2019 NFL Draft is in town. From the looks of it, the shopping buggy seats six including the driver.” Pics/Read more

 

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