Tipsheet: WM Google Exit | Amazon Accelerator | Giant #1 Urban
CVS unveils ‘Beauty Marks’ in stores, warning shoppers of edited images at Reuters. “CVS Health Corp, is the first major American company to adopt such a policy in the face of rising concerns about doctored images setting unrealistic ideals of beauty, especially for young women.” Read more | Press release
Google Express shopping loses support for products from Walmart by Ben Schoon at 9 to 5 Google. “Walmart has disappeared entirely from Google’s shopping platform…Target still hosts plenty of items to fill in the gap, but Walmart’s catalog is certainly larger. Costco also helps out…” Read more
Brands Invent New Lines for Only Amazon to Sell by Annie Gasparro & Laura Stevens at Wall Street Journal. “Amazon is asking consumer-goods companies to create brands exclusively for Amazon after finding that developing them on its own is too costly and time-consuming…Equal sweeteners and nutrition brand GNC are among the first to launch products through an accelerator program Amazon launched last year to outsource the work. Mattress maker Tuft & Needle also recently created a new brand called Nod exclusively for Amazon.” WSJ subs.
China to Join Talks on $25 Trillion E-Commerce Market at Last Minute by Bryce Baschuk & Shawn Donnan at Bloomberg. “China will join a group including the U.S. and the European Union in negotiating new rules…If successful, a digital trade accord hashed out through the Geneva-based trade body would establish a baseline international regime for 21st century trade and reduce cross-border hurdles to e-commerce.” Tiered subs.
Ralphs Promotes Kendra Doyel To Vice President Of Merchandising Press release
Wine-Drinkers Try Walmart’s Winemakers Selection at Field Agent. “The 15 wine-drinkers…were dispatched to their local Walmart Supercenter to locate and purchase one label within the Winemakers Selection family…participants in our Buy & Try had mainly positive things to say about Walmart’s private-label wines.” Video/Quotes
Grainger Q4 Sales +5.0% / Full Year +8.0% Press release
Former Toys ‘R’ Us execs planning potential comeback by Lisa Fickenscher at NY Post. “According to an email obtained by The Post, a new firm called Tru Kids Inc. was launched on Sunday, armed with the ownership rights to the Toys ‘R’ Us and Babies ‘R’ Us trademarks, as well as the company’s Geoffrey the Giraffe mascot…execs at the new company…were looking to set up meetings at Toy Fair New York, the industry’s biggest US trade show, which begins Feb. 16.” Read more
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132 gas stations in Missouri and Illinois — primarily in the St. Louis region — to rebrand as Circle K locations at St. Louis Dispatch. Read more
Giant opens first urban store format in downtown Philly by Ellie Silverman at Philly Inquirer. Tiered subs.
How Jyve secretly raised $35M & built a $400M retail gig economy by Josh Constine at TechCrunch. “What if instead of just accepting Uber rides, gig workers could pick from higher-paying skilled tasks around town like stocking shelves, checking inventory or driving a forklift at a local grocer?…It already has 6,000 workers doing tasks for 4,000 stores across the country.” Read more
Elizabeth Warren’s Wealth Tax Would Cost Jeff Bezos $4.1 Billion in First Year at Yahoo Finance. Read more
Global shipping rates slump in latest sign of economic slowdown at Reuters. “The Baltic Dry Index, measure of ship transport costs for materials like iron ore and coal, has fallen by 47 percent since mid-2018…Dry-bulk commodities are taken as a leading economic indicator, because they are used in core industrial sectors like steelmaking and power generation.” Read more
Munchery’s vendors claim the food delivery startup took advantage of them in its final hours by Kate Clark at TechCrunch. Read more
You must now be 21 to buy tobacco in county that houses the Univ. of Florida – first county in Florida to raise minimum age by Howard Cohen at Miami Herald. “The sales rule applies specifically to tobacco, not vaping electronic cigarettes…The minimum age to buy e-cigarettes…in Florida is currently 18.” Read more
Patent office says it will have to stop operations if shutdown lasts beyond first week of February at The Hill. Read more
The Craving For Plant-Based Protein by Andria Cheng at Forbes. “Plant-based proteins are no longer just a meat replacement; it’s now its own category,” David Portalatin, NPD food industry adviser said…Burgers represent the largest plant-based category in the foodservice industry…more affluent consumers, with household incomes of over $100,000, are the top buyers, NPD said.” Read more
Big Y CEO Steps Down at Mass Live. “His cousin, Charles L. D’Amour, has been appointed CEO and will also continue in his role as company president, a position he’s held since 2006.” Read more
Amazon is taking more control over smart home tech by Jacob Kastrenakes at The Verge. “As of (yesterday), Amazon has a seat on the board of the Zigbee Alliance, which oversees implementation of the Zigbee wireless protocol. Zigbee isn’t nearly as popular as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, but you can think of it a lot like them — it’s a wireless protocol for letting gadgets communicate.” Read more
Trump: Local businesses such as grocery stores will ‘work along’ with feds during shutdown by Joel Shannon at USA Today. Read more
Tipsheet Extra Stories
You can now buy an actual hospital room on Amazon
Theranos documentary review: The Inventor’s horrifying optimism
H-E-B’s first seafood venue is opening in Houston this weekend
Amazon’s PL Presto! paper towels increases its share 80X in 2018
Gum disease bacteria may be cause of Alzheimer’s
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