Tipsheet: Wmart CEO Top 6 Reads | Costco Canada #1 Bus. Center | N.Marcus -8% | Peter Pan Penalty |

 

Costco to open first business centre in Canada — a move that could ‘devastate’ wholesale distributors by Hollie Shaw at Financial Post. “The first location in Canada… will open in Toronto in March. Costco’s business centres open at 7 a.m., three hours before warehouse stores open in Canada, and close at 6 p.m. through the week and 4 p.m. on Saturday.” Read more

 

Neiman Marcus reignites retail worries as sales plummet by Lisa Fickenscher at NY Post. “It’s hard to cast these results in a positive light,” Chief Executive Karen Katz said in an investor call. “They are very disappointing.” Revenue declined 7.4 percent, to $1.08 billion, in its first fiscal quarter ended Oct. 29 — with comparable store sales declining a jaw-dropping 8 percent. Read more | Press release

 

Wal-mart CEO’s top 6 inspiring reads of 2016 by Catherine Clifford at CNBC. “As part of Facebook’s #ReadtoLead social media campaign, McMillon posted a photo of the stack of his favorite books from 2016.” Pic/Read more

 

Kohl’s Stores Are Opening for 107 Hours Straight Before Christmas by Phil Wahba at Fortune. “…a far cry from the 170-hour marathon last year and more in line with its 2014 plan when Kohl’s was open for 100 hours.” Read more

 

Amazon just made its first customer drone delivery as part of its “Amazon Prime Air” program, according to a tweet by CEO Jeff Bezos by Nathan McAlone at Business Insider. Video/Read more

 

Cabela’s annual shareholders meeting lasts less than 10 minutes by Paige Yowell at Omaha World-Herald. “We were expecting much more information,” said Jean Lashley, 76, of Mitchell, Nebraska. “We haven’t had a shareholder meeting in almost two years.” Read more

 

Whole Foods loses spot on Nasdaq-100 index by Will Anderson at Austin Business Journal. “The Austin-based grocery chain’s market cap is about $9.9 billion, down from $22 billion in 2013.” Read more

 

Whole Foods fires 9 managers over bonuses by Austin American-Statesman. “The company found that nine managers at stores in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia engaged in a policy infraction that allowed the managers to benefit from a profit-sharing program at the expense of store employees.” Read more

 

Retailers’ Discounts Run Deeper This Holiday Season by Suzanne Kapner at Wall Street Journal. “According to DynamicAction Inc., which analyzed $4 billion in online transactions, the number of U.S. receipts that included promotions jumped 79% in November from the same period a year earlier. For the first week of December, the number was more than double that of a year ago.” Read more (subscription)

 

**A message from Hot Shot – There’s no place like home. And when you rule the roost, you do it all… keep the peace, dry the tears, mop up the messes – even squash the spiders. When bugs cross your threshold, count on Hot Shot® brand for practical, easy-to-use, effective home insect solutions that take care of the creepy-crawlies for you – without breaking the bank. Save the Day. Facebook page

 

Hudson’s Bay’s mobile site slows during holiday shopping rush by April Berthene at Internet Retailer. “Hudson’s Bay’s 5.30 second load time is a large slowdown, one of the largest month-over-month slowdowns on the index…At the top of the index, Blue Nile Inc. jumped into the top 10 at No. 8, up from No. 24 the previous month. Its page loaded in 1.48 seconds.” Read more

 

Amazon expands its Prime Video service to over 200 countries, but China isn’t included by Jon Russell at TechCrunch. Read more

 

Internet Retailer’s 2017 Hot 100 e-retailers See list

 

Best Buy Nearly Doubling Its Teen Tech Center Network in Support of Underserved Urban Youth Press release

 

Nordstrom eGifting helps shoppers send a gift and recipients fill in the details by Kurt Schlosser at GeekWire. “The recipient who receives the email is prompted to personalize details, so if they wanted a red sweater in medium instead of green in small, that’s not on you. Furthermore, if your sister in Florida thinks a sweater was a bad idea, she has the option to receive a digital gift card without having to notify you that she made the switch.” Read more

 

Canned whipped cream in short supply as holiday baking season looms by Greg Trotter at Chicago Tribune. “The explosion at the Airgas-owned Nitrous Oxide Corp. facility in Cantonment, Fla., had far more dire consequences than a whipped cream shortage. One Airgas employee was killed in the blast.” Read more

 

Fight breaks out with extreme couponer at Kroger grocery store at Daily Mail. “She said she spent 20 minutes with her special binder filled with coupons. Wilson claims she was attacked after she accidentally spilled her drink on him. But it appears she did it on purpose in surveillance footage released by police.” Video/Read more

 

Carjacker In Detroit Targets FedEx Truck With More Than 200 Packages at CBS Detroit. “The driver, who was on the job for less than two months, says he kept thinking about getting back to his young daughter. He plans to return to work Wednesday.” Read more

 

Peter Pan’s Parent Hit With $11 Million Penalty for Selling Contaminated Peanut Butter by Kerry Close at Fortune. Read more

 

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