Chicago Tribune: Target’s Brian Cornell Talks Strategy in Q&A by Gregory Karp. “Q: Experimenting with the new flexible-format store in Chicago seems to have an element of innovation and risk-taking. Does it? A: It’s taking the right, measured risk. We like what we see with flexible formats, and this one is off to a very good start. But we’re not rolling out 100.” Read the full interview

 

Star Wars Movie Already has $50 Million in the Bank by Molly Brown at GeekWire. “Most movies would be lucky to open to $50 million. Four weeks before its debut, Star Wars: The Force Awakens has more than that in the bank,” WSJ reports today.” Read more  Wall Street Journal article (subscription)

 

Best Buy Expresses Caution for the Holiday Shopping Season by Kavita Kumar at Star Tribune. “Who cares what the industry is going to do?” Hubert Joly…said in an interview. “We’re going to take advantage of every customer opportunity and win and gain marketshare … This is the mind-set of a winning team — as opposed to being ‘Oh my god, the industry is down.’ Who cares? We can win and that’s what we’re doing.” Read more

 

JCPenney CEO Humbled in Return to Childhood Store by David Thomas as the Jackson Son. “The moment was called a little surreal, but for Marvin Ellison, the chief executive officer of JCPenney, it was more, when the national retailer held its grand re-opening in the Old Hickory Mall on Thursday. “Humbling,” Ellison said…“We did not come here a lot, because we did not have a lot of money,” said Ellison, who now calls Dallas home. “We didn’t shop at JCPenney very often.” Read more

 

51% of online shoppers expected to turn to Amazon for holiday buying by James Risley at GeekWire. “51 percent of respondents said they plan to use Amazon for “most of their online shopping” during the holidays. Walmart came in second place, but only 16 percent will use it for most of their online buying, with Target and Macy’s serving as the main online shopping destination for just 3 and 2 percent, respectively.” Read more

 

NY Times: Adele Is Said to Reject Streaming for ‘25’ by Ben Sisario. “This is a minor issue for Adele, but a major issue for the streaming services,” said Mark Mulligan, a digital media analyst with Midia Research. “For two years running they’ve not had the biggest album of the year.” Read more

 

**A message from Dig It Gloves–This is the last week for placing Spring ’16 orders. Why are Dig It garden gloves loved by women? It’s easy–interior pillow-top protectors are built into each fingertip. That’s right, no more broken or chipped nails when gardening! Call it manicure insurance, or just plain brilliant, but you have to see it to believe it. Cross-merchandise in the garden center during Spring ’16. Request samples at: info@shiftmarketinggroup.net | www.digithandwear.com

 

Target Releases Seven Exclusive Adele Videos from New Album See them here

 

Dick’s Sporting Goods $200,000 donation will keep girls hockey alive in Anchorage high schools by Beth Bragg at Alaska Dispatch News. “Dick’s Sporting Goods doesn’t have any stores in Alaska, nor does it have a connection to Anchorage’s Scott Gomez, a two-time Stanley Cup winner. But it has an interest in ensuring that budget cuts don’t rob kids of athletic opportunities, Reale said.” See the players react / Read more

 

U.S. online sales increase 15% in Q3 by Tracy Maple at Internet Retail “E-commerce accounted for 7.4% of total retail sales, excluding foodservice.” Read more

 

Long live Black Friday! NRF expects bigger crowds by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC. “According to NRF, 22.3 percent of respondents plan to shop on Thanksgiving Day, compared to 18.3 percent last year.” Read more

 

Sales abound at retailers overloaded with merchandise by Gail MarksJarvis at Chicago Tribune. Read more

 

Bruce Dayton given simple, respectful farewell by Natalie Daher at Star Tribune. “Pressing his fingers to his palm four times, Mark (Dayton) said, “We /love /you /too,” in the same manner his father had always squeezed his children’s hands three times to say: “I /love /you.” Read more

 

P&G won’t rule out company breakup by Alexander Coolidge at Cincinnati Enquirer. Read more

 

Hasbro CEO: The Force Is Strong With Our Star Wars Holiday Inventory by David Z Morris at Fortune. “Over the past few weeks, we had seen some shortage of products that were selling exceedingly well,” he said in an interview with Fortune yesterday. But the company picked up the slack, and empty store shelves should soon be filled.” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Transcript: Brian Cornell Speaks with CNBC’s Courtney Reagan on 11/18

Pepsi’s phone revealed: Budget $78 5.5-inch P1 Android handset has 13MP camera and fingerprint sensor

Bob Mariano’s payout after Kroger takeover? Up to $8 million

Wal-Mart greeter hangs up his rock ‘n’ roll shoes

Darth Vader Leads Google Ranking Of Most Searched Star Wars Characters

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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Contact: Jason Long, jlong@eyeonretail.net