By Jason Long, jlong@eyeonretail.net

 

Plane piloted by former Walmart CEO Bill Simon crashes in Arkansas by Hayley Peterson at Business Insider. “The pilot deployed an emergency parachute and the aircraft descended onto Martin Luther King Boulevard in Fayetteville near Fayetteville High School. When the plane touched ground, it collided with a 2012 GMC truck driven by Shakemia Harris. Harris was taken to a nearby hospital with minor injuries.” Read more

 

Target Shutters 13 Stores by Nick Halter at Minneapolis/St.Paul Business Journal. “The decision to close a Target store is not made lightly,” spokesperson Kristy Welker said…”Typically, the decision to close a store is as a result of seeing several years of decreasing profitability.” See the list of 13 / Read more

 

…Around 9,000 Target-Lovers Rally To Save Their New Ulm (MN) Store by Kelsey Hering at KEYC 12 News. “The New Ulm Area Chamber of Commerce was notified of the close Monday, but already almost 9,000 have joined the #SaveNewUlmTarget Facebook group in an effort to keep the store from closing.” See the video / Read more

 

Lumber Liquidators names new CEO as sales slump continues at Reuters. “Lumber Liquidators appointed board member John Presley chief executive…” Read more

 

Sam’s Club (again) shakes up its merchandising team with key changes by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “Bryant Harris, senior vice president, general merchandise manager (GMM) of food and beverage, will now hold a similar role as general merchandise manager of fresh. Reporting to Harris will be:
• Paul Hunt – vice president, divisional merchandise manager (DMM) of freezer/cooler
• Russell Mounce – vice president, DMM of produce
• Mike Turner – vice president, fresh operations
• Dennis Horn – senior merchandise director of café
• Eileen Fischer – senior merchandise director of bakery”  Read more

 

L.L. Bean Names Ex-Walmart Exec as New CEO by Taryn Luna at Boston Globe. “L.L.Bean has gone outside its ranks for the first time to pick a chief executive, on Tuesday naming veteran retailer Stephen Smith to lead the 103-year-old company. And Smith, 45, who starts in early January, said he already feels the pressure…” Read more

 

Google abandons plan to open retail outlet in New York, but why? by Gina Hall at Silicon Valley Business Journal. “The company spent millions to restore and build out 131 Greene Street. According to the report, the renovations included glass skylights, large windows, exposed brick, and removing a portion of the ground floor to create an area in the back with high ceilings. The exterior of the building was also restored.” Read more

 

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Retailers Struggle Getting E-Commerce Goods to Customers, Study Says by Loretta Chao at WSJ. “A survey of over 1,000 online U.S.-based shoppers by and JDA Software Group Inc. shows that, of 35% who opted to buy online and pick up goods in a store in the past year, 50% encountered problems getting their purchases.” Read more (Subscription)

 

Walgreens Takes Top Spot in Radio, Home Depot Falls to Fifth at Radio Ink. “The drug-store chain cranked out over 50,000 spots last week. The Home Depot dropped from first to fifth with 27,132 commercials aired.” Read more

 

Dick’s Rewards Customers for an Active Lifestyle “The new “Move” feature of the DICK’S Sporting Goods app allows users to connect to fitness tracking applications MapMyRun and Fitbit to earn DICK’S ScoreCard points for achieving activity goals.” Read the release

 

Will Target Be Open On Thanksgiving? Employees Push Back by Sarah Berger at International Business Times. “The petition calling for Target to stay closed on Thanksgiving was started by a employee from Woodbury, New Jersey, who has worked at the retailer for more than nine years, according to the petition. As of Tuesday evening, the petition had garnered 37,231 signatures.” Read more

 

Walmart exec assumes COO spot at Brookdale by Michael Johnsen at Chain Store Age. “The top executive over Health and Wellness of Walmart’s U.S. division is leaving to join Brookdale Senior Living as its COO. Labeed Diab will have responsibility for all aspects of Brookdale’s operations, including community and field operations, marketing and sales.” Read more

 

Bankrupt A&P unable to get buyers for 1/3 of stores by Lisa Fickenscher at NY Post. Read more

 

Sears names Carrie Kirkman president and chief merchant by Pete Evans at CBC News. “Prior to coming to Sears (Carrie) Kirkman had been the interim president of shoe retailer Nine West Canada and was president of Jones Apparel Group from 2010 until April of 2015. She’s also worked at Sears rival Hudson’s Bay Co., Liz Claiborne, Kenneth Cole and Alfred Sung.” Read more

 

Sugar Paper Unwraps a New Holiday Line of Paper Goods for Target at A Bullseye View. Read more

 

Esty Struggles to Remain Cozy and Local Amid Global Expansion by Elizabeth Segran at Fast Company. “..no matter how trendy or local the factory, manufacturing at scale goes against Etsy’s original value proposition of offering handmade, one-of-a-kind items.” Read more  Read the release

 

Pepsi Plans New ‘1893’ Soda by E.J.Schultz at Ad Age. “A PepsiCo spokeswoman confirmed the launch of 1893 to Ad Age but provided no further details. The company in August filed a trademark application for the phrase “1893 From the makers of Pepsi-Cola.” Read more

 

Canada: Ex-Target locations to be divided into smaller stores by Jamie Sturgeon at Global News. “RioCan is still owed hundreds of millions of dollars in back rent from Target, which exited Canada in April. The mall owner is currently negotiating with the retailer on a settlement, RioCan said.” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra

CVC summons top Walmart India official in link to alleged bribery case

RioCan feels pinch of Target Canada’s exit as search for new tenants begins

Tiffany’s First-Ever Retail Partnership Has Major, Retro Glamorous Appeal

Publix retains iron grip on No. 1 spot in Florida’s competitive grocery business

Maps reveal the first days of snow across the US and show the areas most likely to be worst hit

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