Today’s Tipsheet: Mulligan: Target’s “Frankenstein” System | McMillon #32 Most Powerful | Costco -1%/+5% | Bees Buzz at Ace
By Jason Long, jlong@eyeonretail.net
Costco October Comp Down 1%, +5% Excluding Gas & Foreign Exchange “Costco reported net sales of $8.78 billion for the month of October, the four weeks ended November 1, 2015, an increase of one percent from $8.73 billion during the similar period last year.” Read the release
Target considers outside help for fresh food business by Nadita Bose at Reuters. “There is an opportunity to use some partners who may be able to do things a little bit better,” Chief Operating Officer John Mulligan said in a recent interview. Target’s supply chain evolved over time as it expanded its offerings, including more fresh food, he said, leading to a patchwork system. “I said to my team this looks like Frankenstein. We have made this thing out of a bunch of parts.” Read more
Forbes: The World’s Most Powerful People 2015 (Bezos #17, McMillon #32) See the list of 73
You can now use an Amazon Dash-like button to shop at Walmart by Sarah Perez at TechCrunch. “The device itself…is a piece of hardware with a button you press before speaking into its microphone. You can also use the Wi-Fi connected handheld device to scan grocery items from your fridge or pantry, which are then synced to hiku’s mobile app for iOS or Android.” Read more
Ace Hardware and True Value feel the sting of bee-loving protesters by Lewis Lazare at Chicago Business Journal. “Swarms of concerned bee lovers descended Wednesday on the corporate headquarters of home improvement store cooperatives True Value and Ace Hardware, located in Chicago and Oak Brook…” Read more
Whole Foods Shares Tumble After Results Miss Analysts’ Estimates by Leslie Patton at Bloomberg. “Same-store sales fell 0.2 percent in the fourth quarter, the Austin, Texas-based company said in a statement Wednesday. That represents the worst performance in more than five years. Analysts had predicted a gain of 0.7 percent.” Read more Read the release
NLRB Rejects Target’s Petition to Invalidate Union Vote in Brooklyn by Sarah Nassauer at WSJ. “A small group of Target Corp. pharmacy workers in New York City are one step closer to becoming the retailer’s first ever union…In a letter denying the appeal, the NLRB said Target hadn’t raised any “substantial issues warranting review.” Read more (Subscription)
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Meijer Named Progressive Grocer Retailer of the Year via Grand Rapids Business Journal. “The award is designated based on a set of criteria: overall merit of the retailer’s performance; vendor feedback; creation and fostering of a great place to work; and community support.” Read more
Walmart and P&G Still #1 in Kantar Retail’s PoweRanking “Kroger, with its first-ever #2 ranking, was lauded by manufacturers for continued innovation and optimization of the data-driven tactics driving effective execution of its shopper-focused strategy…Target came in at an overall #3 rank, but maintained its #1 position in “Best Store Branding” and “Most Innovative Merchandising Approach.” Read the release
Washington Post: The challenge (and opportunity) for retailers as Black Friday becomes less of a draw by Sarah Halzack. “Deloitte found that 44 percent of consumers plan to do the majority of their shopping in December and January, up from 37 percent in 2013…the share of shoppers who planned to do most of their shopping early — that is, in October or the beginning of November — shrank from 30 percent to 23 percent.” Read more
Kroger’s VP of Pharmacy Honored “The Kroger Co.’s Vice President of Pharmacy, Philecia Avery, today was honored by the National Diversity Council with a 2015 Most Powerful & Influential Women Award.” Read the release
Daiso Japan dollar store opening second Texas location in Irving by Maria Halkias at Dallas Morning News. “While it’s focused on Texas, the company is still opening stores in California and will have 45 open there by the end of this year.” Read more
PetSmart Charities to lay off entire workforce as part of restructuring by Angela Gonzales at Phoenix Business Journal. Read more
Kraft Heinz to move Oscar Mayer HQ to Chicago at Chicago Tribune. “The company also announced plans to consolidate its production facilities during the next two years, which will result in the shutdown of seven North American manufacturing facilities…The closings will result in the loss of about 2,600 manufacturing jobs at the company.” Read more
Ex-Amazon Prime Boss Robbie Schwietzer Recently Left Role at Groupon by Jason Del Rey at Recode. “I could do a boomerang,” he said, using the phrase popular inside the company for executives who re-join Amazon after time away.” Read more
Tipsheet Extra
Coke’s Failed White Can, and How Packaging Actually Affects the Taste of Food
Can You Have Too Many Stores? One Retailer Says Yes
Meijer Opens Pharmacy Inside Hospital
Yonkers: Lowe’s approved for Ridge Hill; first Westchester location
House kills proposed gas tax hike
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