Tuesday Tipsheet: Ex-Target Exec to Rite Aid | Costco’s ‘New Store’ Concept | Kohl’s Settles for $1 Mil
Costco Has Quietly Been Testing a New Store Concept for 23 Years by Brian Sozzi at The Street. “Once the Denver store opens, Costco will have 11 Business Centers in operation across the country, mostly on the West Coast. Four of the stores are located in California and two more are in Costco’s backyard of Washington, which allows the retailer to more easily test products and tweak operations before a possible nationwide expansion.” Read more
Walmart sold ‘US-made’ products that were actually foreign by Lisa Fickenscher at NY Post. “A Walmart spokesman said that, within a week, consumers will not find Made in the USA labels on its Web site, and that other labels such as Women’s Economic Empowerment and Sustainability Leaders are coming down as well. “We added badges to products on our site to help customers find what they were looking for,” said the spokesman. Unfortunately, some Internet search engines won’t return an item with a badge in search results. We are working on a fix.” Read more
Kohl’s settles overcharge allegations for nearly $1 million by Alison Bauter at Milwaukee Business Journal. “In settling the case, Kohl’s did not admit wrongdoing and officials said Kohl’s has “changed policies and procedures to make pricing more accurate,” according to ABC 7 News.” Read more
Ex-Target Exec Joins Rite Aid “Bryan Everett is joining Rite Aid as executive vice president of store operations, effective Aug. 3. In this position, Everett will be responsible for all operations at the company’s nearly 4,600 chainwide stores.” Read the release
President Obama overtime rule could raise wages for 5 million at Politico. “The proposed rule would more than double the salary level under which virtually all workers qualify for overtime pay whenever they work more than 40 hours in any given week. That threshold, now $23,660, would rise to $50,440.” Read more
Amazon launches ‘Prime Now’ 1-hour delivery service in London, its first city outside the U.S. by Paul Sawers at VentureBeat. Read more
Analyst sees little to get Macy’s out of its ‘rut’ by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC. “Deutsche Bank analyst Paul Trussell on Monday downgraded Macy’s from “buy” to “sell,” citing “low confidence that the company can bust out of its same-stores sales rut.” Read more
Target’s Kathee Tesija Had An Impossible Job by Paula Rosenblum at Forbes. “I strongly hope Mr. Cornell splits the job, as it should have been from the beginning. Perhaps in the grocery category it’s fine to have them under one roof, but in product that even touches on fashion, I can only say two words: No Way.” Read more
Stop Buying in Bulk by Eric Holthaus at Slate. “As much as 40 percent of America’s food supply gets thrown away every day, with perishable items like dairy, breads, meats, fruits, and vegetables leading the way. The total annual bill of food waste for consumers is a whopping $162 billion, which works out to about $1,300 to $2,300 per family per year.” Read more
AmazonFresh delays $299/year Prime Fresh rollout, tweaks subscription model in California by Todd Bishop at GeekWire. “In recent weeks, Amazon has started experimenting with a new model in Northern and Southern California, making it so that standard $99/year Amazon Prime members can use AmazonFresh, too, as long as they pay a $7.99/order delivery fee.” Read more
Roundy’s opens biggest Mariano’s yet on Chicago’s North Shore by Alison Bauter at Milwaukee Business Journal. “Milwaukee-based Roundy’s will employ 500 at the new location, its 32nd in the Chicagoland market and second in Glenview.” Read more
Kraft CFO and many others out with Heinz deal by Jessica Wohl at Chicago Tribune. Read more
Tipsheet Extra
St. Paul’s TargetExpress sets opening date
Pittsburgh: Tractor Supply Co. sneaking up on urban areas
Minneapolis: Warby Parker opening showroom
Charlotte: Grocery wars – Which brands are winning, losing in market share
Kroger kicks off hiring for largest-ever Cincinnati store
Grainger Names Chief Operating Officer
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Eye-on-Retail Tipsheet is created early every weekday morning and read by retail merchants and executives worldwide. We love data, earnings reports, executive presentations and stories off the beaten path that get at what’s really happening in the world of retail. See our website at www.eyeonretail.net