“Tampa firm designs first Walmart To Go convenience store” by Susan Thurston at Tampa Bay Times.  “Based in Tampa’s Rocky Point, Api(+) started consulting for the retail giant in 1997. It has worked on every store format, including the smaller supercenter at Dale Mabry Highway and Waters Avenue, which became a model for others in urban and suburban areas nationwide.” See the pics / Read more

 

“Military retailer AAFES hopes to expand online shopping to more veterans” by Maria Halkias at Dallas News. “AAFES, the U.S. military’s largest retailer, is asking the Pentagon to allow it to offer online shopping to all honorably discharged veterans. The site is now available only to active service members, retirees and disabled veterans.  If Shull gets his way, more than 22 million veterans, including 3.3 million in Texas, could be added to the pool of potential shoppers.”.  Its businesses don’t charge sales taxes, which gives its website an edge as more states require Amazon.com and others to collect sales taxes online.” Read more

 

“Glassdoor’s New Top 25 List for Compensation (Costco #2)”  See the Top 25 list

 

“Glassdoor:  Costco Outshines Target & Walmart” by Susan Adams at Forbes.  “…the big box retailer stands out among its peers, with its 4.4 rating, compared to Target, which scored 3.1 and Wal-Mart, which came in at 2.7.”  Read more

 

“As customers grumble about Target, we check the aisles” by Francine Kopun at The Record (Canada).  “To test that, the Star shopped a Target in Toronto on Thursday and one in Buffalo, N.Y. on Friday to see whether there is a big price difference, as some consumers claim.  Based on the unscientific survey of about a dozen items, including items in women’s clothing, men’s clothing, children’s clothing, handbags, footwear, make-up and seasonal items, there was little or no difference. There wasn’t even a difference in price that would account for the exchange rate between U.S. and Canadian currencies.” Read more

 

“Amazon-proof retailers?” by Jim Cramer & Lee Brodie at CNBC.  “But perhaps what resonated with Cramer most is that “Home Depot said on its conference call that May demand was very robust.”…”If you go online to its amazing website you will know exactly what I am talking about. The site, built in conjunction with Salesforce.com, allows you to connect with the sales people and with other customers to learn more about products. I am calling it crowd-sourced hardware.” Read more

 

“Previous Home Depot CMO Named Executive VP of Marketing at Staples”  “(Frank) Bifulco previously served as Chief Marketing Officer at Home Depot. He has held marketing leadership positions at Coca-Cola and Timberland. In addition, he was president of North American sales at Hasbro. Bifulco is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and holds master’s degrees from Cornell University and Central Michigan University.” Read the release

 

“Meet 1 Large Retailer that Surprisingly May be Walking Itself to the Grave” by Brian Sozzi at Belus.  “Many things need to change at Bed Bath & Beyond…From sloppy clearance zones, to a store littered with yellow clearance signs, one is left with the impression the company is over-ordering inventory and its initiatives are not driving the intended results.”  See the pics / Read more

 

“In the standoff between Amazon and Hachette, the customer comes last” by Adam Lashinsky at Fortune.  “Even if Hachette were behaving badly, I’m scratching my head trying to figure out in what strange universe Amazon believes that making it difficult for its customers to buy Hachette’s products is consistent with “customer obsession.” I’m trying to understand how Amazon thinks this will help it “earn and keep customer trust.” Read more

 

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