“Home Depot confirms data breach” at CNBC. “Home Depot officially confirmed a data breach on Monday. Home Depot’s investigation is focused on transactions made as far back as April. There is no evidence that shoppers’ debit PIN numbers were compromised, according to a statement the retailer released Monday.” Read more

 

.…Home Depot’s Press Release: “We apologize for the frustration and anxiety this causes our customers, and I want to thank them for their patience and support as we work through this issue,” said Frank Blake, chairman and CEO. “We owe it to our customers to alert them that we now have enough evidence to confirm that a breach has indeed occurred.” Read the release

 

“Wal-Mart’s onshoring manufacturing effort hits snag with Redman problem” by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “The suit claims that Ellen Liu, executive director for Sales Chief, made clear her intention to derail the “Made in the U.S.” plan earlier this year. Between March and May, Sales Chief shipped $3.4 million of inventory to Redman in the U.S., but on May 24, Sales Chief revoked Redman’s credit terms requiring full payment of goods ordered, shipped and those in transit.” Read more

 

“Amazon Is Under Attack Like Never Before” by Jillian D’onfro at Business Insider. “People still think of Amazon as a retailer,” says SunTrust analyst Robert Peck, “But when you think about all of its investments, it has expanded into many new areas.” Read more

 

“Activist Investor Scores a Win at Walgreen” by David Benoit at WSJ. “Walgreen facing mounting pressure from analysts and shareholders, said it is giving activist investor Jana Partners LLC two board seats, a relatively large say for a shareholder with a little more than 1% of the company’s stock…The agreement with Jana is a big win for an activist investor.” Read more

 

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“Twitter’s Buy Button” by Anthony Ha at TechCrunch. “Twitter is officially announcing that Buy button today …it will be visible to “a small percentage of U.S. users (that will grow over time).” As a result, users will actually be able to make purchases directly within tweets. If you see something you want, you hit “buy”, bring up a little information, enter your payment and shipping information while still Twitter (it’s encrypted and stored for future purchases), and complete the transaction “in just a few taps.” Read more

 

“In B2B e-commerce, Alibaba has solved the one problem Amazon can’t” by Erin Griffith at Fortune. “This means tinkerers, builders, entrepreneurs, and small businesses can order custom motors and parts from Chinese factories without having to travel there, find a scout, and forge a relationship with a manufacturer before doing business. It opens up the world of international suppliers to people who wouldn’t normally have access to it. They can buy in bulk through Alibaba, which acts as a trusted third party, vouching for the transaction.” Read more

 

“Can 1.3 Million Walmart Workers Deduct ‘Uniforms’ On Their Taxes?” by Robert W. Wood at Forbes. “The clothing must be specifically required by your employer, but the second requirement is the key. The clothing must not be suitable for taking the place of your regular clothing.” Read more

 

“How Walmart’s ‘Dress Code’ Costs Employees” by Erik Sherman at Forbes. “Although a representative had previously told me that the company had first made the announcement in July to give employees time to save up, people making $8 or $9 an hour, even with full-time hours, have little money available for additional expenses. Wal-Mart did remind employees that they could use their discounts to purchase the clothing at the store or its online site.” Read more

 

“Blogger hits the bullseye, designs for Target” by Jana Shortal at KARE 11 NBC. “But it was the call that came last year that’s the one that hit the bullseye. “All of the Pinners that Target enlisted are designers by trade,” Arends said, referring to the call to work on a design project for Target. Target Corporation contacted Kate, and two other major lifestyle bloggers, and enlisted them to design a party décor collection.” See the video / Read more

 

“British firm lays out US expansion ambitions” by Claer Barrett at Financial Times via CNBC. “Primark, the UK’s biggest clothing retailer by volume, has said it will open 10 stores in the US by 2016 as its international expansion supported a 17 per cent increase in full year sales.” Read more

 

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