WSJ:  Target CEO Steinhafel’s Final Days – Sr. Execs Huddled on May 2nd – Key Lieutenant Stopped Talking to CEO Entirely by Paul Ziobro and Serena Ng.  “Managers were expected to host regular happy hours or take their teams out for ice cream, one former merchandising employee recalls. At annual performance reviews, some staffers were told they weren’t “fast, fun and friendly” enough…Not long after he took the top job, Mr. Steinhafel severed ties with (former CEO Robert) Ulrich, who had liked to keep retired executives around as advisers. The two have barely spoken since Mr. Ulrich stepped down as Target’s chairman in 2009, according to people familiar with the men’s relationship.”  Read more

 

“Walgreens Q3 Profit Rises 16%” at CNBC.  “Prescription sales, which make up for nearly 65 percent of the company’s total sales, rose 8.4 percent in the third quarter.”  Read more

 

“Report:  Home Depot Ending Nascar Sponsorship” at Atlanta Bus. Chronicle.  “Home Depot, which has been a primary NASCAR sponsor since 1999, will leave the sport after its contract with Joe Gibbs Racing ends this season, said sources familiar with the plans…Sources said Joe Gibbs Racing is in talks with Dollar General about filling the void left by Home Depot.”  Read more

 

“Target Sweetens Free Shipping to Nearly All Purchases Over $50” by Kavita Kumar at Star-Tribune.  “Jason Goldberger, senior vice president of Target.com and mobile, said in a blog post on A Bullseye View that the retailer has “doubled down” on digital in the last year…“But the reality is, our guests continued to tell us that our shipping policy was frustrating and confusing to them, and holding us back,” he wrote. “In fact, our internal research told us that more than half of Target.com shoppers who abandoned their shopping carts said their decision was related to shipping costs.”  Read more

 

“Wal-Mart Appoints 13 Merchandising Executives in Shake-Up” by Renee Dudley at Businessweek.  “Scott Huff will be promoted to executive vice president overseeing merchandising operations for the U.S., according to a company memo sent by U.S. Chief Merchandising Officer Duncan Mac Naughton…In the merchandising changes, Michelle Gloeckler will become executive vice president of consumables and U.S. manufacturing. She has worked at Wal-Mart for five years.”  Read more

 

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“Could HSN’s Mindy Grossman be the next CEO of Target?” by Susan Thurston at Tampa Bay Times.  “Other names cycling through the rumor mill: Bon-Ton Stores’ Brendan Hoffman; Gap’s Glenn Murphy; Victoria’s Secret’s Sharencq Turney; Sam’s Club’s Rosalind Brewer; Foot Locker’s Ken Hicks; Roger Farah, former president of Ralph Lauren; Matt Rubel, a senior adviser at TPG Capital; Sharon McCollam, chief financial officer of Best Buy; and Angela Ahrendts, senior vice president of retail at Apple.”  Read more

 

“Family Dollar ranked 9th worst place to work for” by Jennifer Thomas at Charlotte Bus. Journal.  “Family Dollar Stores  is one of the 11 worst companies to work for nationwide, according to 24/7 Wall St. The financial news publication compiled its list of companies after analyzing reviews from jobs and career website glassdoor.com.”  Read more

 

“California’s top court: Target not required to carry in-store defibrillators” by Maura Dolan at LA Times.  “In a unanimous ruling Monday, the state’s highest court said California law requires only that fitness centers have such potentially life-saving devices and encourages most public buildings to keep them…Monday’s ruling stemmed from a lawsuit filed by the family of Mary Ann Verdugo, 49, who suffered a fatal heart attack in 2008 while shopping at a Target store in Pico Rivera.”  Read more

 

“Fortune’s 50 Best Green Global Brands for 2014 (Ikea #19, H&M #39)”  “Deloitte: “This is the year of the supply chain. The companies that made the list are moving beyond greenhouse gas emissions in the supply chain to focus on waste and water use up and down the value chain.”  See the Top 50 List

 

“Walmart Won’t Find Luck with India’s New Gov’t” by Kenneth Rapoza at Forbes.  “Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the Economic Times on Tuesday that foreign direct investment in retail will not be allowed. “There are people in the sector self-employed for generations. What authority do we have to take their jobs?”  Read more

 

“Brookstone Will Continue Operating  Nearly All of Its 242 Stores, Closing 2 at Most” by Michael Bathon at Bloomberg via Mercury News.  “Brookstone, the luxury-gadget retailer, won bankruptcy court approval of its plan to sell the chain to a group of Chinese buyers for about $174 million that will be used to pay creditors.”  Read more 

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