Layoffs begin at Target; Dayton meets CEO Cornell by Adam Belz & Patrick Condon at Star Tribune. “One employee who declined to be identified said that probably a couple of dozen upper managers were let go Monday and gone by lunch. The employee said broader cuts were expected Tuesday. “The mood is pretty somber, about what you would expect,” the employee said.” Read more

 

…Brian Cornell met Gov. Dayton for about 45 minutes Monday at the governor’s Summit Avenue residence. Also present were Lt. Gov. Tina Smith and top Target executives Jodee Kozlak, chief of human resources, and Tim Baer, chief legal officer.

 

HappyFresh Is Bringing Instacart-Style One Hour Grocery Delivery To Southeast Asia by Jon Russell at TechCrunch. “Insane pretty much describes the value proposition that we bring to the table,” HappyFresh co-founder and Executive Chairman Tim Marbach told TechCrunch in an interview. “Our goal is to have the full selection of offline stores — we see ourselves as a marketplace to connect retailers with customers.” Read more

 

Walmart Displeased With Walmart.Horse, Wants It Taken Down by Chris Morran at Consumerist. “There is currently no reason whatsoever to type the URL Walmart.horse into your web browser, but if you go there, you get pretty much exactly what you’d expect — a picture of a horse and a Walmart store. Walmart is not amused at the use of its name on this site and has sent a cease-and-desist notice to its creator, Jeph Jacques, creator of the Questionable Content comic.” Read more

 

Safety agency expected to announce potential Lumber Liquidators action today by Michelle Celarier at NY Post. “Last year, about 11 percent of Lumber Liquidator’s $1 billion in sales were in laminate flooring made in Chinese factories, which it insists is compliant with California’s standard.” Read more

 

Canada: Loblaw Will Build 50 New Stores by Hollie Shaw at Financial Post. “Loblaw will build 50 new stores, under its own banners and that of Shoppers Drug Mart, to boost its network of 2,300 locations across the country and will also renovate more than 100 stores. Loblaw estimates the projects will create about 5,000 jobs at its corporate and independently owned grocery outlets.” Read more

 

HuffPo Hits Walmart: Walmart Puts Green Label on Products it Doesn’t Even Claim Are Green by Stacy Mitchell. “I searched the bubble wrap’s product page high and low for its secret sauce…but found no explanation. It turns out that the key to this mystery lies in a remarkable disclaimer tucked into the middle of the home page of Walmart’s sustainability shopping portal: “The Sustainability Leaders badge does not make representations about the environmental or social impact of an individual product.” Read more

 

World’s Most Ethical Companies (Petco, Marks & Spencer)  See the list

 

Macy’s CEO to headline Global Retailing Conference by Travis Arbon at Phoenix Business Journal. “It’s a unique conference in that you can get right up close to these industry giants,” Brooke said. “These are the big guys. You’re in a position because it’s such a small and intimate conference to be able to walk up to Kip Tindell, CEO of container store or Jerry Stritzke, CEO of REI, and have a conversation with them.” Read more

 

‘Fearful’ Target Employees Receptive To Recruiters at WCCO 4 CBS. “If you are a growing company in town, or in or region, and Target has a profile of employees you are looking for, I don’t know why you wouldn’t be reaching out to folks,” he said. “I had a conversation with an IT friend of mine last week. She had about six inquiries in the first three hours.” See the video / Read more

 

WinCo Foods Announces Opening of New Store In Chandler, Arizona “WinCo Foods LLC announced today that it will open its first store in Chandler and its sixth discount supermarket in the State of Arizona at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, March 12th.” Read the release

 

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