“Dollar Tree pursued Family Dollar months before Icahn push” by Rick Rothacker at Charlotte Observer. “Dollar Tree first contacted Family Dollar Stores about a possible acquisition in late February, months before investor Carl Icahn began pushing for a Family Dollar sale, according to a securities filing Monday…The Morgan Stanley banker who fielded the initial call said Family Dollar CEO Howard Levine would be willing to talk to Dollar Tree counterpart Bob Sasser, but noted Family Dollar wasn’t for sale.” Read more

 

“Gander Mountain rolls out in-store pickup for online orders” by Nick Halter at Charlotte Bus. Journal.  “The St. Paul-based company softly launched the service in a few Minnesota stores a few months ago, said spokesman Jess Myers. Now it’s been implemented in all 142 stores in 26 states.” Read more

 

Trader Joes: “The really big ruckus over ‘Two Buck Chuck’ by Jane Wells at CNBC. “Charles Shaw wine, aka “Two Buck Chuck,” is one of the best-selling products ever sold at Trader Joe’s, topping 800 million bottles in 12 years. Now the man behind the brand is seeing red…A blog suggested that Two Buck Chuck is inexpensive for several unflattering reasons, including large-scale machine harvesting, which ends up throwing everything into the wine, including animal blood.” Read more

 

NY Times on RetailMeNot:  “A Campaign to Pique the Interest of Those Who Revel in a Deal” by Jane L. Levere. “Sucharita Mulpuru-Kodali, who follows e-commerce for Forrester Research…said “the golden opportunity” for the company is “in-store retail. There are 150 places you can get deals online, but not 150 places you can get deals offline. Offline shopping is still the vast majority; it’s their promise for the future.” Read more

 

“R.I.P., department stores? Not yet.” by Phil Wahba at Fortune.  “Beating up on department stores is a favorite pastime of retail haters. And yet, despite accusations of having a passé business model, dusty stores and an aging customer base, U.S. department stores have staged a comeback in the last two years—and are arguably more vital than they have been in a long time.” Read more

 

“Woolworths to Slow Growth of Masters Hardware Stores in Australia” by Petrina Berry at aap via Yahoo.  “Woolworths has now dumped its pledge for Masters to break even and have 90 stores in 2016. The retailer, which currently has 49 Masters stores, will slow the rollout of new outlets to between 10 to 15 a year – about half as many as originally planned. Chief executive Grant O’Brien admits the rollout has been flawed.” Read more

 

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“CVS Opens First Store in Washington State” by Angel Gonzalez at Seattle Times.  “The Pacific Northwest is the last major U.S. market where the Rhode Island-based company was not present, said Hanley Wheeler, the company’s senior vice president of field operations. “We consider it a growth market,” he said in an interview at the store, which had an official ribbon-cutting Monday.” Read more

 

“Sears Names Alasdair James As Kmart’s President And Chief Member Officer” “Since 2007, Mr. James held roles of increasing responsibility with Tesco, where he most recently served as the commercial director for the company’s global business unit. Prior to that, he spent two years managing Tesco’s China operations as executive vice president and commercial director.” Read the release

 

“Nordstrom launches charitable private-label brand” by Angel Gonzalez at Seattle Times.  “Nordstrom said Monday it’s launching for the first time a private-label brand that will give 5 percent of its earnings to Girls Inc. and other nonprofits that seek to empower women and young girls…Nordstrom said the Treasure&Bond label will be available at 86 stores around the country and online” Read more

 

“Inventor’s Trash-Ease lands retail deal with Walmart” by Frank Witsil at USA Today.  “Cundy’s invention — which he initially sold through camping stores and credits his wife, Barbara Ann, with naming it Trash-Ease — is one of hundreds of American-made products that Wal-Mart agreed last month. The Trash-Ease, which is being manufactured in Ferndale and Traverse City, has gone through six iterations. It hangs a 13-gallon trash bag just about anywhere, on bleachers, picnic tables, even kitchen counters.” Read more

 

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