“Walmart Back-on-Top in Fortune Global 500 (CVS #35, Costco #60)”  See the Top 500 list

 

“First TargetExpress store to Open July 23rd” at Minneapolis/St. Paul Bus. Journal.  “Minnesota Public Radio reports that the mini-store— 20,000 square feet, or about one-sixth a typical Target — will open in the newly built Marshall apartment building. That means the store will be open in plenty of time to greet University of Minnesota students before classes start Sept. 2.” Read more

 

“Happening Today:  Wal-Mart holding its first “Open Call” for suppliers” by Kim Souza at The City Wire.  “She said there are roughly 900 suppliers — not quite one half of those already do business with Wal-Mart — slated to meet with buyers at Tuesday’s first ever Open Call for U.S. products.” Read more

 

“Target hires three digital Execs from outside” by Kavita Kumar at Star-Tribune.  “Target has been known for — and sometimes criticized for — promoting mostly from within the company. But Baeb noted that all three of these hires are coming from outside of Target. “The fact that we’re bringing in so much external leadership is a significant move and statement for Target,” he said.” Read more

 

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“Amazon quietly rolls out Sunday delivery in Seattle & Portland; Coming soon to Bay Area, Boston and more cities” by Tricia Duryee at Geek Wire.  “A U.S. Postal Service spokesman was able to provide GeekWire a partial list of cities where the service is live…The cities he can confirm are: Long Island, NY; New York City; Northern New Jersey; Westchester, NY; Los Angeles; San Diego; Fort Worth, Dallas and Houston in Texas; Richmond, Va.; Washington, D.C. (plus Virginia suburbs); and Seattle.” Read more

 

“Wal-Mart’s Bill Simon: Better jobs numbers aren’t helping sales” at MarketWatch.  “It’s really hard to see in our business today…that it’s gotten any better,” said Bill Simon, president and chief executive officer of Wal-Mart U.S., of the improving employment picture. Simon said customers in the lower- and middle-income spending bracket seemed to have adjusted their spending habits in ways that were “not the best thing in the world for a retailer.” Read more

 

“Scan One, Get One Free: Digital Deal Player Expands to Target and Walmart” by Jack Neff at Ad Age.  “SavingStar works like a syndicated loyalty program that tracks individual shopper purchases across multiple retailers. For one of its more popular offers, dubbed “One or Many,” people can buy multiple brand products over several weeks to qualify, e.g. “Spend spend $20 on Ziploc products over eight weeks at ‘One or Many’ stores over ‘One or Many’ shopping trips to get $5 back.” Read more

 

“Banning Big-Box Stores Can Hurt Local Retailers” by Carmen Nobel at Forbes.  “The typical goal of these regulations is to protect local businesses from the crushing competition of “big-box” stores. But it turns out such rules often backfire, according to research by Raffaella Sadun, an assistant professor in the Strategy unit at Harvard Business School.” Read more

 

“Home Improvement War Continues on Radio” at Radio Ink.  “The Home Depot and Lowes continue to use radio heavily in an effort to get homeowners to stop by their big box as they work on, in and around their homes. Home Depot continued its run as radio’s number one advertiser for the week of June 30, according to Media Monitors. Lowes moved up one notch from 5th to 4th.” Read more

 

“66% of parents look forward to back-to-school shopping as a time to bond with their teenagers”  “And more than two in five parents of teens (43%) say back-to-school shopping makes them relive their own school days, according to the online survey, which was conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of Staples among 1,011 parents of teens 13-19 years old.” Read the release

 

“USA Today:  Home Depot expands stock of smart home gadgets” by Wendy Koch.  “Boosting your home’s IQ got easier Monday as The Home Depot began selling a collection of nearly 60 gadgets that can be controlled by mobile devices, including light bulbs, lawn sprinklers and water heaters.” Read more

 

Harry Reid: ‘We’re going to do something’ on Hobby Lobby’ by Seung Min Kim at Politico.  “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Monday that Democrats will take up legislation in the “coming weeks” to address last month’s Supreme Court decision that allowed some employers with religious objections to opt out of Obamacare’s contraception mandate.” Read more

 

“Did you Miss out on the Super Bowl of Marketing to Black Women?”  by Terri Nichelle-Bradley at Ad Age.  “Walmart, McDonald’s, State Farm, Verizon, MSNBC and Ford were some of the most visible brands present at the packed convention center and the Super Dome…Black women, time and again, in survey after survey, report feeling invisible to brands.” Read more

 

“Study Links Junk Food Logos To Obesity” by Carey Dunne at Fast Company.  “The researchers tested two groups of three- to five-year-olds on their knowledge of fast food and processed food brands like McDonald’s, Burger King, Coke, Pepsi, Fritos, and Doritos. They found that those who could correctly identify the sugar-and-grease-mongering logos tended to have higher body mass indexes (BMIs). “We found the relationship between brand knowledge and BMI to be quite robust,” said Anna McAlister, an MSU assistant professor of advertising and public relations” Read more

 

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