“Parents outraged as U.S. Toys ‘R’ Us sells ‘crystal meth’ Breaking Bad dolls” by Rosa Prince at The Telegraph via Vancouver Sun. “Parents took to the toy giant’s Facebook page to say that they did not want their teenagers to be exposed to drug dealing even at the age of 15. One wrote: “Nothing says toys for kids like an action figure with a bag of crystal meth. I can’t wait for my 15 year to grow up like that.” Another added: “A new low . . . Breaking Bad toys? Come on! Pull them and be done with this nonsense and have just a morsel of common sense and decency.” Read more

 

…See the Walter White action figure with bag of meth via Gawker.  See the pic

 

“Wal-Mart Compliance Chief Looking Beyond the Scandals” by Sue Reisinger at Corporate Counsel. “Daniel Trujillo likes to tell the story of visiting Walmart stores when he was first hired to learn more about the retailing business. Trujillo visited one site around Valentines Day that had bought exactly 433 balloons, and seldom returned any product to suppliers. How do you know how many to buy, he asked. By studying 10 different data points on balloon sales, they replied. And he knew he and Walmart International were a match made in heaven.” Read more

 

“Home Depot Names Marc Powers EVP, U.S. Stores” “As EVP – U.S. Stores, Powers will assume responsibilities for the company’s three U.S. operating divisions, as well as Pro, Tool Rental and the company’s installation business.” Read the release

 

“New Home Depot CEO Menear gets $1.3M annual salary” at Atlanta Bus. Chronicle. “Menear, who takes the reins Nov. 1, also has the opportunity to earn a bonus of 200 percent his salary for hitting certain financial targets. And he gets $3.5 million in stock options.” Read more

 

“Sears leasing space to raise much-needed cash” by James Covert at NY Post. “Primark Stores — a British-based low-price clothing chain that’s expanding into the US — will lease space at seven Sears locations in the Northeast, the companies said Monday.” Read more

 

“Why Neiman Marcus picked a New York neighborhood” by Maria Halkias at Dallas News. “The neighborhood used to be known for its rough tenements, and some people still consider the blocks around the Javits Center between the Hell’s Kitchen and Chelsea neighborhoods unattractive. Here’s why the smart folks at Neiman Marcus picked the location…” Read more

 

***A message from Dig It® Handwear.  Garden glove protection for manicured female hands!  Patented line of premium quality gardening gloves provides unique “pillow-top” protection for female gardeners.  Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary is an investor. Nationally distributed in Canada – now offered to US retail for the first time.  View the line at www.digithandwear.com. See the wire rack.  Contact info@eyeonretail.net to get started.

 

“CVS Plays Hardball With Rival Drug Chains” by Ed Silverman & Paul Ziobro at WSJ. “The plan, offered by CVS’s pharmacy benefits unit Caremark, features copayments that are up to $15 higher on prescriptions filled where tobacco is sold. That could give people covered by such plans an incentive to buy their medications at CVS, which stopped selling tobacco products last month.” Read more (Subscription)

 

“Sears clerk arrested for swiping nearly $4 million” in items at CNBC. “New Jersey police charged one lone Sears clerk for stealing —and then trying to sell —$3.7 million worth of goods from a warehouse, The Daily Mail reported on Monday.” Read more

 

“A list of larger merchants taking Apple Pay” at AP via Star-Tribune. “More than 200,000 payment locations in the U.S. are equipped to accept so-called contactless payments, including Apple Pay. Smaller merchants tend to be among the several millions that don’t have the required equipment yet.” See the list

 

“Staples probes possible payment card data security breach” at Fortune. “The office-supply retailer disclosed the investigation after security reporter Brian Krebs reported on his blog Krebsonsecurity.com that several banks have identified a pattern of payment card fraud suggesting that several Staples stores in northeastern United States had succumbed to a data breach.” Read more

 

“America says no to cappuccino-flavored potato chips” by Candice Choi at AP via Star-Tribune. “As for the cappuccino flavor — which was described as “NASTY” and “gross” in some comments on Lay’s Facebook page — Krishnan defended its performance, although he wouldn’t say how many votes it got. “The fact that it made it out of our selection process to make it to the final four is no small feat,” he said.” Read more

 

***

Eye-on-Retail is a daily tipsheet read by thousands of Retail Merchants & Executives every weekday morning. Eye-on-Retail is unique because it’s timely, smart and fun. It’s created early AM every weekday and delivered between 7-8 am CST. We love data, earnings reports, executive presentations and stories off the beaten path that get at what’s happening in the world of retail. Contact us @ info@eyeonretail.net.