Wal-Mart, Walgreens & Target accused of selling adulterated ‘herbals’ by Sarah Kaplan at Washington Post. “Wal-Mart was the worst offender: None of its six supplements that were tested were found to contain purely the ingredient they advertised. Target’s supplements were the least misleading of the lot — though that isn’t saying much, since tests on six of the brand’s products resulted in only one unqualified positive. Two of Target’s other supplements contained DNA from other plants alongside their purported ingredients, while the remaining three tested negative.” Read more

 

…Retailer Response by Anahad O’Connor at NY Times. “Walgreens said it would remove the products from its shelves nationwide, even though only New York State had demanded it. Walmart said it would reach out to the suppliers of its supplements “and take appropriate action.” Target did not respond to requests for comment.” Read more

 

Target liquidation sales could start Thursday, retailer seeks court approval at Financial Post. “Target Canada will seek court approval Wednesday to allow a group of liquidation companies to start to sell off the contents of its Canadian stores.” Read more

 

Canadian pharmacists fighting Target Canada by Francine Kopun at Toronto Star. “Franchisees were told to be ready to hit the ground running as the first weeks were the most critical in building up a client base, said Gavrilidis. Instead they were hampered by fax machines that didn’t work on the first day, making it impossible to fax doctor’s offices for prescriptions. The computer software they had to use was relatively untested and difficult to operate, said Gavrilidis.” Read more

 

Seattle Times: 10 years later, Amazon celebrates Prime’s triumph by Jay Greene. “Prime started when an Amazon engineer named Charlie Ward pitched the idea in a digital employee-suggestion box. At the time, Amazon offered customers free shipping on purchases of $25 or more, as long as they were willing to wait a few extra days for their order to arrive. Ward thought some customers would be willing to spend more, and might even shop more often if they could be part of a buying club that offered rapid shipping.Bezos seized on the idea and pulled together a group of executives in November 2004 in the boathouse at his Medina home.” Read more

 

Clorox Loses ‘Club Store’ Suit by Andrew M Harris at Bloomberg. “Clorox lost a bid to dismiss a novel antitrust lawsuit by a Wisconsin supermarket challenging the household product maker’s policy of only selling bulk packages to large retailers.  Woodman’s Food Market Inc., a 15-store grocery chain, claims Clorox last year adopted a policy of selling its large-pack products only to super-stores such as Costco Wholesale Corp. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. unit Sam’s Club.” Read more

 

Amazon in Talks to Buy Some of RadioShack’s Stores at Bloomberg. “Amazon has considered using the RadioShack stores as showcases for the Seattle-based company’s hardware, as well as potential pickup and drop-off centers for online customers, said one of the people, who asked not to be named because the deliberations are private.” Read more

 

Target joins industry trend, will open more express stores this year by Kavita Kumar at Star-Tribune. “(Target) said this year it will open nine smaller-format stores and six big-box stores. “For these big, mature retailers, there’s just nowhere else to go with their full, general merchandise stores,” said Brian Yarbrough, an analyst with Edward Jones.” Read more

 

…Philly/LA/DC/San Francisco/Chicago by Phil Wahba at Fortune. “Beyond this year, Target is also looking into expanding the TargetExpress concept in greater Philadelphia and in Los Angeles, as well as additional such stores in metro Washington, San Francisco and Chicago.” Read more

 

WSJ: Staples, Office Depot in Advanced Talks to Merge by Liz  Hoffman and Dana Mattioli. “The price and structure of the proposed deal couldn’t be learned. Staples has a market value of about $11 billion, while Office Depot, which in 2013 absorbed rival OfficeMax, has a market value of about $4 billion. There is no guarantee a deal will be reached, the people cautioned.” Read more (Subscription)

 

Better Homes and Gardens Best New Product Awards Announces 2015 Winners See the 93 winning products

 

Target pharmacists seek protection as Wal-Mart secures patient records by Marina Strauss at Globe & Mail. “We’re the illegitimate child,” said Stavros (Steve) Gavrilidis, a Target pharmacist in Windsor, Ont., and and secretary of the Pharmacy Franchisee Association of Canada. “We want to be recognized” in Target’s bankruptcy protection process.” Read more

 

Dick’s Announces that Chief Financial Officer Andre J. Hawaux will Assume Additional Responsibilities as Chief Operating Officer  Read the release

 

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