Wednesday Tipsheet: Costco Cuts Water | Kraft/Heinz Cuts Mktg | City Target Fenway Opens | Amazon Home Services +11

 

Jet.com CEO Appears on CNBC: “There are 90 million households in America that don’t have Prime,” Jet co-founder and CEO Marc Lore told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “This is going to be the fastest and cheapest shipping option for those households.” See the video / Read more

 

Why Wal-Mart, an icon of suburbia, had to urbanize its hometown by Lydia DePillis at Washington Post. “When Jerome Lynch first met a Wal-Mart recruiter at a conference in Washington D.C., he had no intention of joining up. He couldn’t even guess where it was based. “I said ‘I don’t know, Texas?’ She said ‘no, Bentonville, Arkansas.’ I kind of wrote it off right and there,” recalled Lynch, 23.” Read more

 

City Target Near Fenway Park Opens Today by Donna Goodison at Boston Herald. “The escalator at the street-level entrance brings shoppers directly to a second-floor desk where customers who ordered merchandise online can pick it up at the store. “The guests shouldn’t have any confusion and get in and out really quick,” store manager Don Aldridge said.” Read more

 

This is how Costco is using data and sensors to cut water use by Katie Fehrenbacher at Fortune. “A Kirkland, Washington-based startup called Apana is the brains behind Costco’s software and sensors. After operating for two years under the name Kirkland Analytics, Apana is relaunching under a new name Tuesday and with a story about how customers like Costsco have been quietly using its product to cut water use.” Read more

 

WSJ: Pitching Products to Wal-Mart, in 30 Minutes by Sarah Nassauer. “Jacob Moore, the retailer’s merchandise planner for health and wellness, analyzed the mock packaging of the yet-to-be-released product called BootySpray. “You can use this billboard much better,” he said, examining the spray can. Mr. Moore suggested a bigger font for some phrases like: “No messy hands.” Read more (Subscription)

 

Sports Authority’s play to take on Dick’s by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC. “Now, with two years under the belt for much of its executive team, Sports Authority is hoping to end years of what Moody’s described as “inconsistent” operating performance…Moody’s recently upgraded Sports Authority’s ratings outlook from “negative” to “stable”. Read more

 

Amazon invades Angie’s List’s turf even more by rolling out Home Services in 11 new markets by Tricia Duryee at Geek Wire. “Today’s announcement puts the company on track to hit its goal of launching in 30 markets by the end of the year, making it a formidable competitor to other sites like Angie’s List, Pro.com, HomeAdvisor, Porch, Yelp and others.” Read more

 

Sam’s Club says custom jewelry demand growth led by Millennials by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “Joel Heiligenthal, merchant over jewelry at Sam’s Club, recently told The City Wire that one of the retailer’s best kept secrets was its custom jewelry business. About two years ago, Heiligenthal made the decision to place the special order catalogs on the jewelry counters in all of its clubs across the U.S. “It has been well received. A large percentage of our fine jewelry business is special orders today.” Read more

 

***A message from Dolce Extra Virgin Olive Oil: From this Chilean oasis comes Dolce Super Premium Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Featuring the lowest acidity rate in the category at 0.2%. Our advanced systems ensure less than 12 hours between harvest and oil extraction to packaging. See the website. Retailers request a sample at info@shiftmarketinggroup.net

 

Home Depot Back at #1 in Radio at Radio Ink. “Home Depot is back in the top spot. According to Media Monitors, Home Depot was the advertising king of the hill for the week of July 13-19 with 56,414 commercials aired. The previous week’s #1 advertiser, Geico, slips back to #2 with 42,906 ads played.” Read more

 

Wal-Mart de Mexico sales rise by Anthony Harrup at MarketWatch. “Sales in the quarter rose 9.9% to 114.4 billion pesos, the biggest increase since the third quarter of 2012. Sales in Mexico were up 7.4% and in Central America they rose 25% in Mexican peso terms.” Read more

 

8 grocery stores set to open, or reopen, in metro Detroit this week at Crain’s Detroit Read more

 

Northwest Arkansas Council celebrates 25 years at annual meeting by Christie Swanson at NWA Online. “Jim Walton, chairman and CEO of Arvest Bank Group, took over Monday as the council’s presiding co-chair from Rosalind Brewer, president and CEO of Sam’s Club. This marks Walton’s third stint in the leadership role and he joked that it better be his last.” Read more

 

Nordstrom launches personal shopping service for women under Trunk Club brand by Tricia Duryee at Geek Wire. “A box of clothing is sent to each customer to try on in their own home, and then they can keep what they love and send the rest back for free.” Read more

 

Kraft Heinz Begins Culling Marketing Jobs by E.J. Schultz at Ad Age. “Those departing the company include Tom Bick, senior director-integrated marketing communications and advertising for the Oscar Mayer business; and Kara Henry, senior marketing director, communications and agency relations, according to people familiar with the matter.” Read more

 

These Are the Top 20 Cities Americans Are Ditching at Bloomberg. See the list

 

Walmart Shoppers Sing National Anthem in Patriotic Viral Video at ABC 7 Los Angeles.  See the video

 

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Eye-on-Retail Tipsheet is created early every weekday morning and read by retail merchants and executives worldwide. We love data, earnings reports, executive presentations and stories off the beaten path that get at what’s really happening in the world of retail. Contact us at info@shiftmarketinggroup.net. See our website eyeonretail.net