“Walmart Announces Plans for Black Friday 2013”  “Compared to last year, Walmart will offer 65 percent more inventory on televisions and double the number of tablets…this year a 32″ LED TV will be available at Walmart for $98. Last Black Friday, a 32″ LED TV sold for $148 at Walmart.”  Read more

 

“Kmart rent-to-own program turns $300 TV into $415 buy” by Lauren Coleman-Lochner at Bloomberg News via Star-Tribune.  “Kmart is introducing a rent-to-own program charging the equivalent of 100-plus percent annual interest, a move into a business that has drawn criticism for hurting low-income consumers.  The Lease-to-Own program touts instant gratification — customers without credit take a product home right away, make biweekly payments, then decide whether to buy out or return the product. A typical deal could turn a $300 television into a $415 purchase.”  Read more

 

Did Walmart really label an ad as “Low Income” on their site?  via @donte05.  See the pic

 

“Lowe’s Teams Up With Top Designers To Inspire Holiday Projects” at Digital Journal  “To help kick off the holiday season, Lowe’s teamed up with today’s top do-it-yourselfers and designers to create holiday-inspired rooms that are guaranteed to welcome any guest in style.”  Read more

 

“Why Wal-Mart can afford to give its workers a 50% raise” by Stephen Gandel at Fortune.  “Many critics argue that because Wal-Mart made $17 billion in profits last year, it can afford to pay more and even has an obligation to do so. That’s silly, too. Public companies have to make enough money to satisfy shareholders, or else their stocks tank and executives end up getting canned.  I came up with what I feel is a better, more scientific way to determine the answer. Then I called a couple of really smart economists to get it “peer”-reviewed…Read more

 

“Menard Trial Airs Dirty Laundry” by J.K. Wall at IBJ.  “On the same day Eric Weber, the former president of Indianapolis-based New Sunshine LLC, was in California signing a marketing deal pledging $1.2 million to the Kardashian sisters, he received an email firing him for “gross negligence.”  The email came from Matt Cotton, who until then had been manager at the Menards hardware store in Avon, but was installed in March by Menard Inc. to replace Weber as manager of New Sunshine.”  Read more

 

“Walmart uses beer evolution to win Millennials” by Kim Souza at The City Wire.  “The Millennial generation continues to make its mark on businesses eager to win favor with these 80 million consumers who like what they like and seldom settle for anything else.  Wal-Mart Stores and other retailers like Dollar General have said they want to be there for this generation and having the beer they prefer is one step in the right direction, according to Jason Long, CEO of Shift Marketing Group.”  Read more

 

“At Home Depot, building a strong corps of veterans” by Steve Vogel at The Washington Post.  “Frank Blake, Home Depot’s CEO, did not serve in the military, but his son, Frank Blake Jr., served as a signal officer with the Army’s 4th Infantry Division in the volatile area around Tikrit after the invasion of Iraq in 2003. His son’s experience helped shape the elder Blake’s view of how the company could support veterans.  “There are a lot of things I probably wouldn’t have understood, but for being around my son and his colleagues,” Blake said.  The younger Blake enrolled in a Home Depot junior officer management program after leaving the Army and is now a district manager for the company in Georgia.”  Read more

 

“Shoppers Drug Mart reports lower quarterly net income” at Reuters via Toronto Sun.  “Q3 Sales rose 2.4% to $3.29 billion, meeting analysts’ estimates. Sales at established stores, a key measure for retailers, were 2.2% higher.”  Read more

 

“Rona reports 13th consecutive quarter of declining same-store sales” by Ross Marowits at Montreal Gazette.  “Rona continues to struggle amid tough consumer spending in Canada and increasing competition from U.S. players Home Depot and Lowe’s. While Rona’s same-store sales are in decline, Home Depot recently said its Canadian store numbers have improved.”  Read more

 

“Office Depot Names Roland Smith CEO of Merged Chain” by Matt Townsend at Bloomberg.  “Smith most recently served as CEO of Delhaize America LLC, a chain of supermarkets with $18 billion in revenue that includes the Food Lion brand.”  Read more

 

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