Wednesday Tipsheet: Wmart Mex & R.Aid +4.5% | D.Tree: Sell 340 | Bezos Tries Space

 

Dollar Tree says FTC wants 340 stores sold ahead of Family Dollar deal at Reuters. Read more

 

Rite-Aid Q4 Comp +4.5% (Front-End +2.0%) Read the release

 

Is Wal-Mart asking suppliers to fund Savings Catcher? by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “Wal-Mart spokeswoman Molly Blakeman said she was not unable to substantiate claims about supplier support of the Savings Catcher program prior to publishing this report.” Read more

 

Jeff Bezos’ rocket company to begin suborbital test flights this year by Irene Klotz at Reuters. “The so-called New Shepard spaceship is designed to fly three people and/or a mix of passengers and payloads to altitudes about 62 miles (100 km) above Earth. It will launch from Blue Origin’s west Texas facility near Van Horn, Texas, southeast of El Paso.” Read more

 

Millennials Say Amazon.com Provides Best Customer Service, Boomers Disagree by Pam Goodfellow at Forbes. “Nordstrom, along with Amazon, are the two retailers that appear in both Millennials’ and Boomers’ top five Champions.” See top five list for both

 

Wal-Mart’s Mexico Unit Logs Strongest Sales Growth in Over Two Years by Anthony Harrup at Nasdaq. “Sales momentum from the first two months of the year continued into March, with same-store sales in Mexico up 4.5% from the year-earlier month despite a negative calendar effect. The number of customers was down 1.7% in March.” Read more

 

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Home Depot Back on Top as Radio’s #1 Advertiser at Radio Ink. “Home Depot has returned to the top as radio’s number one advertiser airing 48,777 commercials for the week of March 30, according to Media Monitors. Walgreens moved up to #2 (from #4) with 43,807 ads aired.” Read more

 

IKEA to shoppers in Beijing: Please stop napping on the furniture by Amy Eley at Today. “The Chinese location is no longer tolerating those who opt for sleeping over shopping since they prevent other customers from testing and buying products. IKEA spokesperson Mona Astra Liss told TODAY.com that no word on napping has been released for U.S. locations, but we suggest snoozing before heading to the mega-store.” See the pics / Read more 

 

U.K.: Costco has had “huge impact” on grocery sector by Fiona Briggs at Fortune. “Online is not a red herring but there’s a lot more at play than things shifting online,” he says. “If the internet did not exist, this would have happened anyway…Bryan Roberts, director of retail insights, at Kantar Retail, states: “ Costco has had a huge impact on the sector but never gets mentioned .” Read more

 

So much for all of that mall traffic from the Apple Watch by Julia Love at The Mercury News. “When the Apple Watch goes on sale later this month, Apple will encourage its loyal fans to buy the gadget online, rather than flooding stores, according to an internal memo obtained by Business Insider.” Read more

 

‘Star Wars’ Digital Collection: Walmart’s Vudu Offers an Early Deal by James Rainey at Variety. “Walmart’s Vudu digital media delivery service…was the only outlet to break slightly from the pack, at least initially. It posted a “limited-time offer” of $89.99 for the six-movie bundle, with individual episodes going for $19.99.” Read more

 

Hudson’s Bay is betting on new 1970s-style women’s fashions by Marina Strauss at Globe & Mail. “There’s a significant change in fashion,” Richard Baker, governor and executive chairman of HBC, said in an interview on Tuesday.” Read more

 

Harris Teeter is checking out of the Nashville market by E.J. Boyer at Nashville Business Journal. “It will sell three of its remaining four stores in that market to corporate parent Kroger and close the other one.” Read more

 

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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 happening in the world of retail. Contact us at info@shiftmarketinggroup.net.