Wednesday’s Eye-on-Retail Tipsheet: H.Depot ‘Shake Down’ | Wgreen Adds 76 Stores | Wmart Sells 362 Restaurants
“Home Depot Is Accused of Shaking Down Suspected Shoplifters” by Susan Berfield at Businessweek. “Jimin Chen received two worrisome letters this summer. Both came from a law firm hired by Home Depot. The first demanded payment of $350 to settle claims that he shoplifted from a California store. According to Chen, in early June he had been wrongly accused of taking two pairs of work gloves (priced at $3.99 each) as he purchased nearly $1,500 worth of merchandise from Home Depot. A second letter demanded $625. Both helpfully included five ways he could pay, and both threatened legal action if he didn’t. Chen didn’t pay. Instead, on Sept. 5, he filed a class-action lawsuit in California Superior Court.” Read more
“Wal-Mart’s Mexico Unit Sells Restaurant Chain for $626 Million” by Amy Guthrie at WSJ. “The companies said in separate statements Tuesday that Alsea, which manages franchises including Domino’s Pizza, Starbucks Coffee, Burger King and California Pizza Kitchen, will acquire Walmex’s 362 restaurants. The deal comes after Walmex said in June that it was seeking to sell the restaurants to simplify its operations. Analysts had estimated that the restaurant portfolio could sell for 4.6 billion to 10 billion pesos. ” Read more
“Walgreens to Acquire Kerr Drug’s Retail Drugstores and Specialty Pharmacy Business” “The acquisition is structured as an asset transaction and includes Kerr Drug’s 76 retail drugstores (in NC) and its specialty pharmacy business. The acquisition also includes a distribution center. Kerr Drug will retain ownership of its long-term care pharmacy business.” Read more
“How Solid Kroger Earnings Could Send Shares Soaring” by Dan Caplinger at Motley Fool. “The big piece of news for Kroger this quarter came from its announcement that it would acquire Harris Teeter in a $2.44 billion deal. Harris Teeter is relatively small, with just over 200 store locations. But it has a strong reputation in the mid-Atlantic region that will help Kroger boost its presence there and in the Southeast. Some have speculated that Kroger could buy A&P operator Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea as well, which could give it more Northeastern exposure.” Read more
“Lowe’s to Present at Goldman Sachs Retail Conference – Today at 10:35 a.m. ET.” Click here for Webcast
“Restoration Hardware Same-Store Sales Jump 26%” “We plan to open new Full Line Design Galleries in Greenwich, Atlanta and Los Angeles in 2014 and are currently in negotiations for more than 30 locations in other key markets. We continue to believe we can open more than 10 locations a year, beginning in 2015.” Read more
“Costco Ready to Open First New Orleans Store” at WWLTV. “Costco’s first big-box retail store is getting very close to opening in New Orleans, and after much anticipation and construction at the Carrollton intersection, doors are just about ready to open.” Read & See More
“5 ways retail’s biggest players are rethinking brick-and-mortar stores” by Michael Magusin at Retail Dive. “Here are five fine examples of big-name retailers who have made upgraded their facilities in the past year. Check what they’ve been up to, and you may find some ideas to take to heart.” Read more
“Pinterest Fail: Postmortems on craft disasters” by Nellie Bowles at San Fran Chronicle. “Andersen started a blog: Pinterest Fail ( www.pinterestfail.com). Though launched with all her own failures, Andersen now curates half a dozen submissions daily, showcasing do-it-yourself projects that looked great online but, in reality, have gone horribly awry.” Read more
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