“Home Depot’s Hurricane Prep Workshops in Full Swing”  by Angela Chen at WSJ.  ” Home Depot has added hurricane-preparation workshops in places like Staten Island, N.Y., and the New Jersey shore to help people understand basic issues like how to choose the right generator, says Tony Lemma, Home Depot’s regional vice president for the New York metro area…”Since we’ve had Irene and Sandy, we’ve found that things have changed. So, in the past two years we’ve ramped up the focus around being prepared, and seen attendance at these workshops go up,” Mr. Lemma says.”  Read more

 

“@Walmart Labs’ Tim Kimmet talks what’s in store for mobile shoppers” by Jason Ankeny at Fierce Developer.  “We definitely see customers trending to mobile. More than 50 percent of Walmart customers have smartphones, and mobile is driving more than 40 percent of Walmart.com seasonal traffic. So mobile devices and new experiences will become really key for Walmart to meet its goals.”  See the full interview

 

“Bentonville, AR is to Professional Retail what Silicon Valley is to Tech” by Kim Souza at The City Wire.  “Lazenby said the local concentration of talent in professional retail is similar to what Silicon Valley has in the tech world…Not too long ago there were few marketing experts to be found in the immediate region. But about three years ago large suppliers such as ConAgra, began to look for experts with true-brand experience and these marketers were added to the Wal-Mart teams. “This gave the local job market a boost because these were new jobs across a number of large suppliers,” Lazenby added. “The role du jour these days is the shopper marketing position, at least that’s what I am hearing.”  Read more

 

“Neiman-Marcus Wanted Saks” at My Retail Media.   “According to sources, Neiman Marcus Group had been working with private equity firm KKR & Co., after putting in a second bid for the Manhattan-based department store.  It’s thought although Neiman Marcus gave a compelling offer, the deal stalled when it became clear a government antitrust investigation of a Neiman’s-Saks combination would delay a deal for months and burden both retailers with a huge amount of administrative complications required by the government.”  Read more

 

“India Said to Consider Easing Rules Luring Wal-Mart to Tesco” at Businessweek.  “The cabinet will consider amendments on rules covering sourcing, infrastructure investment, and store locations, according to the two officials, who asked not to be named as they aren’t authorized to speak to the media.  The government is loosening rules to attract global chains such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Tesco Plc. to its supermarket industry. While the nation changed laws in September to allow foreign retailers to own majority stakes in stores selling multiple brands, no overseas companies have sought such licenses as yet.”  Read more

 

“Retailer for women cancer survivors to open second location” by Tristan Navera at Dayton Business Journal.  “The store specializes in clothes for women who have had a lumpectomy or a mastectomy, and sells undergarments, head wear, breast prosthesis among other items…These products are usually covered by insurance, including Medicare or Medicaid…“We want this facility to be more elegant, and very inviting,” said Cheryl Griffen, executive director, “We’ll be able to display more products in the new showroom.”  Read more

 

“Parents Favor Major Brands Online” by Gavin O’Malley at Online Media Daily.  “Parents appear to be doing the majority of their online back-to-school shopping with brick-and-mortar brands, according to Bill Tancer, general manager of global research at EMS. “Brick-and-mortar stores are getting the majority of search traffic to date,” said Tancer.”  Read more

 

“Smell of Money: Boosting Sales Through Customers’ Senses” at Hiper Kinetic.  “Scents trigger purchasing emotions. In his novel “Remembrance of Things Past”, French author Marcel Proust was the first to explicitly link smell and memory. He wrote of the emotional power of smell in the form of madeleine cakes and their ability to call up images of childhood. Similar principle applies to shoppers. While customers are in store, scent helps to create the right emotional mood and ambience, lowering the psychological buying barrier.”  Read more

 

“Tractor Supply: Growth Story + Amazon-Resistant” by Amy Merrick at Y Charts.  “Tractor Supply is relatively immune to Amazon, according to research by William Blair & Co. analysts. While Amazon continues to expand its selection, it doesn’t stock the majority of Tractor Supply’s merchandise. A sampling of Tractor Supply items by William Blair found that Amazon carried 42% of them, up from 33% in a year-earlier survey. But only 25% of those items are eligible for Prime shipping, limiting the Amazon advantage.”  Read more

 

“Good Eggs Beats Walmart, Amazon, to New Orleans Grocery Ecommerce” by David Utter at EcommerceBytes.  “The Times-Picayune noted how ecommerce grocer Good Eggs has expanded from its California and New York markets to open Good Eggs New Orleans. Simone Reggie, cited in the article, said the Good Eggs company “wanted a more mixed income city,” leading them to start their third location in the Big Easy.”  Read more

 

“Why Amazon Is Happy Breaking Even With Online Grocery” by Tom Ryan at Forbes.  ““Our interviews with AmazonFresh insiders suggest that Amazon’s internal target for expansion was break-even, and that it’s motivation for investment is more strategic than profit driven,” wrote Logan Gallogly, research analyst.”  Read more

 

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