"Target Pushing Into Media Business; Retailer selling inventory on Target.com via PubMatic-powered private ad marketplace" By Tim Peterson in AdWeek.  "Target’s private marketplace operates similarly to others that retailers like Best Buy and Amazon have erected recently. For example, a user may visit Target.com and check out its high-def TVs. As that user navigates to other parts of Target’s site, a brand like Sony or Samsung could run ads aimed at that user promoting their TVs—provided they are sold by Target.  But the ads don't have to pertain so closely to a specific product category. Adweek encountered a Subaru [...]

  "Lowe’s still yearns for larger market share in Canada" by Ken Elkins in Charlotte Business Journal.  "On Wednesday, Robert Niblock, Lowe’s chief executive, told analyst and investors he would like to have at least 100 Lowe’s stores in Canada.  “There are other ways to attain scale in Canada,” he says. The company dropped its $1.8 billion offer for Rona when Rona's board of directors rebuffed the proposal."  https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/outside_the_loop/2012/12/lowes-still-yearns-for-larger-market.html   "Rogers and Wal-Mart to launch magazine (in Canada)" by Susan Krashinksy in The Globe and Mail.  "In April, Rogers will launch Walmart Live Better, a new 100-page glossy magazine that [...]

    Calendar at a Glance: Lowe's:  12/5 @ 10:00 am EST -- Lowe’s Analyst & Investor Conference Call https://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=95223&p=irol-eventDetails&EventId=4857135   Interview with Apple's Tim Cook:  12/6 @10:00 pm EST on NBC's Rock Center -- Apple’s Tim Cook Interviewed By NBC’s Brian Williams.    https://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/apples-tim-cook-interviewed-by-nbcs-williams-airs-thursday   Orchard Supply Hardware:  12/10 @ 4:30 pm EST -- Orchard Supply Q3 Financial Results Conference Call https://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsLang=en&newsId=20121204006641&div=-1245645151   Kroger opens largest store in Mid-Atlantic @ 123K Square Feet; includes furniture department...watch the video below... "New Kroger to open on Midlothian Turnpike" by Sarah Bloom at NBC 12 News (Video and Text).  "But perfection will take a [...]

  "Consumers open to putting mortgages from Wal-Mart on their shopping list" by Rick  Rouan at Columbus Business First via Reuters.  "Charlotte, N.C.-based Carlisle & Gallagher Consulting Group’s study of 618 U.S. consumers says that alternative financial services providers are threatening banks’ dominance in the lending market. The survey found that one in three consumers would get a mortgage from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and about half would be willing to finance their home purchase through eBay Inc.’s online payment subsidiary PayPal Inc."  https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2012/12/03/consumers-open-to-putting-mortgages.html   "Staples Announces In-Store 3-D Printing Service" by Mike Senese at Wired.  "A new service called “Staples [...]

    "Retail Frenzy: Prices on the Web Change Hourly" by Stephanie Clifford in The New York Times.  "Ms. Schulz said sophisticated retailers set algorithms to change prices in response to competitors. “Retailers pipe a bunch of information in electronically, like internal information — cost, availability of inventory, sales goals,” along with competitors’ prices, she said.  The software also lets retailers establish rules on the pricing of certain products: always price Furbys 5 percent below Kmart, for example, or make sure some goods are priced at an average of Amazon’s and Walmart’s prices. Generally, pricing managers also manually adjust prices." [...]

  "Amazon CEO Bezos: AWS is lean manufacturing, Kindle Fire for IT" by Larry Dignan for Between the Lines.  "Bezosisms": Innovation isn't always fun. "You also have to have a willingness to fail and be misunderstood for a while," Bezos said. "If you never want to be criticized, for heaven's sake, don't do anything that's new." A 10,000-year clock.  Bezos wants a 10,000-year clock developed to symbolize long-term thinking. It should be carved in the side of a mountain and have five anniversary chambers, Bezos said. The fifth one goes off at the 10,000-year mark. Advice to entrepreneurs.  Never ride the [...]

Target November Comp Sales Decreased 1%.  "Target Corporation today reported that its net retail sales for the four weeks ended November 24, 2012 were $6,183 million, a decrease of 0.1 percent from $6,191 million for the four weeks ended November 26, 2011. On this same basis, November comparable-store sales decreased 1.0 percent."  https://investors.target.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=65828&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1762842&highlight=  "Amazon, Wal-Mart Pull Ahead In Cyber Monday Traffic" by Amy Reeves in Investor's Business Daily.  "Experian said in a blog post that visits to Amazon's website increased 36% over last year's Cyber Monday, to nearly 35 million. It was the top e-tail site by visitor count. No. 2 Wal-Mart's visits rose 21% to 18.6 million, while Best Buy came [...]

Costco Wholesale Corporation Reports November Sales Results.  Costco Wholesale Corporation today reported net sales of $8.15 billion for the month of November, the four weeks ended November 25, 2012, an increase of nine percent from $7.51 billion during the similar four-week period last year.   https://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=83830&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1762306&highlight= "Walmart comes to India: Can mom and pop stores play with the big boys?" by Mercedes White in Deseret News. "Shopping in India has never been like getting groceries in the United States.  “If we need toiletries, groceries, or even fish, meat or chicken, we just call down to the local kirana,” says Ruksana Hussain, [...]