"Sam’s Club ‘Sensory Lab’ tests holiday products" by Kim Souza at The City Wire.  "Roughly 80% of the food tested meets the minimum standard, but Hebert said just 15% makes into the clubs.  “We have two test panels a day with four foods in each panel. Between 65 to 100 people come down to take part in the tests each day,” Hebert said.  The panel tests rate the products on a range of attributes from taste to texture and panel participants are allowed to share any suggestions to improve the product further."  Read more:  https://www.thecitywire.com/node/28277#.UcA8cfnVDpU   "Lowe’s bid for [...]

  "Lowe's Agrees to Buy Orchard Supply Hardware" by Mattioli and Glazer at WSJ.  "Under the agreement, Lowe's would acquire at least 60 of Orchard's 91 stores, plus an option to buy the rest, the people said. They said Orchard is expected to propose the deal Monday in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing...The deal would helpLowe's diversify into a smaller-box format, a strategy that other big-box retailers are trying as more sales move online. Orchard stores average 36,000 square feet of selling space, the people said. Lowe's stores average about 113,000 square feet of selling space. Lowe's plans to keep [...]

  "HD Supply may raise up to $1.3 billion in IPO" at AP via Businessweek.  "The company plans to sell 53.2 million shares priced between $22 and $25 each...Home Depot remains its largest customer and accounted for $296 million in revenue last year.  HD Supply reported a loss of $543 million on revenue of $7.03 billion in its most recent fiscal year."  Read more:  https://www.businessweek.com/ap/2013-06-13/hd-supply-may-raise-up-to-1-dot-3-billion-in-ipo   "Will AmazonFresh Kill Online Grocery Startups?" by Gabrielle Karol at Fox Business.  "The service, known as AmazonFresh, has been operating in Seattle since 2007. To use AmazonFresh, consumers need to pay a $299 annual [...]

  "Retail sales beat expectations as automobiles surge" at Reuters.  "Retail sales rose more than expected in May as households stepped up purchases of automobiles and bought other goods, suggesting the economy was squeezing out of a recent soft patch.  The Commerce Department said on Thursday retail sales increased 0.6 percent after edging up 0.1 percent in April."  Read more:  https://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/13/us-usa-economy-retail-idUSBRE95C0IF20130613   "Leverage game promotes savings and growth at Wal-Mart" by Kim Souza at City Wire.  "“Leverage is a key word, a corporate reminder that they are to continue to make the most out of what they have …  Not [...]

  "How Costco saves taxpayers money" by Eleanor Bioxham at Fortune.  "Paying well ultimately saves Costco money. The company gets tons of applications and can afford to hire selectively. And it also doesn't incur the high costs of turnover that other companies must deal with. In fact, turnover at the company runs just 10% overall for hourly workers and 6% if they stay longer than one year, he told me. Those figures are miniscule compared to overall turnover rates of 67% for part-time staffers and 24% for full-timers, according to statistics from the Hay Group."  Read more:  https://management.fortune.cnn.com/2013/06/11/costco/?source=cnn_bin   "Wal-Mart [...]

  "Home Depot's Breakfast with Analysts" by Andria Cheng at Market Watch.  "The company sees its 180-store Canada business only has 2 to 3 incremental stores while its 101-store Mexican business is “growing nicely” and on the way to 125 locations...The company has shut its seven larger format China stores after disclosing the plan last year. However, it told analysts it has a small team staying behind and has five small stores selling its Behr paint that “is doing very well,” signaling Home Depot may open small stores to sell U.S.-branded products in China, Schick said."  Read more:  https://blogs.marketwatch.com/behindthestorefront/2013/06/10/home-depots-meeting-with-analysts-strikes-a-confident-tone/   [...]

  "Walmart Canada & P&G Launch QR Code Campaign at Bus Stops"  by Jennifer Kwan at Yahoo.  "Here's the idea: customers can use their mobile devices to scan posters with QR-codes at certain bus shelters to buy select items including Pantene shampoo, Pampers diapers and Tide detergent and have the goods delivered to their homes for free. The campaign will last four weeks."  Read more:  https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/blogs/insight/wal-mart-invade-toronto-bus-stops-190600620.html   "Home Depot testing video conferencing with on-line shoppers to sell custom kitchens" at MarketWatch.  "At a Goldman Sachs conference on Thursday, Kevin Hofmann, president of Home Depot’s online sales, said the company sees [...]

  "Wal-Mart has no U.S. grocery delivery expansion plans for now" at Reuters.  "For now, it is holding off based on a lack of demand.  "We are not making any announcements about other markets for grocery delivery in the U.S. right now," Neil Ashe, the president and chief executive officer of Walmart Global eCommerce, told reporters on Thursday afternoon, a day before the company's annual shareholder meeting.  While the test in San Jose and San Francisco has proven that the company "can serve a market effectively from our existing supercenters ... we'll have to wait and see whether the customer [...]