"Meet the Low-Key, Low-Cost Grocery Chain Being Called ‘Walmart’s Worst Nightmare’ " by Brad Tuttle at Time. " “WinCo arguably may be the best retailer in the Western U.S.,” Flickinger says while touring a WinCo store. “WinCo is really unstoppable at this point,” he goes on. “They’re Walmart’s worst nightmare.”  Flickinger isn’t the only industry insider discussing WinCo and Walmart in the same breath. “While many supermarkets strive to keep within a few percentage points of Walmart Stores’ prices, WinCo Foods often undersells the massive discount chain,” the industry publication Supermarket News explained last spring." Read more   "Twin Cities [...]

  "Wal-Mart weighs bid for Li's Hong Kong supermarket chain" at Reuters.  "Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, is working with a bank as it weighs its options for ParknShop ahead of next week's preliminary bid deadline..Last year, Wal-Mart announced plans to open 100 new stores in China over the next three years and create 18,000 jobs in an effort to boost its mainland China business. Wal-Mart opened its first China store in 1996 and now operates over 380 stores spread across various formats, including Supercenters, Sam's Clubs and Neighborhood Markets."  Read more    "Target buys beauty and skin-care firm DermStore [...]

  "CVS Caremark quarterly profit rises as sales up in both units" at Reuters.  "CVS Caremark Corp posted a higher second-quarter profit on Tuesday, helped by its pharmacy benefits management business, where sales growth narrowly outpaced that of its drugstores.  The drugstore and pharmacy benefits management company earned $1.12 billion, or 91 cents per share, up from $966 million, or 75 cents per share, a year earlier."  Read more   "Immense influence goes with Bezos’ Washington Post purchase" by Brier Dudley at Seattle Times.  "Perhaps this explains why President Obama flew to an Amazon.com distribution center in Tennessee last week [...]

  "Home Depot Co-Founder Bernie Marcus's Mansion on Block for $3.2 Mil (Includes Heated Driveway)" by Josh Green at Curbed.  "Who knew Bernie Marcus was big-pimpin' like this? Property records confirm this stylish, 10,000 square-foot estate near Sandy Springs belongs to the Home Depot co-founder, aquarium benefactor and philanthropic all-star. Sotheby's has listed the property at $3.2 million, and that includes the hugely unnecessary heated driveway."  See the pictures   "At Target, innovation begins from within" by Thomas Lee at Star-Tribune.  "Behind the scenes at Target, the cultural changes have been dramatic. Teams of executives regularly evaluate new technologies, whether [...]

  "Wal-Mart, retailers vie for bigger entertainment share" by Kim Souza at The City Wire.  "It’s been more than three years since Wal-Mart purchased Vudu, a video-streaming service based in Silicon Valley...Retail consultant Jason Long with Shift Marketing Group, said brick and mortar retailers are likely delving into streaming media as a defensive strategy focused on regaining lost revenue and blunting Amazon.  “Think about what could happen if Wal-Mart didn’t get into streaming, they cede eyeballs and engagement opportunities to Amazon and others."  Read more    "An Interview With Costco CEO Craig Jelinek" by Austin Smith at The Motley Fool. [...]

  "Target testing new baby store concept in Illinois" at The Chicago Tribune via Reuters.  "Target Corp is testing a baby section with trained staff at 10 Illinois stores in a push to gain a bigger share of the shrinking but highly competitive market for baby gear...Households with children spend about 20 percent more each year at Target than patrons without children, said Trish Adams, Target's senior vice president of merchandising.  “We kind of are a store for families, and particularly young families, and we just think there is further opportunity to capture a larger share of their wallet,” she [...]

  "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 [...]

  "Office Depot Q2 Sales Down 4%"  "The North American Retail Division reported second quarter 2013 sales of $939 million, a decrease of 5% compared to the prior year.  Comparable store sales in the 1,077 stores that have been open for more than one year decreased 4% for the second quarter of 2013."  Read more   "eBay CEO John Donahoe on the Importance of Design" by Mike Isaac at All Things D.  "This world of social commerce hasn’t really exploded yet. And I think it’s going to develop differently from mobile, across categories and segments. You can bring eBay listings [...]