"Costco Turns Tables on Democrats" by Jay Greene at Seattle Times. "Employees and executives have donated more than $48,000 to Republicans and $17,000 to Democrats so far this year in (WA) state contests, according to filings with the state Public Disclosure Commission...Kinda conspicuous, isn’t it?” said Sinegal, the former Costco CEO and current board member, who acknowledged the liquor fight in Olympia was at the heart of the shift in donations..Sinegal said he doesn’t recall ever donating to a Republican before. (A search of election records suggests he’s right.)." Read more   "Target Aims to Be 'in a class [...]

  Walmart: "Woman-owned suppliers connect through non-profits" by Kim Souza at The City Wire. "We've set specific goals for 2016 and are working toward them with good progress,” (Ravi) Jariwala told The City Wire. He said Walmart.com is now working with 35 woman-owned companies who are supplying more than 350 items for sale via the Empowering Women Together website page on Walmart.com. Sales begin in March 2013 from 19 woman-owned businesses from around the world." Read more   "Dem wants hearing on Home Depot hack" by Julian Hattem at The Hill. "The top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government [...]

  "Dept. of Homeland Security Asks Retailers to Watch Customers Behavior" by Stephen Dinan at Washington Times. "Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said his department will be issuing new guidance to retailers this week giving them pointers on how to spot potential terrorists among their customers by looking at what they’re buying. While saying the government cannot prohibit sales of some everyday materials, Mr. Johnson said retailers should be trained to look for anyone who buys a lot from what he described as a “long list of materials that could be used as explosive precursors.” Read more   Target's Annual Meeting Highlights: "Target revs up [...]

  "Dollar General goes hostile with Family Dollar bid" at CNBC. "Dollar General said it would take its $9.1 billion offer directly to shareholders of Family Dollar Stores, after being spurned twice by its smaller rival. The company said it had started a tender offer to buy all shares of Family Dollar for $80 per share." Read more   ...Dollar General's 'Hostile' Press Release "Dollar General’s all-cash offer of $80.00 per share provides Family Dollar shareholders with a substantially superior valuation to the $74.50 per share cash / stock offer announced by Dollar Tree, Inc. on July 28, 2014." Read the [...]

  "Home Depot confirms data breach" at CNBC. "Home Depot officially confirmed a data breach on Monday. Home Depot's investigation is focused on transactions made as far back as April. There is no evidence that shoppers' debit PIN numbers were compromised, according to a statement the retailer released Monday." Read more   ....Home Depot's Press Release: "We apologize for the frustration and anxiety this causes our customers, and I want to thank them for their patience and support as we work through this issue," said Frank Blake, chairman and CEO. "We owe it to our customers to alert them that we [...]

  "Whole Foods and Instacart turn up the heat in the delivery wars" by Beth Kowitt at Fortune. "Starting next month, rather than dispatching an Instacart shopper to a Whole Foods when an order is placed, shoppers will already be embedded in its stores. The service will start in Boston and Austin before rolling out to other participating cities." Read more   "Report Says Retailers Are Emerging From A Yearlong Apparel Slump" by Barbara Thau at Forbes. "For the first time since September 2013, apparel industry inventory levels are growing at a rate slower than sales growth, according to a [...]

"Target & Walmart Team Up on Sustainability" by Kavita Kumar at Star-Tribune. "The nation’s two largest discount retailers took the unusual step of co-hosting a meeting in Chicago to push beauty and personal care suppliers to be more transparent about the chemicals that go into their products...The forum was attended by about 75 people, including representatives from suppliers such as Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Estee Lauder and L’Oreal as well as other retailers such as CVS, Walgreens and Ulta. “It’s a pretty big deal,” said Janet Nudelman, director of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. “It’s surprising to see two such [...]

  "Costco Comp Sales +7% in August" "Costco reported net sales of $8.8 billion for the month of August, the four weeks ended August 31, 2014, an increase of ten percent from $8.0 billion during the similar period last year...For the 52-week fiscal year ended August 31, 2014, the Company reported net sales of $110.2 billion, an increase of seven percent from the $102.9 billion reported in fiscal year 2013." Read the release   "Wal-Mart exec outlines growth strategy for Latin America" by Kim Souza at The City Wire. "We plan to grow sales in three ways: Focusing equally on [...]