Lilly Pulitzer rush overwhelms Target's website, quickly sells out at stores by Kavita Kumar at Star-Tribune. "At one point, Target made the site inaccessible for about 15 minutes in order to grapple with the traffic and avoid a full-blown crash...Target had hoped to make the Lilly Pulitzer collection available online by about 3 a.m., it was delayed until 5 a.m. because of high traffic, (Joshua) Thomas said...“There was extreme interest, extreme demand — traffic that would be on par with Black Friday,” he said." Read more   Costco to Pay Almost Zero to Accept Credit Cards by Elizabeth Dexheimer [...]

  J.D. Power Top Paint Retailers: Menards Beats Lowe's & Home Depot  See the retailer and brand rankings   CNN: Walmart fired 2,200 to fix the plumbing by Katie Lobosco. "Everybody just panicked and started crying," said Venanzi Luna, a manager of the deli department at the Pico Rivera, Calif. store." Read more   How Macy’s found its fit in the Hispanic market by Rick Wartzman at Fortune. "About 18 months ago, executives flew to Mexico City and visited 16 shopping centers in four days. They convened panels of consumers in California, Texas, and Florida. They met with developers of malls [...]

  Lowe’s CEO Niblock gets nearly 24% pay reduction in 2014 by Katherine Peralta at Charlotte Observer. "CEO Robert Niblock made $14.3 million in 2014, down from the $18.7 million he made in 2013, according to a securities filing this week...Niblock’s perks included $94,954 worth of personal use of the company’s aircraft, $6,406 for a company-required physical exam and $5,700 worth of reimbursement for his tax compliance costs." Read more   Carlyle Group names ex-Wal-Mart CEO Mike Duke as operating executive at Business Insider via WSJ. "Duke, 65, will work with deal-makers who are focused on buying and investing in [...]

  Shoppers boost retail sales 0.9% in March by Shan Li and Samantha Masunaga at LA Times. "The lift in spending was a welcome sign after a winter of sales declines but fell below economists’ estimates of a 1% or higher jump in March from February." Read more   Wal-Mart defeats bid for shareholder vote on gun sales by Jonathan Stempel at Reuters. "In Tuesday's order, the appeals court said "Wal-Mart may exclude Trinity's proposal from its 2015 proxy materials." Read more   Consumer Reports: Costco has Best Price on Generic Prescription Drugs at ABC 7 News CA. "We priced [...]

  Home Depot's Hal Lawton Exits for eBay by Ina Steiner at EcommerceBytes. "(Hal) Lawton, who previously worked at consulting firm McKinsey & Co., will become head of eBay North America, a position Christopher Payne held for 4 years before becoming CEO of dating site Tinder last month." Read more   Target hires former Safeway, PetSmart executive to lead its grocery department by Kavita Kumar at Star-Tribune. "(Brian) Cornell...was personally involved in the search for a new executive. He worked with (Anne) Dament several years ago when he was the chief marketing officer at Safeway, where she held several posts." Read more [...]

  New York Retailers Scrutinized for Schedules and Staffing by Hiroko Tabuchi at NY Times. "The office of the New York attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, is investigating 13 large retailers over whether increasingly unpredictable and on-call work schedules adopted by some employers in the retail sector violate New York labor laws...Mr. Schneiderman’s office said in the letters, sent Friday to Gap, Abercrombie & Fitch, Target, J. Crew, Sears, TJX and seven other retailers." Read more   ...Read Letter from Attorney General to GAP via WSJ (Subscription) Read here   ...Target Defends via WSJ: "Target said it posts worker schedules 10 [...]

  Lowe's to eliminate pesticides that hurt crop pollinating honeybees at Reuters. "Lowe's said it will phase out neonics in shelf products and plants by the spring of 2019, as suitable alternatives become available...Last year, BJ's Wholesale Club said it was asking all of its vendors to provide plants free of neonics by the end of 2014 or to label such products." Read more   J.C. Penney’s Marvin Ellison Said to Plan to Give Managers More Leeway by Matt Townsend at Bloomberg. "To reinforce the managers’ expanded role, the company announced at the meeting that their titles would be changed [...]

  TargetExpress coming to Chicago in October by Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz at Chicago Tribune. "The 24,000-square-foot shop at 401 E. Illinois St., less than one-fifth the size of a traditional Target, will house a Starbucks and carry merchandise geared toward neighborhood shoppers swinging by as they walk or bike home from work, Target spokeswoman Kristy Welker said ." Read more   Costco March Comp Sales -2% / +4% Excluding Gas Price Deflation Read the release   SWAT Team Called After Woman Steals $8.50 in Groceries from Giant Supermarket and Hides in Ceiling for 7 Hours at CBS Baltimore. "SWAT teams, a mandatory [...]