Dick's Sporting Goods is launching a competitor to Lululemon by Hayley Fitzpatrick at Business Insider. "We wanted to provide a destination for women who are on their own personal fitness journeys..." said Lauren Hobart, SVP, DICK'S Sporting Goods/General Manager, Chelsea Collective...The first two stores will open next month in Virginia and Pittsburgh." Read more   Grocery store chain A&P files for bankruptcy at Reuters via CNBC. "The company has lined up buyers for 120 of its 296 stores with total expected proceeds of about $600 million, the Wall Street Journal reported." Read more   Is Target's 'Trophy' T-shirt demeaning [...]

  Amazon Prime Now launches 1- and 2-hour delivery in Chicago by Meg Graham at Chicago Tribune. "The service — already available in Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas, Indianapolis, Manhattan and Miami — will roll out to additional cities in 2015, the company said." Read more   Man Who Helped Target Stabbing Victim Retains Lawyer After Target Files Lawsuit by Harold Hays at CBS Pittsburgh. "Attorney Todd Hollis says he will represent Turner. “Target should be ashamed of themselves,” says Hollis. “Here, this gentleman acts courageously to save the life of a young lady who can’t protect herself." Read more / See the [...]

  Nordstrom sets up 14,000-square-foot photo on the roof of its downtown Seattle store by Angel Gonzalez at Seattle Times. "The installation is designed to look like a screenshot of a leopard dress in an Instagram feed." See the photos / Read more   WSJ: Target Goes for Local Cool by Christina Binkley. "In a program dubbed “Local Pride by Todd Snyder” that is set to roll out in 15 Boston stores next week, Mr. Snyder has created a collection of T-shirts and other products that play off uniquely local proclivities, often with a wink: “Wicked Smaht” T-shirts in Boston [...]

  Glitch on Best Buy's website sells $200 gift cards for $15 by Kavita Kumar at Star Tribune. "For a period of time on Tuesday night, Best Buy's website allowed shoppers to buy $200 gift cards for $15, leading to a frenzy of activity as the glitch was publicized on sites such as Reddit." Read more   The surprising way smartphones are changing the way we shop by Sarah Halzack at Washington Post. "We’re not overly focused on conversion on mobile, we really see it as a tool to drive traffic in our stores,” said Krista Berry, the chief digital [...]

  St. Paul: TargetExpress prepares for Highland Park opening by Kavita Kumar at Star Tribune. "The 16,000-square-foot store in St. Paul is a bit smaller than the 20,000-square-foot one in Dinkytown. And it will cater more to families than college students. So instead of fan gear, this store has small baby, sporting goods and toy departments." Read more  See Pics    NRF: Back-to-school spending expected to drop 9% by Phil Wahba at Fortune. "After loading up on expensive electronics in 2014, consumers are likely going to cut back on spending in that category, shelling out about $207.27 per person, down from [...]

  Home Depot mobile chief: Google’s Mobilegeddon helped my company by Mark Sullivan at Venture Beat. "Mike Amend told VentureBeat CEO Matt Marshall onstage at the MobileBeat conference that Home Depot saw a six percent uptick in clicks on mobile entries after the change. It also saw a one percent increase in the effectiveness of its search keywords." Read more   Target Launches School Shopping List Tool, Taps Social Media Stars by Ashley Rodriguez at Ad Age. "Target is gearing up for back-to-school, its second biggest selling season, with half a dozen new spots starring social media influencers, as well as [...]

  Report: Walmart/Sam's to Cut 1,000 HQ Jobs by Nov. 1 by Kim Souza at The City Wire. "The cuts would happen through layoffs and attrition, and may include up to 200 vice presidents. Wal-Mart Stores did not confirm nor deny the layoffs are planned and would not provide a statement." Read more   Walmart launches rival sale to Amazon's Prime Day by Hadley Malcolm at USA Today "In a blog post slated to go up Monday, Walmart plans to say that it is "standing up for our customers and everyone else who sees no rhyme or reason for paying a [...]

  Target among retailers trying to figure out how to explain the Internet of Things by Kavita Kumar at Star Tribune. "A smart door lock when you enter the house triggers music to begin playing, which activates a smart plant feeder that tells the homeowner if it needs to be watered. In the nursery, a sensor detects when a baby wakes up, which leads to lights turning on." Read more / See the video   LA Times: Target gives digital devices a homey showcase by Daina Beth Solomon. "The retailer envisions the site as a “learning lab” that can help little-known [...]