Home Depot's Craig Menear Speaks at Rotary Club by Maria Saporta at Saporta Report. "During the “fireside chat,” Menear said he grew up in Flint, Michigan – home of nine General Motors plants – and that he was one of only two members of his family to escape the automobile business..." Read more   eBay Hires Walmart Executive by Ina Steiner at eCommerceBytes. "It wasn't always the case that eBay hired executives with experience in retail or ecommerce, but it's been the case since Hal Lawton joined the company...(Jill) Ramsey, who will also report directly to Lawton, was previously Vice [...]

  Walmart bribery probe by feds finds no major misconduct in Mexico by Phil Wahba at Fortune. "The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday night that the U.S. Department of Justice, conducting a probe into the matter under the auspices of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, has not found a major smoking gun. The investigation will likely to result in a much smaller case than the government initially expected, the newspaper reported, citing people familiar with the probe." Read more   WSJ: Wal-Mart Bribery Probe Finds Few Signs of Major Misconduct in Mexico by Aruna Viswanatha & Devlin Barrett. "The three-year [...]

  Petco unveils multimillion-dollar headquarters by Phillip Molnar at San Diego Union-Tribune. "(Petco unveiled) its new multimillion dollar corporate headquarters in Rancho Bernardo complete with Silicon Valley-level amenities, such as letting employees take cats and dogs to work, extravagant aquariums, employee lounges, a gym, a walking path, dog parks and a cafeteria so nice they call it a “cafe.” Read more   ...Video of Petco's new headquarters via CBS 8 See the video   Target sticks to its Halloween assortment via CBS News. "We have not made any changes to our store Halloween assortment related to this product," Molly Snyder said. [...]

  Wal-Mart CEO to Cramer: This was coming  See the 10 min video interview   Walmart CEO Doug McMillon not sure why analysts seemed so surprised with news given it was announced in February by Kim Souza at The City Wire. "Perhaps we did not provide enough details at that time about this incremental investment (hourly wage increase)” he added during the Q&A session of the event." Read more   Target just made its credit card a lot safer at CNN Money. "The retailer is in the process of reissuing all its REDcard credit and debit cards to chip and PIN [...]

  Walmart CEO on CNBC: This is how we'll win by Tom DiChristopher at CNBC. "We're making progress and our associates are buying in," he told CNBC's "Squawk Box" ahead of the company's meeting with analysts in New York City..."Ultimately the way we are going to win, which is what we'll talk about with analysts today, is the strategy of bringing them together." Read more   Dollar General cuts 255 corporate jobs by Lizzy Alfs at The Tennessean. "Employees have been notified of the job cuts, which are effective immediately. Positions at the store level will not be impacted, according [...]

  Target Could be in the Market for Your Second-Hand Clothes by Ellen Galles at KSTP 5 ABC. "You send your items in a "clean-out bag" with free shipping, or you can drop them off at a participating Target location. They are looking for high-end brands like J.Crew and Calvin Klein. The program only accepts women's and children's clothing at this time." See the video / Read more   Analysts assess Wal-Mart supplier contract changes by Kim Souza at The City Wire. "Budd Bugatch, a retail analyst for Raymond James & Associates, researched Wal-Mart’s history of inventory and payables. His [...]

  Best Buy founder Schulze cranks up giving at his $1 billion family foundation by Jean Hopfensperger at Star Tribune. "Schulze also is bankrolling two experiments he hopes will become national models. One cranks up teaching and technology at Twin Cities Catholic schools; the other speeds up business research-sharing among academics." Read more   Walmart U.S. Appoints Steve Bratspies to Chief Merchandising Officer "The company also announced additional leadership changes, including the appointment of Charles Redfield to executive vice president of food for Walmart U.S...John Furner will serve as executive vice president, merchandising for Sam’s Club." Read the release   [...]

  Seattle: Rumors fly that Amazon bookstore is coming by Rachel Lerman at Seattle Times. "White plastic sheets block out light and wandering eyes at a corner store in Seattle’s University Village...A nearby construction worker, taking apart a cabinet for another U Village project, said workers on the corner site call the project the “mystery store” because no one knows what’s going into the former Blue C Sushi space. The one thing he knows is there are bookshelves inside." Read more   ...What we glimpsed inside this mysterious Seattle retail site by Taylor Soper & Todd Bishop at GeekWire. Read [...]