TARGET ADDS CAROLINE'S CART TO MOST STORES - What Target is doing to make shopping easier for people with special needs by Aimee Blanchette at Star Tribune. "These carts will be amazing because we’ll only need the cart instead of both a stroller and a cart,” the Coon Rapids dad said. “This will make it more efficient.” Read more   The Hill: Lobbying’s top 50 (CVS #15, Amazon #35) by Megan R. Wilson. See the top 50 list   SPORTS AUTHORITY MAY CLOSE NEARLY HALF OF ITS STORES - Sports Authority eyes Chapter 11 bankruptcy by Mark Harden at Denver Business [...]

  Costco January Comp Flat / +4.0% ex-gas & F/X "Costco reported net sales of $8.32 billion for the month of January...an increase of two percent from $8.15 billion during the similar period last year." Read more   Lowe's $2.3 Billion Bid For Rona Sets Off Political Firestorm in Canada by Phil Wahba at Fortune. "Pierre-Karl Péladeau, the former media magnate (think Quebec’s Rupert Murdoch) now heading the secessionist Parti Québécois, had denounced the deal on Twitter and is calling on the pro-business governing Liberal Party, headed by Philippe Couillard, to block the deal." Read more   ...A BANNER DAY [...]

  Costco January Comp Flat / +4.0% ex-gas & F/X "Costco reported net sales of $8.32 billion for the month of January...an increase of two percent from $8.15 billion during the similar period last year." Read more   Lowe's $2.3 Billion Bid For Rona Sets Off Political Firestorm in Canada by Phil Wahba at Fortune. "Pierre-Karl Péladeau, the former media magnate (think Quebec’s Rupert Murdoch) now heading the secessionist Parti Québécois, had denounced the deal on Twitter and is calling on the pro-business governing Liberal Party, headed by Philippe Couillard, to block the deal." Read more   ...A BANNER DAY [...]

  Lowe's to Acquire RONA "The Transaction has been unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors of Lowe's and RONA and is supported by the management teams of both companies. The Transaction is expected to proceed by way of a plan of arrangement by which Lowe's would acquire all of the outstanding shares of RONA" Read the release   Target's downtown Minneapolis employment drops 25 percent by Sam Black at Minneapolis/St.Paul Business Journal. "Target has 7,500 employees working in downtown Minneapolis, a decline from 10,000 workers in 2015, according to figures released Tuesday by the Minneapolis Downtown Council." Read more [...]

  Macy's Shakes Up Senior Management to End Sales Funk by Phil Wahba at Fortune. "The department store said on Monday that it was naming Macy’s veteran Peter Sachse to the newly created position of chief growth officer...Macy’s also hired Ann Inc executive Justin MacFarlane as its Chief Strategy, Analytics and Innovation Officer." Read more   Best Buy adds $25 fee for TV and computer recycling by Nick Halter at Minneapolis/St.Paul Business Journal. "Our goal has always been to simply break even on our recycling program, and we’re not there today,” wrote Laura Bishop, Best Buy’s vice president of public [...]

  Amazon Inks Production Deal with Mattel to Greenlight American Girl Specials for Prime Video "...it has signed a multi-year, multimillion dollar production deal with American Girl...to produce four live-action specials and options to produce multiple seasons of episodic content." Read the release   Consumer Spending Unchanged in December via Fox Business. "Economists polled by Reuters had forecast consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, edging up 0.1 percent in December after a previously reported 0.3 percent gain in November." Read more   ...Reuters poll: Cheap oil won't juice the U.S. economy this time by Jason [...]