Amazon under federal investigation over Iran-linked sales, including to person on terrorism list by Ethan Baron at The Mercury News. "The firm’s July 28 disclosure said that between January 2012 and June 2017, Amazon sold “consumer products” valued at about $24,700 to an Iranian embassy in an undisclosed country, along with about $8,100 in goods to people who may have bought them on behalf of five Iranian embassies." Read more   FRIDAY MEMO - Walmart Food Changes by Kim Souza at The City Wire. "In three separate internal memos sent Friday (July 28) more than two dozen promotions and [...]

  Wal-Mart Cuts a Few Dozen Jobs at Headquarters by Kim Souza at Talk Business. "News of this round of layoffs hit social media feeds Wednesday evening when employees began getting notices to report to a “support event” called by Human Resources on Thursday. Travel was canceled and all the vendor conference rooms have been booked by HR which points to another layoff, according to people familiar with the matter." Read more   Amazon's Entry Into Singapore Marred by Delivery Problem by Sterling Wong & Krystal Chia at Bloomberg. "The service appeared to go down hours after its official launch [...]

  Walmart unveils manufacturing plan to create 1.5 million new jobs at Fox Business. "The road map identifies four major obstacles -- a lack of qualified workers, excessive government regulation, dated tax and trade agreements and a lack of coordination among suppliers -- and calls on specific government and business entities to act together to address them." Read more | Press release   Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin hints the administration may soon take "a position" on Amazon's tax collection policy by Tae Kim at CNBC. "Mnuchin said. "I am encouraged that Amazon is now charging tax, I believe, on their own sales [...]

  GlaxoSmithKline appoints Ex-Walmart exec Karenann Terrell to chief digital and technology officer at Reuters. "Terrell, who left Wal-Mart as chief information officer in February, will join GSK on Sept. 4 and will be a member of the senior corporate executive team in her new role, GSK said." Read more   Birkenstock CEO accuses Amazon of “modern day piracy” by Abha Bhattarai at Washington Post via Denver Post. "In a blistering five-page email obtained by The Washington Post, David Kahan last week derided the online behemoth for contacting shop owners and offering to buy their products at full price." Read [...]

  Supervalu Q1 net retail sales -2.7%...Consolidated net sales increased by 6.3%...Wholesale net sales increased by 12.4% Press release   Barnes & Noble shares surge 14% as activist investor urges the bookstore chain to sell itself by Lauren Thomas at CNBC. Read more   Dollar Tree fires new volley in Charlotte dollar-store legal battle by Rick Rothacker at Charlotte Business Journal. "Dollar Tree is asking a Delaware court to dismiss a suit that alleges it tried to “kill” the business of now-defunct Charlotte rival Dollar Express." Read more   J.C. Penney appoints Ex-Walmart exec to chief financial officer by Korri Kezar at [...]

  Hibbett Sports Scare: "Based on very challenging sales trends, comparable store sales are expected to decrease approximately 10% for the second quarter ending July 29, 2017." Press release   ...Academy lays off 100 people from corporate office by Jack Witthaus at Houston Business Journal. Read more   9 people dead after sweltering tractor-trailer found at San Antonio Walmart at CNN. "The employee told authorities the trailer was parked at a Walmart lot in San Antonio. A man who was in it asked the employee for water. The employee brought water for the man, then called police and asked them [...]

Eye on Retail Tipsheet is on summer break and returns 7/24/17. A big thank you to our loyal readers!   Jason Long Eye on Retail jlong@eyeonretail.net

  US retail sales drop 0.2% in June vs 0.1% increase expected via CNBC. "U.S. retail sales unexpectedly fell in June for a second straight month, which could temper expectations of strong acceleration in economic growth in the second quarter." Read more   Wal-Mart introducing 'helpers' for back-to-school season by Phil Wahba at Fortune. "...has expanded the (online pickup) service to include hundreds of back-to-school items like pens and notepads. Walmart will also integrate TeachersList, an online resource with more than 500,000 classroom lists, so customers can directly look up the school supplies they need to buy. Finally, the retailer [...]