Wal-Mart to allow shoppers on food stamps to order groceries online at some locations at CNBC. "Currently, Wal-Mart offers the EBT option for online grocery pickup at one store in the Houston area and four stores near Boise, Idaho. The company said it plans to bring the service to more markets "through the holiday season and beyond." Read more   AutoZone Q4 comp sales +1.0% "AutoZone today reported net sales of $3.5 billion for its fourth quarter ended August 26, 2017, an increase of 3.3% from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016." Press release   Kohl’s Announces Amazon Returns at Select Kohl’s [...]

  Walgreens Said to Tweak Rite Aid Deal to Gain U.S. Approval by David McLaughlin & Robert Langreth at Bloomberg. "The companies and the FTC are close to an agreement that would allow the deal to proceed, said the people, who declined to discuss details of the revised transaction. The number of stores involved in the latest iteration won’t change dramatically, one of the people said." Read more   Dollar Tree names Gary Philbin as new CEO at Reuters. "Philbin, 60, joined Dollar Tree as senior vice president of stores in 2001 and was named chief operating officer six years [...]

  EBay partners with fashion marketplace Spring in growing rivalry with Amazon, Wal-Mart at CNBC. "Shoppers will now be able to browse the looks of David Yurman, Rag & Bone, Mango and Chloe on eBay's website, the same site that lets customers bid on toys, power tools and motorcycles." Read more   Target has jumped from Apple to Android for sales-floor devices by Marc Reilly at Minneapolis/St.Paul Business Journal. "Apple's iOS has drawn criticism from store employees for various technical issues — you can see some of the gripes on the unofficial Target Reddit page— and for the lack of changeable batteries. [...]

  Wal-Mart Is Simplifying Its Sprawling U.S. Store Operations by Matthew Boyle at Bloomberg. "According to a person familiar with the overhaul, the retailer will consolidate its U.S. business to four divisions, down from six...The number of U.S. regions will be reduced from 44 to 36, according to the person...Wal-Mart was already operating with only five divisional chiefs." Read more   Nordstrom family nears deal with Leonard Green in bid to take department store private at CNBC. "Nordstrom family members are close to choosing private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners to help fund a buyout of the eponymous department [...]

  Amazon’s ‘1-Click’ patent expires today by Monica Nickelsburg at GeekWire. "Amazon won the patent back in 1997 when the nascent company was still just an online book retailer." Read more   Home-Improvement Retailers Scramble to Restock in Florida by Sarah Nassauer at Wall Street Journal."Lowe’s is deemed part of “restoration and recovery” in most U.S. states, a classification that lets its trucks drive into storm-struck areas before citizens, said Rick Neudorff, emergency command center operations manager for the Mooresville, N.C., retailer. “A good portion of my responsibility outside of storm response, when it’s slow, is to build a relationship [...]

  Wal-Mart pledges up to $30 million in hurricane relief efforts by Lauren Thomas at CNBC. "During the run of this campaign, customers can donate to the American Red Cross within Wal-Mart and Sam's Clubs stores, or online. For every $1 given, Wal-Mart will contribute $2, or product of equal value, the company said. Donations will be accepted through Sept. 16." Read more   Nordstrom Tries On a New Look: Stores Without Merchandise by Suzanne Kapner at Wall Street Journal. "Nordstrom Local, scheduled to open Oct. 3 in West Hollywood, Calif., will span 3,000 square feet, far less than the [...]

  Kroger Q2 comp sales (no fuel) +0.7% "Total sales increased 3.9% to $27.6 billion in the second quarter compared to $26.6 billion for the same period last year. Total sales, excluding fuel, increased 3.8% in the second quarter compared to the same period last year." Press release   How Rosalind Brewer, Starbucks’ First Woman COO, Got the Job by Beth Kowitt at Fortune. "It was the end of 2016 and she was running Sam’s Club, Walmart’s warehouse club division. Starbucks’ chief executive Howard Schultz was visiting the retailing giant’s Bentonville headquarters for a panel discussion with Walmart CEO Doug McMillon. [...]

  Amazon to build second HQ in North America, seeks proposals from cities for $5B campus with up to 50K jobs, ‘full equal’ to Seattle operations by Todd Bishop at GeekWire. "The company just announced the plan for what it’s calling “HQ2” inviting states and local governments to pitch the company on bringing the new headquarters to their community." Read more | Press release   Home Depot Taps Up Google Home for Voice Ordering by Phil Wahba at Fortune. "Last month, Walmart made a similar announcement, hoping to catch up to Amazon's Alexa capability on its Echo devices and offer a service many competitors [...]