Target CMO Says NYC Opening That Went Viral for the Wrong Reasons Made It Rethink Its Strategy by Diana Pearl at Adweek. "Our intention was to celebrate the community,” (Rick) Gomez said. But in trying to do so, the team realized it had “made a big mistake” because it had “tried to be the community rather than being Target.” After coming to that realization, Target came out with an apology." Tiered subs.   J.C.Penney CFO Jeffrey Davis Departs by Paul O'Donnell at Dallas Morning News. "...the Penney announcement didn't specify where Davis is going...the third C-suite executive to leave the [...]

  FDA wants to start naming retailers during food recalls to help consumers by Zlati Meyer at USA Today. "The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is issuing a draft of rules about when retail information should be part of a food recall announcement, according to a notice published in the Federal Register on Wednesday." Read more   Rite Aid Q2 comp sales +1% : +1.6% in pharmacy sales and -0.1% in front-end sales at CNBC. Read more   Amazon was back in Chicago last month, as its search for HQ2 narrows by Ally Marotti & Ryan Ori at Chicago Tribune. "In mid-August, members [...]

  Amazon sues over malicious ads, alleging a ‘sophisticated and widespread’ scheme to deceive consumers by Todd Bishop at GeekWire. "It’s an unusual lawsuit from Amazon, and possibly the first of its kind to be filed by the company against what’s known as “malvertising” — reflecting its increasingly aggressive stance against fraudsters who take advantage of its websites and brands." Read more   Kohl's adding lifestyle brand from 'Property Brothers' stars Press release   Online grocery shoppers want more deals and personalized offers by James Melton at Internet Retailer. "48% of all respondents—including 70% of millennial parents—say they would be [...]

  Snapchat is partnering with Amazon to let users shop through their smartphone cameras by Sam Dean at LA Times. "This partnership marks Snap’s first venture into point-and-shoot shopping...The new feature is rolling out to only a small percentage of U.S. users as an initial trial run." Tiered subs.   SAN DIEGO - Whole Foods backs out of downtown hotel-office project by Lori Weisberg at San Diego Union-Tribune. "Although approved two years ago, the $400 million 7th & Market development has been on hold since last year when labor union interests filed suit alleging that city approvals relied on an outdated [...]

  Doug McMillon gives Ivanka Trump tour of Mesquite Walmart store by Brooke Rogers at CBS DFW. "Ivanka Trump visited...to learn about the company’s workforce training program...met with members of Walmart Academy, a training curriculum for supervisors and managers...tried out the training herself via virtual reality." Video/Read more   Carrefour denies takeover talks with rival Casino at MarketWatch. "Casino Group, said late Sunday its board had rejected entreaties from Carrefour SA about a possible combination. But Carrefour, the French grocery giant, denied having solicited Casino, accusing the rival of "untimely, misleading and groundless communications." Read more | WSJ article (subs.)   Fortune's 2018 Most Powerful [...]

  Woman who killed 3 people at Rite Aid DC was a disgruntled worker at CNN. Read more   Pier 1 prelim Q2 comp sales -11.4% "Alasdair James, President and CEO. “We are in the very early stages of the multi-year ‘New Day’ strategic plan we announced in April, and while we remain confident that our plan is the right course for Pier 1, it is now clear that our initiatives are taking longer than expected to gain traction." Press release   Target has a first-of-its-kind special — 10% off nearly everything in the store — running this week. But [...]

  Dogs are dying after groomings at PetSmart and families are left wondering why by Sophie Nieto-Munoz & Alex Napoliello at NJ Advance Media. "An NJ Advance Media investigation documented 47 cases across 14 states since 2008 in which families claim they took their dog to (PetSmart)...only to have it die during or shortly after the visit. Most cases — 32 in total — occurred after the start of 2015, the same year the company was bought out by a private equity firm." Read more   ...English bulldogs and similar breeds...accounted for 20 of the 47 documented deaths. Those dogs [...]

  Holidays Gifts May Escape Tariffs, but Retailers Won’t by Sarah Nassauer & Josh Zumbran at Wall Street Journal. "Most large retailers already have landed most of their holiday goods by the first of October,” said Chris Sultemeier, former executive vice president of logistics for Walmart...Retailers probably will try to accelerate spring products through customs before the potential 25% tariff takes effect, he said." Subscription   Family Dollar to close Matthews headquarters; 900 jobs affected by Katherine Peralta at Charlotte Observer. "The new (Dollar Tree) corporate offices include a 12-story, 510,000 square-foot office tower. When “fully operational,” Dollar Tree’s Chesapeake [...]