CVS Health shows off new HealthHUB store design in Houston at CNBC. "The three new pilot stores in Houston, Texas have been redesigned with much more space devoted to services to help customers manage chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension and asthma." Read more/Pics   REI CEO steps down following revelation of outside personal relationship by Charisse Jones at USA Today. "An outside law firm had been looking into Stritzke's relationship --described by REI as "personal and consensual'' with the head of another group that operates in the outdoor space." Read more   Amazon to place package lockers at Coachella [...]

  Walmart and Deliv end online grocery partnership by Nandita Bose at Reuters. "Deliv...served the retailer with a 90-day termination notice, and the two companies stopped working with each other in late January...(Walmart) said it still partners with seven delivery firms, including DoorDash and Postmates." Read more   Foot Locker gains digital expertise with $100 million investment in Goat Group at CNBC. "The partnership with Goat, which was seen as a threat to the footwear industry, marries the leading sportswear retailer with the largest secondary marketplace for authentic sneakers, Goat Group's Eddy Lu said." Video/Read more   Retailers look to [...]

  Shoplifter extortion case against Walmart, other retailers is dismissed at Reuters. "U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, found no proof of a nationwide conspiracy to steer accused shoplifters into paying $400 up front or $500 in installments for the classes from Utah-based Corrective Education Co, and admitting guilt, to avoid prosecution." Read more   Target, Best Buy's in-house creative shops part of wave reshaping ad industry by Nicole Norfleet at Star Tribune. "Target Creative, which was officially formed when (Todd) Waterbury joined the company in 2013, has grown to become a 450-person content engine with about [...]

  JC Penney will stop selling appliances at the end of this month at CNBC. "The company also said that furniture is soon only going to be available online and in select stores in Puerto Rico. It plans to use excess space in stores, moving forward, to focus on its "legacy" categories like apparel and certain home furnishings like curtains and bedding, which it calls out as "higher margin opportunities." Read more   Home Depot Cuts Staff Across the Country in Installation Business by Kevin Curran at The Street. "After reviewing the installation business, we've decided it's right to wind down [...]

  Apple's retail chief Angela Ahrendts to leave the company in April at CNBC. "Deirdre O'Brien, who has worked at Apple for three decades, will take on an expanded role as a senior vice president of Retail + People, Apple said. O'Brien previously held the title of vice president of people, and Apple said she would continue to oversee functions related to that role, including talent development and employee relations." Read more   Walmart revamps jewelry department, to add exclusive line by Kim Souza at Talk Business. "Walmart said it will continue to sell “fine jewelry” in stores where there is [...]

  Amazon grocery service slowly returns in India after e-commerce disruption at Reuters. "New federal rules, which bar companies from selling products via vendors in which they have an equity interest, forced Amazon India to remove hundreds of thousands of products from its site last week." Read more   Flipkart founder says he's 'moved on' after Walmart ouster at CNBC. "The former Flipkart chief executive has formed a team for his new project, xto10x Technologies...Bansal described it as an "AmazonWeb Services" for start-ups and said his long-term ambition is to help "10,000 early and mid-stage entrepreneurs." Read more   Amazon [...]

  Costco fined $7.2M for accepting illegal kickbacks by Timonthy Sawa at CBC. "Secretly recorded audio tapes obtained by The Fifth Estate showed a senior pharmacy executive from Costco asking for kickbacks. "As a minimum, I'd like to see somewhere around 3.6 million of support. That's a minimum," the executive can be heard saying." Read more   Walmart’s Plan B for its U.K. Checkout by Carol Ryan at Wall Street Journal. "Walmart Inc.’s tidy-up of its overseas empire will hit a rough patch this month if trustbusters block the sale of its U.K. unit to a competitor. Fortunately, though, the division could still attract a [...]