Walmart raising pay for 165,000 hourly workers at Talk Business. "The new system includes new leadership roles in supercenters, both at the salaried and hourly level: store lead (formerly co-manager), coach (formerly assistant manager) and team lead (previously department manager). The retailer says the staffing structure is similar to a system it’s been trying out for the past year at Sam’s Club and Neighborhood Market stores." Read more   Oracle, Walmart Aim for Big Stakes in TikTok at Wall Street Journal. "Under the latest plan for TikTok, Oracle Corp. and Walmart Inc. could together own a significant stake, according [...]

  Amazon Plans to Put 1,000 Warehouses in Suburban Neighborhoods at Bloomberg. "The facilities, which will eventually number about 1,500, will bring products closer to customers, making shopping online about as fast as a quick run to the store. It will also help the world’s largest e-commerce company take on a resurgent Walmart Inc." Read more   U.S. retail sales rose 0.6% in August, vs 1.0% increase expected at CNBC. Read more   U.S. consumer spending appears to slow in August at Reuters. "Core retail sales...fell 0.1% last month after a downwardly revised 0.9% increase in July, the Commerce Department [...]

    Amazon Plans to Put 1,000 Warehouses in Suburban Neighborhoods at Bloomberg. "The facilities, which will eventually number about 1,500, will bring products closer to customers, making shopping online about as fast as a quick run to the store. It will also help the world’s largest e-commerce company take on a resurgent Walmart Inc." Read more   U.S. retail sales rose 0.6% in August, vs 1.0% increase expected at CNBC. Read more   Tensions mount as Walmart Canada starts charging suppliers to pay for its retail revamp at Financial Post. "As of Monday, Walmart is charging a fee of [...]

  Holiday spending will hinge on how much the rich splurge and the poor cut back: Deloitte at CNBC. "...holiday retail sales this year are forecast to rise between 1% and 1.5%...Deloitte expects there could be a relatively stable 0% to 1% jump in sales during the holidays, if consumers — especially lower-wage earners — remain nervous about their finances and health...But a bigger 2.5% to 3.5% increase could occur if wealthier consumers gain even more confidence in the back half of 2020." Read more   Facebook will buy REI’s unused Bellevue headquarters complex for nearly $368 million at Seattle [...]

  Still reeling from Hurricane Laura, Gulf Coast braces for new storm Sally at USA Today. "The National Hurricane Center said Sally is likely to bring "life-threatening storm surge, hurricane-force winds and flash flooding" along the Gulf Coast as soon as Monday. The storm is forecast to make landfall in southeastern Louisiana early Tuesday as a potential Category 2 hurricane..." Read more   Walmart and Zipline Team Up to Bring Drone Delivery Service to Northwest Arkansas "Zipline will operate from a Walmart store and can service a 50-mile radius...Zipline, which operates the world’s largest drone delivery network, began operating in late [...]

  Kroger Q2 comp sales (without fuel) +14.6% / Digital sales +127% Press release   ...Kroger forecasts upbeat 2020 sales on pandemic boost at Reuters. "...expects full-year comparable sales to rise more than 13%...(comp sales) rose 14.6%, beating estimates of a 10.96% rise...On an adjusted basis, Kroger earned 73 cents per share, beating estimates of 55 cents per share." Read more   RH CEO expects elevated demand for home decor to carry through 2021 at CNBC. "I think there’s going to be some systemic shifts in spending that will last, I think, for the next year or two — could [...]

  Target pledges to increase number of Black employees by 20% at CNBC. "About 75% of its leadership team is White and 8% are Black, based on 2019 data. That rises to nearly a quarter, however, when including all people of color like Latinos and Asians." Read more   Walmart+ launches new ad campaign "The commercials were created by award-winning husband and wife filmmaking duo, Daniel and Katina Mercadante. Following all COVID-19 safety production protocols, their two-person crew became embedded into the families’ everyday lives and generated over 100 hours of unscripted footage and 30 hours of audio interviews. This [...]

  Walmart to test drone delivery of grocery, household items at Reuters. "...test would start on Wednesday in Fayetteville, North Carolina, with cloud-controlled drones picking up and dropping off select items. “We know that it will be some time before we see millions of packages delivered via drone. That still feels like a bit of science fiction,” Tom Ward, senior vice-president, customer products, said in a statement." Read more   Home Depot adapts 2020 holiday shopping season to pandemic era with 2 months of Black Friday deals at CNBC. "It will collaborate with Pinterest to inspire a different kind of [...]