Broad organizational realignment underway at Walmart U.S. by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “Judith McKenna outlined the organizational changes in an email to workers on Friday (May 29). The City Wire obtained a copy of that email that details divisional and regional realignment as well as additional leadership moves…” Read more

 

Home Depot Idol? Salesman Uses His Ukulele And Becomes Internet Music Sensation at CBS Los Angeles. “He makes a sale and KCAL9’s Jennifer Kastner reports that is reason enough to start a serenade. “Then I grab the ukulele from down under and they say oh my god he’s seriously gonna sing a song,” says a smiling Vaca. “Then I ask them what their favorite song is.” Vaca’s not just good at singing. You should see his dance moves, too.” Read more / See the video

 

Bentonville prepared for shareholders by Melissa Gute at Arkansas Online. “Thousands of people will be in town for the annual Wal-Mart shareholders week starting today, and city officials say dealing with large crowds is nothing new to them…” Read more

 

Vast warehouse tucked away in Alabama that is filled with America’s lost luggage… and it’s all for sale by Janet Shamlian at NBC News. “The Unclaimed Baggage Center in tiny Scottsboro, Alabama, buys left-behind bags from major airlines as well as bus and train companies and then sells what’s inside them at a deep discount…Visitors are drawn here from down the street — and all over the world. Shopper Jerry Brown is a regular and has been visiting the store since 1972. “There’s a crew of us that’s kind of like the Breakfast Club that meets down here every morning,” Brown said. “We just enjoy doing this, it’s fun.” See the video / Read more

 

In an online world, Cuba remains a stand-in-line society by Nick Miroff at Washington Post. “As one of Havana’s largest state-run retail hubs, the Supermercado 3ra y 70 is the communist government equivalent of a Target or Wal-Mart, created as a one-stop shopping center. It was designed, quite possibly, by sadists. Customers with long shopping lists face no fewer than seven places to stand in line. One for butter. Another for cooking oil. A third for toothpaste. And so on.” Read more

 

Costco may already be U.S. leader in organic food by Ciara Linnane at MarketWatch. Read more

 

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Five Below CEO Joel Anderson Riding High by Suzette Parmley at Philly.com. “Toys ‘R’ Us taught me to be a kid at heart,” he said. “Walmart taught me the value of the dollar and the magic of scale. You bring all that together, and that’s what Five Below is meant to be.” Read more

 

Wal-Mart Going Small in Small-Town Arkansas by Marty Cook at Arkansas Business. “A Marvin’s IGA store in Gentry closed shortly after Wal-Mart’s arrival in 2011, but fears of a small-town takeover by the Bentonville retailer have proved overblown…“It’s the stigma of the big-box store coming to destroy mom-and-pop stores,” Johnston said. “There has been no negative impact. We want to keep people shopping locally.” Read more

 

San Francisco workers kick-start their day with a dance party by Kia Croom at SF Gate. “Brill says the event is frequented by employees of all industries including teachers, physicians, techies, health and wellness practitioners and more. Attending the party before work has a number of benefits according to event patrons, who report leaving the events “awake,” “revitalized” and with a “high level of energy.” Read more

 

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Eye-on-Retail Tipsheet is created early every weekday morning and read by retail merchants and executives worldwide. We love data, earnings reports, executive presentations and stories off the beaten path that get at what’s really happening in the world of retail. Contact us at info@eyeonretail.net.