Target cuts 140 more jobs at Minneapolis headquarters by Kavita Kumar at Star Tribune. “Most, but not all, of those laid off in this latest round of job cuts were in the recently formed “business performance optimization” group…In addition, Target closed 50 open positions…After these latest cuts, Target has laid off about 2,500 workers this year, or about a fifth of the people at its downtown headquarters.” Read more

 

Kroger Q1 Total Sales +0.3% “Total sales increased 0.3% to $33.1 billion in the first quarter compared to $33.0 billion for the same period last year. Total sales, excluding fuel, increased 6.4% in the first quarter over the same period last year.” Read more

 

Rite-Aid Q1 Comp +2.9% “Revenues for the quarter were $6.6 billion versus revenues of $6.5 billion in the prior year’s first quarter. Revenues increased 2.8 percent primarily as a result of an increase in same store sales.” Read the release

 

Target’s Brian Cornell Appears on CNBC “The retailer is in the early stages of reinventing its food selection, and is acting on customer feedback by enhancing its assortment and presentation of natural, organic and gluten-free products, he said. Target is testing the initiative and will accelerate the changes early next year, he added.” See the video / Read more

 

Senator McCaskill questions retailers, search engines about supplements targeting seniors at AP via US News. “In letters sent this week to 15 companies — including Wal-Mart, Target Corp., Amazon, Google and Walgreen’s — McCaskill asks executives to explain how they vet dietary supplements and weed out products making false claims… “Frankly, I think there’s a special place in hell for someone who markets a product and says it will cure Alzheimer’s,” McCaskill told The Associated Press.” Read more

 

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Amazon Exec Appears Before US House by John Cook at GeekWire. “(Paul) Misener added that the aviation aspect of drone delivery is just one small piece of the puzzle for Amazon, which also needs to make sure its distribution facilities are equipped to handle drone deliveries. “To get that 30-minute promise down, we have to get that item somewhere in a very large building ready to get to the drone, and that presents another set of engineering challenges,” he said.” Read more

 

Former Wal-Mart Executive Buys Stake in Hardware Store Gracious Home at Dow Jones. “Dottie Mattison, who spent four years with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in varying roles, including chief merchant of its website, has joined with real-estate executive David Mitchell to buy a majority stake in Gracious Home for an undisclosed price. Ms. Mattison will serve as chief executive and Mr. Mitchell as chairman.” Read more

 

U.K. Retail Sales Unexpectedly Rise in May on Food and Fuel by Andrew Atkinson at Bloomberg. “The volume of sales rose 0.2 percent from April, the Office for National Statistics in London said on Thursday. Economists in a Bloomberg survey forecast a 0.1 percent decline.” Read more

 

Is Restoration Hardware trying too hard? Watch these CEO videos. by Sarah Halzack at Washington Post. “It seems like the company is thinking of these as something of a fireside chat for the digital era…And yet, if that’s the goal, the videos may not be succeeding. Each installment has the same musical backdrop — a mellow piano score befitting a spa or Lifetime romance movie. And each one features Friedman, tanned and pensive in a khaki sweater vest, sitting in the same wing chair and talking to the camera with his fingers perched in a steeple.” Read more

 

CVS Health Receives Best Employers for Healthy Lifestyles Award Read the release

 

Apple Watch (Finally) Reaches Its Own Retail Stores at Recode. “In case you were wondering: Apple has not yet disclosed sales of its first major product introduction since the Apple iPad. Time, apparently, will tell.” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra

Walmart Accused of Stealing Shaving Invention

Fenway’s CityTarget wants to sell you alcohol

Google’s Nest launches new home camera, smoke detector

J.Crew exec brags about surviving ‘Hunger Games’ layoffs

How One Retail Brand Made More Money From the Marketing Cloud

Macy’s Real Estate Has Shareholders Salivating

FedEx to Amazon, Uber: Don’t be fooled, we make delivering packages look easy

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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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. See our website at www.eyeonretail.net