Pier 1 Q2 Comp Sales -4.3% “Alex W. Smith, President and CEO, stated, “Our top-line results reflect soft store traffic levels throughout the second quarter, most notably in July…we remain cautious regarding our sales outlook given that it’s early in the quarter and our biggest selling season is still ahead of us.” Press release

 

Academy CEO: ‘Golf will continue to be a part of our business’ by Jack Witthaus at Houston Business Journal. “Overall, fitness is on fire. Running continues to grow, soccer is very strong,” Symancyk said. “Lacrosse is one of the fastest-growing sports in the U.S.” Read more

 

With a new Costco partnership, Ticketmaster’s developer outreach hits the right notes by Arik Hesseldahl at TechCrunch. “This week Ticketmaster teamed up with the discount giant Costco on costcotickets.com. The site offers Ticketmaster’s huge inventory of event tickets — sports, concerts and theater — to Costco’s 83 million members.” Read more

 

Reese Witherspoon opens store in Dallas by Shardae Neal at CW33. “My grandmother was a southern lady, and she didn’t have a lot of money,” Reese explained. “When she put a dress on, she always made sure she looked her best and had her bag and shoes matching.” Read more /See the video

 

CHICAGOLAND – In Englewood, Whole Foods opens to cheers, high hopes by Greg Trotter at Chicago Tribune. “After community meetings with residents, Whole Foods identified about 30 staple items for a typical Englewood shopping cart that would be sold at a much lower price than at other Whole Foods — and even lower than some competitors.” Read more / See the video

 

Wal-Mart exec takes Navy post by Hunter Field at Arkansas Online. “For the next four years, (Luke) McCollum, the former vice president of logistics services at Wal-Mart Stores Inc., will wear solely the uniform to work as he takes a leave of absence from the retailer to be the Navy Reserve’s highest-ranking officer and work full time at the Pentagon.” Read more

 

b8ta, a physical store for tech gadgets, raises $7 million Series A round by Megan Rose Dickey at TechCrunch. “b8ta launched its first store in Palo Alto last December…b8ta plans to use the new funding to expand its reach and open up additional stores in Santa Monica, Calif. and Seattle by the end of this year.” Read more

 

AdAge: Target Senior VP-Marketing Kristi Argyilan on When to Stop Selling “Target’s bull’s-eye indicates accuracy, and like other retailers, it’s using data effectively to reach consumers. But an ad can follow them foo far. Target Senior VP-Marketing Kristi Argyilan says there’s a point where you just need to stop selling.” See the 1:03 video

 

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Amazon’s annual revenue is expected to surpass Costco’s for the first time this year by Steven Russolillo at Wall Street Journal. “By comparison, Amazon had less than half of Costco’s annual revenue six years ago.” Read more (subs.)

 

Sprouts announces 8 new stores in 2017 Q1, 36 new stores total next year by Steven Totten at Phoenix Business Journal. Read more

 

Mexico’s giveaway of 10.5 million flat-screen TV’s to the country’s poor spawns questions by Santiago Perez at Wall Street Journal. “A person with direct knowledge of the auctions says there was another reason why international firms fared poorly: They wouldn’t pay kickbacks. This person said kickbacks were requested ranging from $12 to $18 a unit in U.S. dollars…” Read more (subs.)

 

Supervalu slapped with FDA warning over violations at seafood facility by Kristen Leigh Painter at Star Tribune. “This severe of a warning letter is rarely issued to large corporations like Supervalu because they usually have strict protocol for following regulations. “That’s why this surprises me,” he said.” Read more

 

Wave of store closures isn’t making it easier for retailers to find temporary space by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC. “The guys that are closing [stores], I think that news is overshadowing where the growth is occurring,” Brown said. Overall shopping center vacancies in the U.S. stood at 7.6 percent at the end of the second quarter, down from 8.1 percent a year prior, according to Cushman’s data.” Read more

 

Costco expected to detail impact of switch to Visa from Amex and cost of wage hike Thursday by Coral Garnick at Puget Sound Business Journal. Read more

 

Sears hitches a ride with Uber to make rewards plan more attractive via CNBC. “Riders who link their Uber account to Sears’ loyalty plan will receive up to $2 in loyalty points for every trip. The program, Rider Rewards, is currently available in Chicago and New York City, and will be rolled out nationally soon, the companies said.” Read more

 

CEO of Redbox and Coinstar maker Outerwall out as businesses split into separate enterprises following acquisition by Nat Levy at GeekWire. Read more

 

Google’s delivery service expands to NYC, Long Island by James Covert at NY Post. Read more

 

Parent Company of LaCroix Seltzer Is Crashing After Short-Seller’s Report by Tom Redmond at Bloomberg. “National Beverage “has become a faddish stock-market darling du jour,” Glaucus said in the report. “We believe that government regulatory and enforcement agencies should launch a full investigation of the company, its accounting and its practices, creating a reasonable probability of further downside.” Read more

 

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2016 Working Mother 100 Best Companies List

Mosquito tests postive for West Nile Virus in Texas

Whole Foods kicks in a $100,000 loan to sausage maker

Wall Street Journal’s inaugural ranking of U.S. colleges (subs.)

Sarah Jessica Parker Is Launching a Line of Little Black Dresses Exclusively at Bloomingdale’s

Microsoft HoloLens is coming to more Lowe’s

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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