Walmart in talks to buy more than 40 percent of India’s Flipkart – sources by Sankalp Phartiyal at Reuters. “Besides its own e-commerce site, Flipkart owns fashion portals Myntra and Jabong, and controls nearly 40 percent of India’s online retail, ahead of Amazon, according to estimates by research firm Forrester. It is also looking into expanding into grocery deliveries.” Read more

 

What Stores Do With $90 Billion in Merchandise Returns by Erica E. Phillips at Wall Street Journal. “These post-retail sales, including both returns and overstocked items, totaled $554 billion in 2016, and have been growing at about 7.5% a year, according to Zac Rogers, an operations and supply-chain professor at Colorado State University’s business school.” Read more (subs.)

 

Circuit City misses e-commerce website relaunch date by Thomas Barrabi at Fox Business. “We have been working around the clock to ensure that our site is optimized for our customers,” the website said. “Due to an overwhelming amount of preliminary traffic, we are reinforcing things a bit.” Read more

 

Canadian Tire Q4 Comp Sales +3.5% Press release

 

Amazon will pay $1.2M to settle with EPA over illegal pesticide sales by Monica Nickelsburg. “The company also agreed to develop an online course to educate pesticide sellers, the public, and marketers on federal pesticide regulations and policies.” Read more

 

Murphy Oil CFO John Eckart to retire, search begins for replacement at Talk Business. Read more

 

Weston family’s Choice Properties to buy Canadian REIT in $3.9-billion deal by David Paddon at The Canadian Press at Toronto Star. “The Weston family — one of Canada’s wealthiest — controls the Loblaw food business and other retail operations, including Shoppers Drug Mart and the Joe Fresh fashion chain, through its holdings in George Weston Ltd (GWL).” Read more

 

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Executive awarded record damages over Walmart Canada’s conduct by Howard Levitt at Financial Post. “(Justice Emery) found that (David) Cheesewright’s “callous indifference” and “reprehensible conduct” was made on behalf of the company and awarded $500,000. This is the highest award for moral damages in employment law in the country and one of the largest amounts for punitive damages. This decision will almost certainly be appealed.” Read more

 

Sears to Post a Rare Profit but That’s Only Thanks to Tax Reform by Phil Wahba at Fortune. Read more

 

Kroger Opens Culinary Innovation Center “Kroger commenced construction on the 12,000-square-feet, LEED-designed Center in March 2017. The commercial kitchen features multiple cooking stations, spaces and capabilities, including technology that allows video streaming of educational sessions to Kroger associates across the country.” Press release

 

Jury Finds Defendants In Pilot Travel Center’s Case Guilty On Only 5 Of 17 Counts at The Chattanoogan. “The trial, which began in early November, focused on Pilot sales representatives defrauding trucking companies out of promised rebates. It was computed that the trucking firms were cheated out of over $56 million they should have received.” Read more

 

Wegmans is 2nd Best Co. to Work For (REI #43, Publix #47, Sheetz #66, Nordstrom #88) at Fortune. Top 100 list

 

San Diego County: Walmart’s ‘academy’ opens with first 60 grads, — caps, gowns and high-fives included by Roger Showley at San Diego Tribune. “To the tune of “Pomp and Circumstance,” graduates paraded across a temporary stage, received their curriculum completion certificates, hugged friends and family and enjoyed a company-provided lunch….“It was very emotional when I first started walking down the aisle,” said Gladys “Gee Gee” Chavez, 54.” Read more/Video

 

Walmart Hires More Than 194,000 U.S. Military Veterans since the Launch of the Veterans Welcome Home Commitment Press release

 

WINNIPEG: Lowe’s opens 64th store in Canada by Bill Redekop at Winnipeg Free Press. “…its store will open at 6 a.m. on weekdays. That was a big hit with customers and contractors wandering the shiny, new store aisles on Thursday. Contractor Vlad Kulinich said that first hour in the morning is often wasted time for him while he waits for home improvement stores to open…” Read more

 

Walmart Unveils New Apparel Brands by Matthew Boyle at Bloomberg. “The store brands include Time and Tru in ladieswear — which will replace the jettisoned DanskinNow label — along with Terra & Sky in plus-size apparel and Wonder Nation for kids, according to a company presentation to suppliers obtained by Bloomberg News. The George apparel brand, which Walmart brought over from its British unit Asda, will be refocused for men only.” Read more

 

…Amazon’s Top Apparel Victims: Target, Macy’s, J.C. Penney by Lindsey Rupp at Bloomberg. “Amazon Fashion is tied with Target as the second-most-shopped apparel retailer in the U.S., behind Walmart Inc., as measured by number of shoppers, the survey found.” Read more

 

Warby Parker aims to run nearly 100 stores this year at CNBC. Read more

 

Dollar Tree confirms that the Florida high school shooting suspect worked at their store in Parkland at WHDH Boston. Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Pepsi Redesigns The Water Bottle

Over 89K Petitioners Demand Answers from PetSmart on Mysterious Dog Death

Target Adds Black-Owned Beauty Brand The Lip Bar to Its Shelves

Ikea Wants To Replace Your Crappy Posters With Real Art

New EU Privacy Law May Weaken Security

Stranger spanks toddler in Kroger, says ‘This is what we do to kids in Mexico’

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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