Amazon, Walmart in online grocery pilot in NY involving food stamps by Jeff Daniels at CNBC. “The government’s pilot program will focus initially on the Empire State, before expanding to Alabama, Iowa, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington in coming years, according to USDA.” Read more

 

Walgreens, Rite Aid raise minimum age to buy tobacco to 21 at ABC News. Read more

 

Coming to store shelves: cameras that guess your age and sex by Joseph Pisani at AP. “Kroger…is testing cameras embedded in a price sign above shelves in two stores in the suburbs outside Cincinnati and Seattle. Video screens attached to the shelves can play ads and show discounts. Kroger said the cameras guess a shopper’s age and sex but the information is anonymous and the data is not being stored.” Read more

 

Pier 1 Imports wants shareholders to help it stay on NYSE with reverse stock split by Maria Halkias at Dallas Morning News. Tiered subs.

 

Bill Groves, chief data and analytics officer for Walmart, has been named chairman of the Northwest Arkansas Technology Council at Talk Business. Read more

 

In first interview as Lululemon CEO, Calvin McDonald says he will open more stores and launch new personal-care items but won’t budge on price by Khadeeja Safdar at Wall Street Journal. “Mr. McDonald, 46, said Lululemon plans to launch new products from deodorant to sneakers. He also said he wants to increase awareness of a brand he says still isn’t well-known to many customers and push into international markets like Europe and China.” WSJ subs.

 

…Lululemon wants to double its men’s and online sales over next 5 years at CNBC. Read more

 

Amazon claps back at Elizabeth Warren over claims of anti-competitive behavior by Monica Nickelsburg at GeekWire. “Amazon’s response via tweet: “we don’t use individual sellers’ data to launch private label products” and contending that “Walmart is much larger; Amazon is less than 4% of U.S. retail.” Read more

 

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon releases his annual letter to shareholders at Business Insider. Read more

 

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Forbes: America’s Best Large Employers (Trader Joe’s #1, Costco #4, Wegmans #19) List

 

EBay raises forecast as redesign draws customers, boosts ad revenue via Yahoo Finance. “Net revenue rose 2.4 percent to $2.64 billion in the first quarter ended March 31, beating analysts’ average estimate of $2.58 billion.” Read more

 

Amazon’s migration to Bellevue continues as tech giant set to scoop up key development site by Nat Levy at GeekWire. Read more

 

Bass Pro hires Walmart exec to head marketing “In her most recent role as VP, marketing, customer experience at Walmart U.S., Jamie Sohosky was responsible for end-to-end customer experience strategy…” Read more

 

New York Officially Bans Plastic Bags by Trevor Nace at Forbes. Read more

 

Amazon hiring alcohol lobbyist at The Hill. “The post is for a manager of public policy to help lead the company’s state and local engagement and policy efforts related to alcohol regulation.” Read more

 

Shoppers Drug Mart launches ecommerce platform for medical cannabis in Alberta Press release

 

Stop & Shop workers return to empty shelves after 11-day strike at Telegram & Gazette. Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Airbnb has ambitions to develop a slate of original TV shows 

Lululemon plans 580,000-square-foot headquarters in Vancouver

Amazon patents a ‘gust resistant location marker’ for drone deliveries

America’s Weirdest Historical Fad Diets

Burglars smash school bus into Dollar General store

CDC confirms girl was bitten on the face by a treacherous ‘kissing bug’

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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