JCPenney halves losses, will begin selling used clothing at AP/Yahoo. “Shares of J.C. Penney surged…partnering with thredUP, a resale website where people can buy and sell clothes online. J.C. Penney will open threadUP shop in 30 stores soon…(comp) sales tumbled 9% in the second quarter, or 6% when the impact of the company’s exit from major appliance and in-store furniture sales are accounted for.” Read more

 

Tapestry Q4 net sales +2.0%: Coach comp sales +2.0% / Kate Spade comp sales -6.0% Press release

 

Walmart Canada rolls out nationwide delivery through Instacart at TechCrunch. Read more

 

Woman sues for gun ban in Kroger grocery stores after father’s murder at CBS This Morning. “Her son told her that her father, 69-year-old Maurice Stallard, had been shot. Stallard had been shopping for school supplies with his grandson at a Kroger grocery store in Louisville, Kentucky, when a gunman opened fire, killing two – including Stallard.” Video/Read more

 

CVS faces boycott threats after dispute with birth-control delivery startup Pill Club by Ruth Reader at Fast Company. “CVS has allegedly decided to cut its reimbursement rates to the service, and in response, Pill Club says it will have to stop working with the pharmacy chain…”The reality is that we would be out of business if every pharmacy manager did what CVS is doing. And thousands of women would be without the birth control they need (Pill Club says).” Read more

 

The Rise of Hand-Me-Down Inc. by Suzanne Kapner at Wall Street Journal. “Fifty-six million women bought secondhand products in 2018, up from 44 million who did so in 2017, according to the report. Shoppers ages 18 to 37 are driving the shift. A third of Generation Z and more than a quarter of millennials will make secondhand purchases this year, the report predicts.” WSJ subs.

 

Walmart accounts for about 2% of the firearms market today, the company estimates, “which we believe places us outside at least the top three sellers in the industry.” And the retailer says it has about a 20% share of ammunition. at MarketWatch. Read more

 

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Amazon rolls back prices to 1959 with L.A. stunt to promote hit show — gas for 30 cents snarls traffic at The Verge. “Unfortunately, it seems that the allure of filling up a tank at 30 cents a gallon was just too much for the motorists of Santa Monica — police have issued traffic warnings recommending locals avoid the area, and apparently shut down the promotion at one point…” Read more

 

Amazon Uses a Twitter Army of Employees to Fight Criticism of Warehouses by Jonah Engel Bromwich at NY Times. “On Wednesday evening, a phalanx of Amazon employees known as “FC ambassadors” began tweeting again about how great it is to work at Amazon. When the ambassadors see others on social media discussing the brutal working conditions at Amazon fulfillment centers, its anti-union actions or anything else unflattering about the company, they step in to offer an on-the-ground perspective.” Tiered subs.

 

Fortune: 100 Fastest Growing Companies (Amazon #11, Etsy #16, Five Below #57) List

 

Facebook Marketplace: The Wild West of E-Commerce by Khadeeja Safdar at Wall Street Journal. “Frank McKenna, chief fraud strategist at PointPredictive, which makes software to detect loan and transaction fraud, said the current lack of oversight on Facebook Marketplace makes it ripe for payment fraud…“It is a scammer’s haven,” Mr. McKenna said. “They love it because they can create a fake profile and it legitimizes them.” WSJ subs.

 

Meijer welcomes 40,000 incoming college freshmen back to 21 colleges across the Midwest Press release

 

Amazon continues physical retail expansion with plans for new bookstore in Nashville and 4-star store in Boston by Nat Levy at GeekWire. Read more

 

Why Whole Foods CEO never snacks, barely drinks water and travels with a rice cooker at CNBC. “Mackey puts down his phone for the night at 9 p.m. and sets it to “do not disturb”; he does not answer work emails and texts until 7 the next morning. All his employees know that he is unreachable for those 10 hours. “People know not to email me,” he says. “My wife [is the only one who] can get through to me. She’s got the code.” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

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The new mini Target in South Beach is open for business

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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