Amazon to showcase its transportation drive at CES at Reuters. “Until now, Amazon has shown its transportation strategy to investors – and rivals – one piece at a time…The Seattle company will share the CES stage with partners such as virtual reality firm ZeroLight, electric vehicle startup Rivian, Canada’s BlackBerry Ltd and video game software development company Unity Technologies.” Read more

 

…Amazon Fire TV seatback screens are coming to BMW and FCA vehicles at The Verge. Read more

 

Hudson’s Bay Co minority shareholders win victory as Richard Baker sweetens bid at Bloomberg via Financial Post. “Hudson’s Bay…agreed to a new bid by Baker and a group of allies, who together control the company. The offer was increased for a second time to $11 a share from $10.30. Baker’s first offer was for $9.45 apiece in June. The new take-private bid values the owner of Saks Fifth Avenue at about $2 billion.” Read more

 

Ikea’s CEO says the company is testing ‘everything you can dream of’ by Stephanie Mehta at Fast Company.  “FC: As you’ve tried to get closer to the customer and tested new things, what hasn’t worked? What are the lessons you’ve learned? JB: We have rediscovered some core things. One of them is that we actually provide everything [for a home] under one roof, so when we’ve been fragmenting our offer, then people are also getting frustrated. “Here you have kitchens, but not bedrooms, why is that?” Q&A

 

Bed Bath & Beyond Strikes Real-Estate Deal by Suzanne Kapner at Wall Street Journal. “Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. has signed a deal to sell roughly half its real estate to a private-equity firm and lease back the space in a transaction that will generate more than $250 million in proceeds for the troubled home-goods retailer, according to people familiar with the situation.  The 2.1 million square feet of space sold to Oak Street Real Estate Capital LLC includes the company’s Union, N.J., headquarters, a distribution facility and an undisclosed number of its roughly 1,500 stores, the people said.” WSJ subs.

 

…Bed Bath & Beyond shares jump on real estate deal at CNBC. Read more

 

**A message from Sweets & Snacks Expo. Save the date: May 19-21, 2020 at McCormick Place in Chicago. Your year starts here. Website/Register

 

Amazon partners with India’s second largest retailer to sell its good online by Manish Singh at TechCrunch. “Future Retail operates more than 1,500 stores across India, but until now, it has not aggressively explored sales online. As part of the agreement, Amazon India will become the authorized online sales channel for Future Retail stores including department and grocery stores chain Big Bazaar and lifestyle food superstore Foodhall.” Read more

 

Marks & Spencer names former Tesco exec David Surdeau as interim CFO at Reuters. Read more

 

New York offered Amazon $800 million more in incentives than was previously known to win its second-headquarters contest and were even prepared to pay part of some employees’ salaries by Jimmy Vielkind at Wall Street Journal. WSJ subs.

 

Golden Globes: The Complete Winners List at Hollywood Reporter. List

 

…Ricky Gervais blasts Apple’s Tim Cook over China ‘sweatshops’ at CNBC. Read more

 

Walmart leverages offline data in its latest bid to take on Amazon by George P. Slefo at Ad Age. “The company’s ad tech arm, Walmart Media Group, introduced Advertising Partners, a new unit that includes third-party vendors Flywheel Digital, Kenshoo, Pacvue and Teikametrics. The move will potentially allow advertisers to tap into Walmart’s trove of consumer data to offer advertisers better targeting and measurement tools.” Tiered subs.

 

Save A Lot gets capital infusion “Save A Lot will receive $138 million in new capital…In addition, the agreement provides for a reduction of indebtedness of over $400 million.” Press release

 

Tipsheet Extra

‘Fortnite’ Revenue Dropped 25% in 2019

Mark Zuckerberg goes shopping at Costco

Oil price keeps rising as industry eyes Iran-US conflict

McDonald’s CEO promises an end to partying culture

Black News Channel delays launch again

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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