Amazon Price-Gouging Crackdown Worsened Shortage of Sanitizer, Wipes at Bloomberg. “…consultants who help (Amazon) merchants avoid suspensions say they were inundated with calls from clients during the price-gouging crackdown. One of them, a former Amazonian named Chris McCabe, says he heard from hundreds of merchants and advised dozens of them to stop selling products because the rules were unclear.” Tiered subs.

 

Walmart will stop putting ‘multicultural’ products in locked cases at CNBC. “The practice, which Walmart says was only in place “in about a dozen” of its 4,700 U.S. stores, has received criticism for the implication that the customers who buy these products, largely people of color, can’t be trusted.” Read more

 

SEATTLE NO POLICE ZONE – Welcome to the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ), where Seattle protesters gather without police at Seattle Times. “Welcome to the CHAZ…where most everything was free Tuesday. Free snacks at the No-Cop Co-op. Free gas masks from some guy’s sedan. Free speech at the speaker’s circle, where anyone could say their piece. A free documentary movie — Ava DuVernay’s “13th” — showing after dark. A Free Capitol Hill, according to no shortage of spray paint on building facades. And perhaps most important to demonstrators, the neighborhood core was free of uniformed police.” Read more

 

HanesBrands hires former Walmart chief merchant Steve Bratspies as CEO at Talk Business. “Bratspies, 52, will begin the job Aug. 3….Bratspies departed (Walmart) this past January, capping a 15-year run with the Bentonville-based company.” Read more

 

Small-Town Retail’s Shining Moment Can Last at Wall Street Journal. “Dollar General and Tractor Supply, in particular, have carved out formidable market positions by serving populations that have fewer retail options nearby…Tractor Supply says it sees potential to have a total of more than 2,500 stores; it had 1,863 as of the first quarter. Dollar General plans to open 1,000 new stores this year.” WSJ subs.

 

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Instacart threatens to pull out of Seattle if new hazard pay law passes at GeekWire. “The legislation Instacart is fighting would require gig economy companies to pay Seattle drivers $5 for each delivery or ride they provide, on top of their regular rates.” Read more

 

Dollarama Q1 comp sales +0.7% Press release

 

Coronavirus spreads among fruit and vegetable packers, worrying U.S. officials at Reuters. “By late May, there were more than 600 cases of COVID-19 among agricultural workers in Yakima County, Washington…With 4,834 known cases as of June 10, the county had the highest per-capita infection rate on the West Coast.” Read more

 

Amazon’s facial recognition moratorium has major loopholes at TechCrunch. “In a surprise blog post, Amazon  said it will put the brakes on providing its facial recognition technology to police for one year, but refuses to say if the move applies to federal law enforcement agencies.” Read more

 

Sam’s Club launches curbside pickup nationwide at TechCrunch. “While the service is free for Plus members, it will also be offered to non-Plus members for a limited time. However, they will have more limited time slots available.” Read more

 

Lowe’s strikes deal to build $120-million Calgary distribution centre at The Canadian Press/Yahoo. Read more

 

Mall owner Simon terminates its deal to buy Taubman due to pandemic at CNBC. “Taubman shares initially tanked more than 40% on the news, but were recently down about 18%…(Taubman) believes the termination is “invalid and without merit, and that Simon continues to be bound to the transaction in all respects.” Read more

 

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