US adds 4.8 million jobs as unemployment falls to 11.1% at AP. Read more

 

Home Depot bans some rope sales after nooses were found tied on store spools at USA Today. “Rob Ball urgently needed some rope. A vegetable farmer in eastern Jefferson County, Ball had 300 tomato plants that needed stringing…So Ball paid a visit to his local Home Depot, where he hoped to buy several hundred feet of the store’s quarter-inch twisted nylon rope. To his dismay, a Home Depot salesman informed Ball of a new store policy: Customers can no longer buy rope by the foot.” Read more

 

‘Talk less and do more’: Lowe’s CEO Marvin Ellison says corporate leaders must step up diversity efforts at CNBC. “When he arrived at Lowe’s, the company had only eight Black employees at the vice president level or higher — a number he was determined to increase. “I didn’t need social unrest as a CEO for me to understand it was an issue,” he said. He said Lowe’s now has two Black executive vice presidents, two Black senior vice presidents and 11 Black vice presidents.” Read more

 

Kroger gets emergency use approval for at-home Covid test kit at Cincinnati Enquirer. “The kit, which Howard said may eventually be sold direct to consumers, allows users to collect their own nasal swab samples for testing under the supervision of a licensed healthcare professional through a video chat.” Read more

 

Belk confirms layoffs related to COVID at its corporate headquarters in Charlotte at Charlotte Observer. “The company refused to disclose the total number of people who are losing their jobs. Belk has about 1,300 employees at the corporate office at 2801 W. Tyvola Road.” Read more

 

Neela Montgomery leaves Crate and Barrel – successor will be announced shortly Press release

 

Walmart Launches Virtual Summer Camp and Drive-In Movie Theater “Walmart is transforming 160 of its store parking lots into contact-free drive-in movie theaters…” Press release

 

Who Is the Mystery Shopper Leaving Behind Thousands of Online Shopping Carts? at Wall Street Journal. “It is more than a nuisance. John Smith’s activity skews analytics that online merchants use to advertise and make other critical business decisions. The shopper also uses a bunch of bogus email addresses, and sellers get warned by their internet service providers for sending follow-up pitches to phantom customers…” WSJ subs.

 

Coty names former L’Oreal executive Sue Nabi as its CEO at Reuters. Read more

 

National coin shortage has retailers pleading for exact change at NY Post. “Some Lowe’s stores have posted signs urging shoppers to pay with exact change or use other forms of payment, as have convenience stores such as 7-Eleven, Pilot and Circle K…Meijer (is) banning cash payments in its self-checkout lanes until the shortage ends.” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra

Kanye West wants to make Yeezy shoes, clothes in Wyoming

Target intros own brand bedding, bath products

‘Beavis and Butt-Head’ returning with two new seasons (and spinoffs)

Amazon shipping snafu sends order of seven small items in seven separate boxes

We are throwing away a record 53.6 million metric tons of electronics

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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