Coupang – South Korea’s largest e-commerce company – raises $4.6 billion in U.S. IPO at Reuters. “Coupang said in a statement that it had priced 130 million shares sold in the IPO at $35 per share…giving (Coupang) a market value of $60 billion.” Read more

 

China Lays Plans to Tame Tech Giant Alibaba at Wall Street Journal. “Officials familiar with Beijing’s thinking said regulators don’t want to crush (Alibaba) – as long as it disassociates itself from its flashy and outspoken founder and aligns itself more closely with the Communist Party…Those people said Alibaba also will be required to end a practice that has been dubbed “er xuan yi”—literally, “choose one out of two”—under which, regulators believe, the tech giant punished certain merchants who sold goods both on Alibaba and its rival platforms, including JD.com.” WSJ subs.

 

Free samples with your curbside groceries: How brands are wooing Walmart’s online shoppers at CNBC. “Jay Picconatto, director, General Mills commerce marketing, said sampling in grocery pickup “is something we wouldn’t have even touched two years ago or 18 months ago.” Yet as store traffic plummeted last spring and retailers limited in-store demos, he said, the company leaned in aggressively.” Read more

 

Kroger to close 3 stores in Los Angeles over a $5-per-hour hazard pay mandate at Cincinnati Enquirer via USA Today. “…will shutter two Ralphs and one Food 4 Less stores in the city on May 15…”It becomes impossible to operate these three stores,” Kroger said in a statement, noting the mandate will cost nearly $20 million over the next 120 days.” Read more

 

Amazon leases another Bellevue office tower as it makes room for planned 25k employees in city at GeekWire. Read more

 

China’s JD.com cashes in on steady online demand, beats market expectations at Reuters. ” JD.com raked in 110 million new active customer accounts during the year. Meanwhile, Jack Ma’s Alibaba added about 68 million active buyers in the same period…The company’s net revenue rose 31.4% to 224.3 billion yuan in the quarter ended Dec. 31.” Read more

 

Lowe’s Presents at UBS Global Consumer and Retail Virtual Conference Transcript @ Seeking Alpha

 

US jobless claims fall to 712,000 as pace of layoffs eases at AP. “The Labor Department said Thursday that applications for unemployment aid dropped by 42,000 from 754,000 the week before.” Read more

 

Amazon quietly opens its eleventh Fresh store, reportedly plans 28 more at The Verge. Read more

 

Activist investor group cuts its Kohl’s board slate to 5 directors from 9 at CNBC. “The five nominees are Macellum Chief Executive Jonathan Duskin, former Denny’s Chief Marketing Officer Margaret Jenkins, former Macy’s Chief Merchandising Officer Jeffrey Kantor, former Burlington CEO Thomas Kingsbury, and former Chico’s President Cynthia Murray.” Read more

 

Walmart Presents at UBS Global Consumer and Retail Virtual Conference Transcript @ Seeking Alpha

 

Where Brands Are Reaching Gen Z at Harvard Business Review. “With 37 million daily active users and 20 million multiplayer games and experiences, Roblox, which launched in 2004, has quietly become a powerhouse shared experience campfire. More than two-thirds of all 9 to 12-year-olds in the U.S. play Roblox.” Read more

 

Jeff Bezos names Andrew Steer CEO of Earth Fund, will spend $10B by 2030 at Fox Business. Read more

 

Amazon staffers reportedly fear secret ‘Vesta’ robot will be a pricey flop at NY Post. “People are very skeptical — we’re worried it could turn into another Fire Phone,” one source told Insider, referring to the unsuccessful smartphone on which Amazon took a $170 million write-down in 2014, the year it was released.” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra

Walmart partners with craft brewers on ‘Black is Beautiful’ stout beer

Looking beyond tobacco, BAT tries Canadian pot luck

The states with the longest and shortest life expectancies, according to the CDC

Parents rally again against a proposed Costco location in Black Mountain Ranch

Kroger says it administered ‘empty syringes’ instead of COVID-19 vaccines

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