“Home Depot CEO’s Interview with Fortune” by Geoff Colvin at Fortune. “Retailing is among the industries most disrupted by technology. How is Home Depot adapting its business model?  The Internet does a number of things to retailers. There’s a general rule that software eats hardware, so some retailers are very disrupted — think books, CDs, DVDs, and things like that. Not so much an issue for us: You can’t digitize drywall. On the other hand, the expectation of our customer has increased.”  Read the full interview

 

“Retail stores become shipping hubs to battle Amazon” by Alistair Barr at USA TODAY.  “Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, has been shipping online orders from some stores for about two years and about 35 stores do this now.  “We started ship-from-store as a test. It has exceeded every expectation we’ve had for it,” said Neil Ashe, head of Global eCommerce at Wal-Mart. “We will probably scale this to hundreds of stores.”  Already, 10% of the items ordered on Walmart.com are shipped from stores and the majority of those packages are delivered in two days or less, according to the company.”  Read more

 

“As Whole Foods grows, so does the spotlight” by Brian Gaar at Austin-American Statesman via Charlotte Observer.  “That perception that Whole Foods is too expensive and caters to a largely affluent demographic continues to be a challenge for the company, Wolf said.“That’s been their biggest hurdle,” Wolf said. “And that remains. I mean, they’re not going to stop trying to create a better value image, because as they get bigger, they have to.”  The company has worked hard to improve its value and accessibility, Robb said.” Read more

 

“Nation’s 1st nonprofit supermarket set to open in Pennsylvania” by Alfred Lubrano at Philly Inquirer via Star-Tribune.  “In Chester, Pa., a city where hard times often plow under shiny promises, a hunger-relief agency’s pledge to build America’s first nonprofit supermarket was greeted skeptically at first.  But Philabundance may be confounding local doubters. Its Fare & Square grocery store, seven years in the making, is ready to open its doors Saturday.”  Read more

 

“Home Depot Found a Way to Plug a Huge Hole in Its Business Model” by Kyle Stock at Bloomberg.  “Door installation is a great example…Redbeacon cuts out a big chunk of that work with a series of online questions. How many doors are involved? What type of doors are they? Interior or exterior? Zip Code? At each step, it updates a chart of thousands of price quotes to detail a range of expected bids, from low to high. Replacing a regular interior door, for example, should run between $97 and $318, depending on where you live.”  Read more

 

“dunnhumby Names Menards #1 Customer-Centric Home Improvement Retailer” at Fort Mill Times.  “dunnhumby’s Customer Centricity Index™ provides quantifiable data across seven key areas that are most important to long-term customer satisfaction and business growth, and shows retailers where they can focus to best meet customer needs.”  Read more

 

“No further tinkering of FDI rules, India Ministry tells Walmart” by Amiti Sen at Business Line.  “Walmart’s attempts to press for further relaxation in the existing Foreign Direct Investment rules in India, especially those related to sourcing inputs locally, could meet with only limited success.  The Commerce & Industry Ministry has indicated to the company that it has little space to tinker with the existing rules as it cannot go for another policy amendment.”  Read more

 

“For stores, many returns aren’t so happy” by Cotten Timerblake at SF Gate.  “Many merchants have long lived by the mantra that the customer is always right, adopting liberal return policies in hopes of winning the loyalty of free-spending shoppers. But with a recent increase in the wearing and subsequent return of expensive clothes – a practice merchants call wardrobing – many retailers are taking a stronger stand against the industry’s $8.8 billion-a-year return fraud problem.”  Read more

 

“Bloomberg’s Poorly Sourced Walmart Coverage” at the City Wire.  “Melissa Lee, an anchor for CNBC Fast Money, reminded investors and viewers that this was the second time in six months that a Bloomberg report sourced from an e-mail raised false alarms. Her reminder came with an indirect suggestion that maybe the markets think twice before acting on a future Bloomberg story about Wal-Mart.”  Read more

 

“Kroger Names Steve McKinney President of Fry’s Food Stores”  “The Kroger Co. announced today the promotion of Steve McKinney as president of the Fry’s Food Stores division. Fry’s operates 119 food stores in Arizona.  Mr. McKinney, 57, has been vice president of operations at the company’s Ralphs division since 2007. He succeeds Jon Flora, who passed away unexpectedly two weeks ago.”  Read more

 

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