“Walmart’s CMO: Chief Marketing Officers should be Chief Innovation Officers” by Jack Neff at Ad Age.  “Walmart allocates marketing staff on a 70-20-10 ratio, with 70% working on “Now,” or the things that drive the giant retailer’s business today; 20% focusing on what’s “New,” such as a Facebook following of 34 million; and 10% focused on what’s “Next.”  It’s not always easy, Mr. Quinn said, to protect the “next” from the “now.”  Read more

 

“Dollar General Opens 11,000th Store”  “Dollar General Corporation today opened its 11,000th store, further distinguishing itself as the retailer with the most stores in the United States. The company hosted a community celebration this morning to mark the grand opening of the 11,000th store, which is located in Murfreesboro, Tenn.”  Read more

 

“Trader Joe’s Loses Fight Against Pirate Joe’s” by Keven Drews at The Vancouver Sun.  “Judge Marsha Pechman dismissed the suit against a Vancouver man who buys products at Trader Joe’s stores south of the border and resells them in his brazenly-named shop in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighbourhood.  In keel-hauling the action, Pechman also ruled there was no basis to apply a U.S. law known as the Lanham Act, which confers broad jurisdictional powers upon U.S. courts.”  Read more

 

“Wal-Mart to Buy More Goods from Inside U.S.” by James Hagerty at WSJ.  “On Monday, it will announce that Redman & Associates LLC will open a plant in Rogers, Ark., next year to make battery-powered toy cars. The cars, large enough for children to drive, currently are imported from China. Another Arkansas-based company, Hanna’s Candle Co., says it has doubled its workforce to about 200 people, including temporary workers, in the past year because of an increase in sales to Wal-Mart.”  Read more

 

“Walmart is Considering Acquisitions in China” by Laurie Burkitt at WSJ.  “A year ago in China, I wasn’t happy with where we were, but I feel different now,” he said. Nearly three dozen employees were arrested or detained in Chongqing in late 2011 over alleged mislabeling of ordinary pork sold as a more expensive organic variety…Mr. (Scott) Price declined to disclose details about regions or potential companies that Wal-Mart would acquire but said the retailer would consider deals with foreign companies.”  Read more

 

“Ikea Sends Its New Flatpack Refugee Shelter to Syria” by Caroline Winter at Bloomberg.  “Ikea, known for its affordable flatpack furniture, is moving into new territory: refugee housing.  The Swedish retailer has teamed up with the United Nations’ refugee agency (UNHCR) to develop a flatpack shelter that can be quickly assembled on site. Recently 50 prototypes, all packed into standard Ikea cardboard boxes, were shipped to refugee camps and crisis regions in Syria.”  Read more

 

“Retail plans with Bharti Enterprises ‘not tenable’: Walmart Asia head” at Economic Times  “Scott Price, the Asia head for Walmart Stores, has said that it is “not tenable” to convert the current franchisee agreement with Bharti Retail into a joint venture form. Both companies, Price said, are looking for the best way to move forward on the alliance.”  Read more

 

“Walmart highlights efforts to benefit APEC (Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation) economies”  “Priority 1: Women’s Economic Empowerment – Since launching its Women’s Economic Empowerment initiative in 2011, Walmart has embarked on a multi-pronged approach to help women advance economically worldwide. Across APEC economies, Walmart has supported nearly 75,000 women to gain job skills and other training in the US, Mexico, China, Chile and Brazil.”  Read more

 

“5 Things Super Successful People Do Before 8 AM” by Jennifer Cohen at Forbes.  “5. Make Your Day Top Heavy. We all have that one item on our to do list that we dread. It looms over you all day (or week) until you finally suck it up and do it after much procrastination. Here’s an easy tip to save yourself the stress – do that least desirable task on your list first.”  See the list