“In Shocking Upset, RadioShack Wins the Super Bowl” by Ken Wheaton at Ad Age.  “This year, aside from star rankings — four stars being best, two being perfectly serviceable and below that, well, you know — we arranged them from best to worst, top to bottom. Are you surprised that RadioShack is in the top spot? I definitely was.”  See Ad Age’s Ranking of Ads

 

“Alleged Target Hacker Says He Values ‘Kindness and Honesty’ “ by Jennifer Bjorhus at Star-Tribune.  “Shabayev’s page on a popular Russian social network, displayed on IntelCrawler’s website, shows a photo of him playing a bass guitar and lists his interests as bass, beautiful girls and coding. It says he attended Engels Technological Institute. It also said he views kindness and honesty as important in other people, and that his political views are apathetic.”  Read more

 

“1 Problem Holding @Walmart Back from Financial Greatness, in 4 Vines” by Brian Sozzi at Belus.  “The origin of this over-ordering obsession could be summed up here:  (1) Wal-Mart executive lifers are detached from the real economy around its stores and how it’s continuing to equate to fewer fill-in trips and the buying of non-essentials. (2) Store square footage that is so large that executives feel a need to pack it with merchandise, as has always been the operating procedure. I believe Wal-Mart’s big boxes have to be completely rethought for the future a retailing with technology at the center.”  Read more / See the Vines

 

“Time to close Wal-Mart stores? Analyst thinks 100 Need to be Shuttered” by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC.  “Not only does Wal-Mart need to shutter about 100 of its stores that have consistent same-store sales losses of more than 3 percent, it also needs cut the square footage of its supercenters in half, Sozzi said. In a show of good faith to Wall Street, the retailer needs to announce plans to shutter 50 stores in its February earnings announcement, to show that management finally understands the problem, he said.” Read more

 

“Walmart Takes on NLRB” by Shelly Banjo & Melanie Trottman at WSJ.  “Wal-Mart Stores Inc. told the National Labor Relations Board that it was within its rights when it disciplined workers for taking part in short strikes, setting up a legal test of a phenomenon that is reshaping relations between companies and labor.  In a filing last week that responded to a complaint brought by the labor board, Wal-Mart argued those intermittent job actions are hard to distinguish from absenteeism and it was defending its legitimate business interests when it warned strikers it would enforce its policies about being away from work.”  Read more

 

“Target starts pushing REDcards at the register again” by John Vomhof Jr. at Minn./St. Paul’s Bus. Journal.  “”In the days following our public notification of the data breach, out of sensitivity to our guests, we did stop the register prompts related to REDcards,” Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder said. “We have recently turned those prompts back on.”  The register prompts instruct the cashier to ask a shopper about enrollment. In recent weeks, they asked only if the customer broached the subject.”  Read more

 

“Wal-Mart sees lower Q4 earnings, blames weather, food stamp cuts” at CNBC.  “Wal-Mart said earnings for Q4 would be “at or slightly below the low end” of its $1.60-$1.70 per share range. The retailer faulted the federal government’s reduction in food stamps—significant because most of its clients are lower income buyers—and the extreme cold weather as damaging its results. Additionally, it blamed store closings in Brazil, China and India.”  Read more

 

“New Lowe’s Canada Store Opens this Week in Cambridge; Interviewing the President in the Faucet Aisle” by Thomas Hagey at Cambridge Now.  “Today, Lowes Canada President Sylvain Prud’homme proudly gave us a personal (unscripted) Presidential tour of the entire facility. It really is different than any other Home Improvement store. It’s open and accessible and replaces the towering dark aisles of hard to get at products.”  See the Video interview / Read more

 

“Whole Foods buying up to 7 former Dominick’s stores” by Robert Channick at Chicago Tribune.  “Whole Foods Market Inc. is buying as many as 7 Dominick’s locations in the city and surrounding suburbs, according to sources.  See the Store addresses / Read more

 

“Sly shoppers’ bag of tricks” by Tiffany Hsu and Andrea Chang at LA Times via Chicago Tribune.  “But there’s also a mushrooming undergrowth of not-quite scams and ethically hazy work-arounds — tricks that regular customers pull to save some money. Spending a minimum of $50 to get a freebie and then returning everything but the gift. Scouring aggregator websites for online coupon codes intended only for a retailer’s email subscribers. When buying discounted items that are final sale, asking for a gift receipt just in case — that way, the product can be exchanged later for store credit.”  Read more

 

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