Today: Brian Cornell (and Bullseye!) to Ring Opening Bell at NYSE “To commemorate the start of the holiday shopping season, Cornell will join other executives and store leaders to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. The group will have two special guests: the young star of Target’s holiday TV commercials and Bullseye, Target’s bull terrier mascot.” Read the release

 

“Santa Ana girl, star of Target holiday ad, will open stock exchange on Black Friday” by Marla Jo Fisher at Orange County Register. “Tatum is really one of the stars of the spot, so we knew we wanted her there,” (Kristy) Welker said. Tatum’s dad, Bryce Bailey, said all four of his children have acted at various times. Target paid to fly the entire family to New York on Tuesday night and put them up in a hotel until Friday’s big event…“And we’re going to see the Rockettes,” Tatum said. “ Read more

 

“Walmart Statement on 2014 Early Black Friday Results” “More than 25 million people downloaded our Black Friday ad, and 20 million customers used their local store maps on Walmart.com….yesterday was our second-highest online sales day ever…throughout the day, we welcomed more than 22 million customers to our stores – that’s more than the number of people who visit Disneyland in an entire year.” Read the release

 

“Ferguson Protests Move to Target & Walmart” by Jim Dalrymple at Buzz Feed.  See the Pics/Vines

 

“Walmart Canada expands ‘grab and go’ online service – beats Amazon to the punch” by Hollie Shaw at Financial Post. “Walmart is now expanding the project to 33 other Toronto-area stores between now and Dec. 5, before targeting a gradual rollout to other Canadian markets over the next 18 months.” Read more

 

“How Pros Track Holiday Shoppers” by Kyle Stock at Bloomberg. “Digital Globe owns six satellites that circle the globe daily and capture photos of parking lots at big-box stores to see how full they are. ”While it’s interesting to look at the same store over and over and over again, what’s really interesting is looking at thousands and tens of thousands of locations,” said Shay Har-Noy, the company’s senior director of geospatial big data.” Read more

 

“Wal-Mart Dismisses 30 China Executives in Restructuring” at Bloomberg. “Among the executives dismissed are vice presidents from Wal-Mart China and Sam’s Club China, according to two Wal-Mart China employees, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution. Others were from divisions including merchandising and innovation, they said.” Read more

 

…Sticking by plan to have around 480 Wal-Mart stores in China by the end of 2016 by Laurie Burkitt at WSJ. “Executives have said the Chinese government’s clampdown on excessive consumption at its state-owned enterprises has damped consumer confidence overall. In particular, it has cut into gifting purchases—such as gift-cards and boxes of moon cakes associated with an annual autumn moon festival—that previously lifted retail sales.” Read more (Subscription)

 

“Small Business Saturday Is the Loneliest Shopping Holiday” by Patrick Clark at Bloomberg. “Among the 16 store owners and managers I spoke to, Nick Bari was the most enthusiastic about the promotion…“I don’t think it’s going to be a big deal one way or another,” he says. “It’s more of a gesture than anything else.” The rest of the responses ranged from skepticism to ignorance.” Read more

 

“T.J. Maxx and Dollar Tree Rebel Against Black Friday Frenzy” at Bloomberg. “Dollar Tree, meanwhile, doesn’t expect to join the Black Friday crowd any time soon…“We sell our items for $1 or less all year round, so we feel were already providing a great value to our consumers,” he said.” Read more

 

“A McDonald’s in a church?” by Jenn Harris at Chicago Tribune. “It’s time for churches to engage with entrepreneurship,” writes the group. “By combining a church and a McDonald’s we can create a self-sustaining, community-engaged, popular church, and an unparalleled McDonald’s restaurant.”At the time of this writing, the group had raised $79.” Read more

 

“‘Donuts’ in Walmart parking lot prove deadly for Texas man” via Canoe. “A Texas man doing high-speed spins in his sports utility vehicle at a Dallas-area Walmart parking lot died after his car crashed into a loading dock, trapping him inside, and caught fire.” Read more