CES 2024: Everything revealed so far, from Nvidia and AI to Samsung’s Ballie robot at TechCrunch. “French startup Neoplants is showing off its progress with its houseplants that work as air purifiers designed for the home. The bio-engineered plants can, according to the company, replace 20 “regular” houseplants, as measured by how many pollutants the plants can remove from the air.” Read more

 

…CES 2024: all the TVs, laptops, smart home gear, and more from the show floor at The Verge

 

PepsiCo, Carrefour Bicker Over Who Dumped Whom at WSJ. “Regrettably, Carrefour has mischaracterized the chain of events,” a PepsiCo spokesman said Monday. “Given the lack of agreement on a new contract, we stopped supplying to Carrefour at the end of the year, something they were aware could happen. We hope we can agree on terms soon so our products can be back on their shelves for consumers to enjoy.” In response, Carrefour said Monday: “We, at the Carrefour Group, have taken this decision.” WSJ subs.

 

Albertsons Companies Q3 identical sales +2.9% Press release

 

Shein’s revenue is ‘a lot more’ than $30 billion annually, key retail partner says at CNBC. “…do they do 40 billion? Do they do 35 billion? I’m not going to tell you exactly what they do, but I can tell you they do a lot more than $30 billion,” Salter continued in an apparent reference to Shein’s annual sales.” Read more.” Read more

 

Schnucks installs anti-theft liquor cabinets in at least 40 stores. They open by cellphone. at St. Louis Post Dispatch. “We would put this in the innovative category,” Hayes, of the Loss Prevention Research Council, said of the cabinets. “How can we leverage technology to maintain security and in-stock (merchandise) and good customer experience?” In addition to the Freedom Cases, Schnucks has expanded its shopping cart technology, Rocateq, to 76 stores. This technology enables grocery carts to leave the store only once they have passed through the checkout.” Read more

 

Shein hires Ex-Tractor Supply & Home Depot lobbyist at Politico. “Kent Knutson, the former longtime head of Home Depot’s D.C. office, is joining the retailer, which is now headquartered in Singapore, as its chief U.S. government affairs officer. Knutson was most recently vice president of government relations at Tractor Supply Co. Before that, he led Home Depot’s public policy team for more than 16 years…” Read more

 

The Home Depot is trying to make its own smart home ecosystem happen at The Verge. “An old-school hardware store has been quietly building out one of the most complete lines of smart home products on the market. At CES this week, it’s adding a smart thermostat, smart hose timer, smart bathroom fan, smart freezer, and smart security system to its more than 150 connected products. You probably know the brand (and maybe even shopped there before): The Home Depot.” Read more

 

Indigo workers at unionized stores facing increased battles with retailer, union says at Financial Post

 

Engineering internship led to retail career for Sam’s Club chief merchant Megan Crozier at Talk Business. “Crozier did not foresee her path to merchandising until she encountered a buyer who was making multimillion-dollar back-to-school decisions. “I walked up to ask him a question about something else, but then asked, ‘What are you doing?’ He was planning for back-to-school and which laptop he was going to buy,” she said. “He was looking at all the competitors from the previous year trying to pick which item he wanted to put in print in the circular for the back-to-school ad. And I was like, ‘They let you do that?’ He just laughed at me and said, ‘Of course they let me do that. That’s what my job is.’ “I remember going back to my desk and thinking, ‘Wow, they let people make really big decisions in this company, and I think I want to be a merchant one day.” Read more

 

German retail giant Galeria insolvent in wake of Signa collapse at Reuters

 

Sweethearts limited-edition ‘situationship’ candy boxes full of ‘blurry’ messages fly off shelves at Fox News. “The newly designed release showcases blurry and misprinted heartshaped candies that are intentionally difficult to read — just like some Gen-Z relationships.” Read more

 

Dollar General gets new executive vice president, store operations at Supermarket News

 

Millennials are moving to ‘the most boring places in the world’ at Business Insider/MSN. “John Natale, a real-estate agent based in Wall Township, New Jersey, calls this phenomenon “drive till you qualify.” He says it used to be that he could find his clients a home in their price range in whichever county they wanted to be in…Rafay Qamar, a real-estate agent in Chicago, says many of his millennial clients who left the city to buy homes in the suburbs in recent years are trying to come back.” Read more

 

Tropicana is one company that’s ditching AI at CNN. “Tropicana, the top-selling orange juice maker, is releasing limited-edition bottles that removes the letters “A” and “I” from its name (“Tropcn”) to bring attention to its natural ingredients.” Read more

 

***Advertising inquiries, new product searches, comments, questions, etc…contact Jason Long at jlong@eyeonretail.net