Target among retailers trying to figure out how to explain the Internet of Things by Kavita Kumar at Star Tribune. “A smart door lock when you enter the house triggers music to begin playing, which activates a smart plant feeder that tells the homeowner if it needs to be watered. In the nursery, a sensor detects when a baby wakes up, which leads to lights turning on.” Read more / See the video

 

LA Times: Target gives digital devices a homey showcase by Daina Beth Solomon. “The retailer envisions the site as a “learning lab” that can help little-known start-ups get items to the public. If the idea is successful, Target would expand the concept to other stores, Baeb said. About a third of the products are available on Target’s website, but the rest are available only at the store, at least for now. The prices range from $13 for a light bulb to $250 for a door lock.” Read more

 

Restoration Hardware Exec Named Crate & Barrel CEO by Brigid Sweeney at Crain’s Chicago Business. “Crate & Barrel named Doug Diemoz its new CEO, effective Aug. 1. Diemoz currently is chief development officer of Restoration Hardware, where he oversees global expansion.” Read more

 

Walgreens names Stefano Pessina permanent CEO by Ameet Sachdev at Chicago Tribune. “Pessina, with an estimated net worth of $13.5 billion, according to Forbes magazine, lives in Monaco and will maintain his residence there, Polzin said. “His travel schedule will obviously be very busy,” the spokesman said.” Read more

 

Walgreens Q3 Retail Pharmacy Comp Sales +6.3% Read the release

 

Bill Maher Urges Costco to Stop Selling “Cruel” Eggs by Hilary Lewis at The Hollywood Reporter. “The comedian and host of HBO’s Real Time weekly late-night show has written a New York Timesop-ed, set to appear in Friday’s paper but published online Thursday, in which he condemns the warehouse club for failing “to set a timeline for getting rid of eggs from battery cages.” “Costco, please, free the hens already,” Maher writes.” Read more

 

Menards to end sales of flooring with toxic chemical via Pioneer Press. “On Thursday, a coalition of Wisconsin public interest groups planned to publically call on the company to end the use of phthalates. An online petition asking the company’s founder, John Menard Jr., to stop using the compounds had more than 3,400 signatures as of Wednesday.” Read more

 

Dick’s to Open First Store Combining Dick’s Sporting Goods and Field & Stream Under One Roof “DICK’S Sporting Goods will be opening its first All-American Sports Center on Thursday, July 23rd at McGowin Park in Mobile, Alabama.” Read the release

 

Illinois Legislature Passes First-in-Nation Bill for Locking Caps on Painkillers Read the release

 

Amazon taps Macklemore to perform at concert for employees by Taylor Soper at GeekWire. “Amazon has hosted concerts for employees in the past, including a Vampire Weekend performance last year.” Read more

 

Fred’s June Comp Sales +1.6% Read the release

 

Tipsheet Extra

P&G brand sales, restructuring will cut jobs up to 19%

Subway had plans to rebrand Jared Fogle as a family man before FBI raid

Ad Age: Video Tour of Target Open House

New items picked by Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club after ‘open call’

Google’s ad-targeting system may favor men over women for high-paying job ads

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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Eye-on-Retail Tipsheet is created early every weekday morning and read by retail merchants and executives worldwide. We love data, earnings reports, executive presentations and stories off the beaten path that get at what’s really happening in the world of retail. See our website at www.eyeonretail.net