“BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands 2014 (Amazon #10, Walmart #22, Home Depot #40…)”  See the Top 100 List

 

“Target Poaches IPG Mediabrands Exec Kristi Argyilan” by Natalie Zmuda at Ad Age.  “Kristi is known nationally as a transformational, digitally savvy marketer,” Jeff Jones, CMO at Target, said in the statement. “As Target continues to accelerate our efforts to innovate and evolve, her expertise in leveraging today’s dynamic media mix will help us connect with Target’s guests in new and different ways.”  Read more

 

“Walmart COO Gisel Ruiz talks heritage, customer demands and price focus” by Kim Souza at The City Wire.  “My dad learned to speak English from watching baseball games on television. He loved the game. My mom learned to speak English from watching soap operas — ‘The Young and Restless,’” Ruiz said.  She said watching her family struggle up the socio-economic ladder from migrant workers to business owners prepared her for the challenges and hard work she faces daily at Wal-Mart.”  Read more

 

“Costco:  Tobacco products have been phased out at more than 50% of stores in U.S. – Seattle is next” at KIRO TV. “Galanti said about 90 percent of all the company’s tobacco’s sales are to retailers like convenience stores. He said Costco does not plan to get out of the cigarette business entirely.”  Read more

 

“Stanford Study:  Too Many Product Images Can Hurt Online Sales”  “When we see one picture, we usually focus on the big-picture aspects like style and the overall look of the product,” the researchers explained. “For the many products that are distinguished by big-picture elements such as style or design or brand, a change in visual processing style to a component level moves our focus away from the aspects that distinguished those products in the first place.”  Read the release

 

“Happened Yesterday: Home Depot’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders”  Listen to the Webcast

 

“Home Depot CEO Frank Blake Hosts Annual Meeting of Shareholders” at Seeking Alpha.  Read the Transcript

 

“Sears:  Nearly Three-Quarters of Q1 Sales Came From Shop Your Way Loyalty Program” by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC.  “According to CEO Eddie Lampert, members of Sears’ Shop Your Way loyalty program made up nearly three-quarters of eligible sales at Sears’ and Kmart’s domestic locations for the first quarter, up from 68 percent a year ago and the highest on record.”  Read more

 

“Dollar Tree Q1 Comp Sales +2%”  “The Company estimates sales for the second quarter of 2014 to be in the range of $1.97 billion to $2.02 billion, based on low-single digit positive comparable store sales.”  Read the release

 

“Fresh Market Q1 Comp Sales +2.5%” at MarketWatch.  “Sales rose 18% to $431 million, benefiting from special promotions and the Easter holiday partially offsetting the negative effect of harsh winter weather.”  Read more

 

“Hibbett Sports Q1 Comp Sales +4.1%”  “Net sales increased 9.1% to $261.9 million for the 13-week period ended May 3, 2014, compared with $240.0 million for the 13-week period ended May 4, 2013.”  Read the release

 

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