“It’s Target Versus Amazon in the Battle for Moms” by Brad Tuttle at Time.  “Target wants its moms back. This week, Target rolled out a new diaper-delivery plan and a family friendly on-demand video streaming option. Both services are aimed at wooing moms—in particular, moms who might otherwise give their business to Amazon.  While rivalries among competing retailers are rarely friendly, Amazon.com and Target have a history of confrontation.”  Read more

 

“Home Depot Expands Redbeacon to Boost ‘Do-It-for-Me’ Services” by Chris Burritt at Bloomberg.  “Redbeacon, which connects consumers with painters, plumbers, carpenters and maids, expanded this week through Home Depot to Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah, Montana and Alaska. That puts the service in 11 states as the service pushes nationwide over the next two years, Chief Executive Officer Anthony Rodio said in an interview Wednesday.”  Read more

 

“Kroger CEO Succession Plan Gets High Marks” by Ann Meyer at Retail Leader.  “This is a textbook case of how to do it right. Rodney McMullen was groomed for this job,” said Gene Grabowski, executive vice president at Levick, a Washington, D.C.-based communications firm that helps companies create succession plans. “It’s one of the best transitions you’ll ever see.”  Read more

 

“Fifteen Years In, Google Revamps Its Search Algorithm” by Liz Gannes at All Things D.  “Google has “changed engines midflight,” search leader Amit Singhal announced today. Not that anyone noticed, or that Google can even describe what changed in layman’s terms. But, about a month ago, the company swapped out its search-ranking algorithm for a new one, code-named Hummingbird, that can handle more complex queries faster.”  Read more

 

“7 Products Wal-Mart Sells To Keep Its ‘Made In America’ Pledge” by Emily Coyle at Business Insider.  “The jury’s still out on whether Wal-Mart really is leading the effort or actually joining in on a phenomenon that is well underway, but nonetheless, the retailer has made significant strides in recent months to keep good on that promise, and its suppliers are helping. Here are 7 products Wal-Mart now sells that help it maintain its “Made in America” pledge.”  Read more

 

“Home Depot unveils 1.6 million-square-foot distribution center in Joliet, IL” at The Times Weekly.  “The facility, adjacent to the company’s Rapid Deployment Center, will employ approximately 200 people and serve more than 340 Home Depot stores across the Midwest, according to Holifield. However, the home improvement giant will not be adding new jobs at the Joliet location. Home Depot is closing facilities in both Bolingbrook and Romeoville.”  Read more

 

“Tractor Supply Company Enters Nevada Market”  “Nevada represents the 47th state of operation for Tractor Supply…Tractor Supply Company plans to open 100-105 stores in 2013, and grow its square footage approximately eight percent annually toward its domestic opportunity of 2,100 stores. The Company currently operates more than 1,223 stores.”  Read more

 

“Why Canadians may never realize their dream of having U.S. prices” by Dan Ovsey at Financial Post.  “In 2011, an average of 3.4 million Canadians made a conscious choice to hop in their vehicles each month and make a run for the border — to shop.  That trend is likely to grow in the near future given that the federal government’s 2013 budget announced the introduction of new tariffs to be imposed on goods entering Canada from 70 different countries, costing Canadian consumers an estimated $330-million more each year in retail prices.”  Read more

 

“Patent trolls have a new enemy: Martha Stewart” by Timothy Lee at Washington Post.  “In July, Lodsys sent Stewart’s media empire letters warning her that four of its iPad apps infringed LodSys’s patent. Lodsys demanded $5,000 for each of the four apps to license the patents.  Instead of paying up, Stewart went on the offensive.”  Read more

 

“Why big American businesses fail in China” by Benjamin Carlson at CNBC.  “As Best Buy and other American retailers have found, Chinese consumers don’t like big, boxy warehouses far away from a city center…Home Depot tried to bring American notions of DIY to a market where labor was so cheap that most people simply hired a handyman…The company admitted as much when it left China. As the company spokeswoman said at the time, “China is a do-it-for-me market, not a do-it-yourself market, so we have to adjust.”  Read more

 

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Have a great weekend!