Lululemon sues Costco, claims company is selling ‘dupes’ of some of its products at AP. “Some of the products Lululemon says Costco is making duplicates of include its popular Scuba hoodies, Define jackets, and ABC pants. Lululemon claims one of the duplicates that Costco sells is the Hi-Tec Men’s Scuba Full Zip, with the lawsuit showing a screenshot image of Costco’s website showing the item priced at $19.97.” Read more

 

CRAMER INTERVIEWS JASSY: Despite tariffs, Andy Jassy says Amazon hasn’t ‘seen prices appreciably go up,’ so far at CNBC. “Jassy said that Amazon has about two million sellers in its marketplace. Even if some sellers pass on tariff expense to customers by raising prices, he said there will be many that won’t and who will instead “take share and not increase prices.” Read more/Video

 

Amazon Is on the Cusp of Using More Robots Than Humans in Its Warehouses at WSJ. “The average number of employees Amazon had per facility last year, roughly 670, was the lowest recorded in the past 16 years…The number of packages that Amazon ships itself per employee each year has also steadily increased since at least 2015 to about 3,870 from about 175, the analysis found…” WSJ subs.

 

Online shopping see biggest slowdown in over decade as tariffs disrupt e-commerce: Survey at CNBC. “Online purchases for home delivery experienced double-digit percentage, year-over-year declines across major categories, including sporting goods, down 12 percentage points; and cosmetics, furniture, home furnishings, office supplies, and large electronics, each falling by 10 percentage points, according to AlixPartners’ data.” Read more

 

Jewelry sales outperform as U.S. spending for most luxury goods falters: Citi at CNBC. “For the month of May, luxury spending held up better than expected, dipping 1.7% year over year, compared with a 6.8% decline in April and 8.5% in March. Combined spend for the top luxury brands, such as Hermès, even eked out a 0.2% uptick on an annual basis…” Read more

 

Amazon Prime Day Press Release

 

**A message from Comfy Sacks: Delight your consumer with foam-filled, long-lasting and soft bean bag chairs. Genius design + comfort. Made in USA. Website | Program details: info@eyeonretail.net

 

Home Depot heads deeper into the building supply business with $5 billion acquisition of GMS at AP. “GMS Inc. of Tucker, Georgia, is a distributor of specialty building products like drywall, steel framing and other supplies used in both residential and commercial projects.” Read more

 

How Coupons Became Passé, Even in a High-Price World at WSJ. “Now might seem like the perfect time for people to be loading up on coupons…But clipping paper coupons has fallen by the wayside in a world where people have less time to spare and increasingly spend their money digitally. Extreme cost-cutters have pivoted to credit-card points and loyalty programs.” WSJ subs.

 

Trader Joe’s opens new LA store across from another Trader Joe’s at Fox Business

 

Sam’s Club growth strategy includes pizza delivery and sushi at Talk Business. “Sam’s said one of the last hold-outs in getting to 100% (no artificial colors) was in Yellow 5 cake icing dye. Nick Brewer, director of brand development and partnerships at Sam’s Club, has said the vibrant icing colors of blue, red and yellow were hard to replicate using only natural ingredients. Over the past three years, Sam’s Club has found natural substitutes for red and blue, and is in the final testing phase for yellow.” Read more

 

Shoppers are trading down to store brands without even realizing it at CNBC. “About 71% of consumers surveyed recently by First Insight said they knew when they were buying a private-label item. But when the retail market-research firm showed them in-house and name-brand products side by side, virtually the same share — 72% — failed to correctly identify the private-label one.” Read more

 

Walmart cuts out middlemen with first-ever beef facility at Fox Business. “The newly opened, 300,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility in Olathe will package and distribute Angus cuts sourced directly from Sustainable Beef LLC to 600 stores across the Midwest region…” Read more

 

**Advertise your product, service or event to retail buyers in Eye on Retail Tipsheet. Contact: info@eyeonretail.net