Employee ‘fatally shoots’ manager, self at NYC Home Depot by Frank Rosario, Larry Celona & Jamie Schram at NY Post. “I heard some shots towards the back of the store. It sounded like four or five,” said an employee at the store on West 23rd Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues. I heard someone yell, ‘Oh, my God, he’s dead!’ Everyone was running and screaming and ducking,’’ Esdaile had been arguing with the manager, 38, in Aisle 12 just before about five shots rang out, witnesses said.” Read more

 

Top Target Canada managers get big cash payouts as stores close by Sophia Harris at CBC News. “The traditional view is that it’s all hierarchy driven. Companies would say that the top guy has to make sure that there’s an orderly wind down,” says the professor who teaches at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.”If I were Target, I think I’d be very concerned about the possibility of sabotage and so forth. Also, imagine what the motivation of these workers would be? Why would they want to do a good job? “I think that Target is setting itself up for even more difficult times winding down,” he concludes. Read more

 

13 and 11-Year Old Arrested For Setting Fire To Walmart Store at The Smoking Gun. “According to investigators, the boy stole a lighter while inside the Columbia store and, with his cousin, used it to set a fire in the Walmart’s greeting card aisle. The ensuing blaze caused significant damage to the store, though no injuries were reported.” Read more

 

Mom Sues Target Over Son’s Suicide by Kim Baldonado at NBC 4 Southern California. “The suit claims 22-year-old Graham A. Gentles, a former cashier at the retail chain’s Pasadena store, was humiliated when he was subjected to what the family’s attorney called a “walk of shame,” a ritual during which the employee is paraded around the store in handcuffs.” Read more / See the video

 

Amazon, E-Commerce Rivals Fuel Commercial Property Boom in India at Reuters via Recode. “Demand from e-commerce firms, a tiny fraction of India’s retail industry, accounted for as much as 40 percent of 1.7 million square feet of warehouses leased in 2014 — a seven-fold increase from 2013, according to consultants CBRE South Asia. Warehouse rents have risen by a quarter over the past year.” Read more

 

Gilroy (CA) Costco Says Shoppers May Have Been Exposed to Measles at NBC Bay Area. “The infected person may have also visited a Walmart, located across the street, and a restaurant in the area…The store is warning customers through fliers that if they were inside the store at 7251 Camino Arroyo on Jan. 18 between the hours of 4 to 6 p.m., they may have been exposed to measles.” Read more / See the video

 

Amazon Japan says it’s cooperating with police child porn probe at Bloomberg via Japan Times. “Aichi Prefectural Police conducted raids on the Internet retailer’s Tokyo headquarters and a distribution center in Chiba Prefecture on Jan. 23, seeking evidence that Amazon Japan’s website may have been used by sellers to trade porn goods.” Read more

 

UPS Hints it will Charge Retailers More by Phil Wahba at Fortune. “Though customers enjoyed high quality service, it came at a cost to UPS,” said CEO David Abney. He also hinted that retailers would stop getting a (relatively) free ride and bear more of that cost next Christmas period. “Going forward, we will reduce operating costs and implement new pricing strategies during peak season.” Read more

 

Google Looks To Expand Wallet Use, WePay Integrates Instant Buy API by Ingrid Lunden at TechCrunch. “Google is reportedly eyeing up an acquisition of Softcard to expand Google Wallet services to more points of sale with retailers, but it also wants to grow its position in the wider world of mobile-based transactions to compete with the likes of PayPal by way of its Instant Buy AP.” Read more

 

UK: Amazon controls quarter of games and music sales by Simon Neville at The Independent. “(Amazon) was the big winner in physical sales of music, games and DVDs, controlling 25.6 per cent of the market, with Tesco trailing in second position with 14.7 per cent and HMV with 13.9 per cent, according to Kantar Worldpanel.” Read more

 

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