How Target’s grand reveal of store locations contributed to its demise in Canada by Hollie Shaw at Financial Post. “But Target’s first disastrous step — even if it had no other options — was giving competitors so much advance notice on just when the chain would open its doors, and where every location would be. “Normally, retailers do not know anywhere close to that soon what the exact locations will be, not on that scale,” said Alex Arifuzzaman, partner at retail real estate specialist InterStratics Consultants. “With Target, it was telegraphed to them.” Read more

 

More Exec Changes at Walmart by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “John Aden, executive vice president of sales innovation, will be exiting the retailer on Jan. 31…Jane Ewing, senior vice president, business development for Walmart U.S., will lead the “Next Generation Stock-up” work group…Laura Phillips, senior vice president of entertainment, who is moving to “Omni-Channel Assortments…” Read more

 

Whole Foods set to unveil whole new stores by Jessica Wohl at Chicago Tribune. “Whole Foods is preparing to open seven Chicago-area stores in former Dominick’s locations, starting with a store later this month in Streeterville…”Each one of these stores has been completely redesigned,” said Midwest Regional President Michael Bashaw. “We wanted these stores to be authentic Whole Foods Markets, not like a rebranded Dominick’s.” Read more

 

UK supermarkets braced for battle as Tesco comes out fighting by Neil Maidment & James Davey at Reuters. “Tesco has already followed pre-Christmas price cuts on staples like vegetables with January reductions averaging 25 percent on 380 branded products…In Tesco’s toilet paper aisles, products and lines have nearly halved to increase space for top sellers. A subsequent mix of savings on storage, staff hours spent re-stocking shelves and simpler supplier deals have led to an 11 percent price cut for customers.” Read more

 

Home Depot Names Craig Menear Chairman “…effective February 2. He will succeed Frank Blake, who will retire as chairman…He is a 17-year veteran of the company, and is the first merchant to be named chairman and CEO since co-founder Bernie Marcus.” Read the release

 

Alibaba to court China consumer for US retailers at CNBC. “Alibaba is preparing a marketing campaign to raise awareness among U.S. businesses of its global business-to-business wholesale platform, Alibaba.com, so they can buy and sell to and from global suppliers.” Read more

 

Dairy industry braces for a bust after 2014 boom; some farmers asked to pour out surplus milk by Dana Ferguson at AP via Star-Tribune. “The milk glut reached its peak in the Northeast over the holidays, when cooperatives asked farms to pour out some of their milk. “It’s something that no farmer likes to do … it doesn’t feel good to just dump it out,” New York-based Northeast Dairy Producers Association board director Jon Greenwood said.” Read more

 

Many retailers may scope out Target locations by Madhavi Acharya-Tom Yew at Toronto Star. “Retail rivals Walmart and Canadian Tire were two names that came up repeatedly when The Star asked retail experts who may be in the running to take over Target locations…U.S. retailer Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. has long said to be considering a move north.” Read more

 

Retailers ask for ZIP code, and lawsuits follow by Jack Newsham at Boston Globe. “A lot of people think it’s required as a condition of completing the transaction, when it’s not required by the card companies,” Leonard said. “The idea just generally is to gather as much data about the consumer as possible.” Read more

 

Industry warns of crippling impact of work stoppage at US ports by Robert Wright at Financial Times. “Matt Priest, president of the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, said it would be “catastrophic” if the dispute — which has gone on for more than six months — led to a complete work stoppage in the already severely congested ports…“About 40 per cent of our footwear comes through the southern California ports,” he said. “Can you imagine how disruptive that would be to the footwear market if there’s a lockout or some kind of total shutdown?” Read more

 

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