“Walmart Dominates YouTube During Thanksgiving Holiday Period With 39 Million Video Views” by Amy Gesenhues at Marketing Land. “Report shows Walmart owned 50 percent of total channel views for top 100 retail brands on YouTube from November 19 though December 2.” Read more

 

“Economists see revved-up economy next year” by John W. Schoen at CNBC. “In case you missed it, the U.S. economy is picking up speed. That’s the view of a panel of business economists, whose latest growth forecast calls for a 3.1 percent advance in U.S. gross domestic product in 2015—up from a 2.2 percent expansion this year.” Read more

 

Big Lot’s CEO: Opening on Thanksgiving was a Mistake by Dan Eaton at Columbus Business First. “Big Lots executives visited competitors and in some cases, he said, “didn’t see one person at the cash register” at 9 a.m. on Black Friday.” Read more

 

Excerpt from Thomas Lee’s new book on future of big box retail: “If there’s one thing Best Buy did right, it picked great locations for its stores. About 70 percent of the population in the United States live within 15 minutes of a Best Buy. The proximity to customers allows each store to act as a mini-distribution center where consumers can pick up merchandise or have the stores deliver to their homes and workplaces…” Read more

 

“Grocery Delivery Startup Instacart Raising $100 Million-Plus at $2 Billion Valuation” by Jason Del Rey at Recode. “Previous investors, including Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz, are re-upping in this round. “ Read more

 

***A message from Lock-it Block-it – 79% don’t feel safe in their own home. Lock-it Block-it is an adjustable window security bar that keeps open & closed windows & doors secured. The patented security bar replaces clumsy wooden sticks and helps homeowners better-secure their homes. Easy to install & easy to use. See the sell sheet   See the video   lockitblockit.com  info@eyeonretail.net.

 

“Walmart editing ‘I can’t breathe’ phone commercial over Eric Garner protests” by Faith Karimi at CNN. “We’re re-editing as we speak based on feedback we’ve received,” the retailer posted on Twitter. “We can see how the ad could be viewed differently today than when it first aired.” Read more

 

“Schnucks hires Sam’s Meat Market workers displaced by Ferguson fires” at Fox 2 News – St. Louis. “It’s kind of like a personal mission to try to go after these guys. It was something. Like every door we went to, we couldn’t get a hold of them, we couldn’t get a hold of them. Then we found them. That was the most rewarding. The second most rewarding was when we were able to hire them yesterday and they looked me in the eye, shook my hand, and said, ‘thank you’.” said Schnucks Market VP Ed Meyer.” See the video / Read more

 

Singapore: “FairPrice opens membership-only mega retail store, modelled after Costco” by Melissa Lin at The Straits Times. “Exclusive brands available at Warehouse Club includes Costco’s Kirkland Signatures and Japanese green tea brand Ito En.” See the pics / Read more

 

“CEO of True Value to Appear on Undercover Boss this Sunday” by Mike Hibbard at Finger Lake Times. “He was recruited by Home Depot and spent eight years with the company and HD Supply, the professional services division of Home Depot…According to CBS, Hartmann is the first “Undercover Boss” who has actually done undercover work in the past.” Read more

 

“Retailer Mocks Don Henley For Suing Over ‘Obvious’ Joke” by Bill Donahue at Law 360. “Facing a lawsuit from Eagles front man Don Henley over email advertisements for henley-style shirts that urged customers to “Don a henley, take it easy,” Duluth Trading Co. blasted the singer Friday for suing over a promotion that was “obviously a joke.” Read more (Subscription)

 

“Dick’s and Tractor Supply Execs to Join NRF Session Panel” ” The panel will discuss best practices when introducing new technologies and key lessons learned along the way. Tuesday Jan 13th, 11:00 to 11:45 Speakers: Bryan Kirby, Manager of Pricing, Dick’s Sporting Goods…Jason Truss, Director of Pricing, Tractor Supply Company.” Read more

 

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