“Jim Cramer: Costco Is a Game Changer” at The Street.  “Costco’s selling $1,000 Versace handbags for $500. The store just got in some killer Italian ties that look no different from the Ferragamos I wear, for 1/10 of what I pay for the name brand…There’s enough selection now — much more than I have ever seen — and enough famous brands, as well as the Kirkland private-label version, that I think Costco may actually be helping to reorder the apparel universe.”  Read more

 

“Peapod who? Online grocer shows Amazon, Walmart how it’s done” by Donna Tam at CNET.  “The Illinois-based online grocer, which has been around for more than 20 years, is growing steadily and now serves residents in pockets of the Midwest and East Coast. It’s now considered the top provider of online grocery deliveries, fighting off competitors as they emerge.”  Read more

 

“Tyson Foods Looks to C-Stores to Sell More Chicken” by Shruti Date Singh at Bloomberg.  “The company is seeking fortune beyond the supermarket meat department. That’s why it’s rushing to sell piping-hot Buffalo chicken bites near the cash register at many of the gas stations and 149,000 convenience stores across the U.S. Such locales may not be sexy or even particularly appetizing, but their sales are growing while revenue at traditional food stores is falling.”  Read more

 

“Publix Same-Store Sales Up 4.1% in Q3”  “Publix’s sales for the third quarter of 2013 were $7 billion, a 5.6 percent increase from last year’s $6.7 billion. Comparable-store sales for the third quarter of 2013 increased 4.1 percent…Publix has 1,076 stores in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee.”  Read more

 

“Weis Markets Same-Store Sales Down 2.9% in Q3”  “In the thirteen-week period ending September 28, 2013, the Company’s sales totaled $661.4 million, a 1.0% decline compared to the same period in 2012. Comparable store sales for the same period were down 2.9%…Weis Markets, Inc. operates 165 stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and West Virginia.”  Read more

 

“Ron Johnson Fights Back on his J.C. Penney Tenure” by Barbara Thau at Forbes.  “Johnson told me via email that although it’s premature to discuss his tenure at J.C. Penney, he did say that much of the analysis of his stint at the chain has been “lacking in depth, largely inaccurate, and surprisingly uninformed.”  Read more

 

“Online Ads Fall Twice as Fast as Physical Ads at New York Times” at Ad Age.  “Digital advertising dropped 3.4% to $32.8 million, “due to ongoing secular trends and an increasingly complex and fragmented digital advertising marketplace,” the Times said. Print ads fell only 1.6%.”  Read more

 

“Duck Dynasty stars at new Field & Stream store”  See the pics

 

“Google, Apple and others look to a post-cookie era” by Brandon Bailey at San Jose Mercury News via Seattle Times.  “Privacy experts warn that any new system that replaces cookies will likely let Internet businesses learn even more about individuals, especially if it tracks their habits across multiple gadgets that people use throughout the day.”  Read more

 

“OfficeMax and Office Depot Receive U.S. FTC Clearance for Proposed Merger”  “The companies anticipate completing the transaction after market close on November 5, 2013, subject to the satisfaction of remaining closing conditions.”  Read more

 

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