Wal-Mart expands online grocery pickup to eight more cities by Nathan Layne at Reuters. “The expansion…will increase the number of stores with the service by a third to about 200 and widen its footprint to 30 cities…In addition to Kansas City, Missouri and Austin, Texas, Wal-Mart will roll out the service later this month to select stores in Boise, Idaho; Richmond and Virginia Beach, Virginia; Provo, Utah; Daphne, Alabama and Charleston, South Carolina.” Read more

 

Target CEO Brian Cornell buys $1.9M Kenwood home by Nick Halter at Minneapolis/St.Paul Business Journal. “Target Corp. CEO Brian Cornell bought a $1.9 million home near Lake of Isles in the Kenwood neighborhood of Minneapolis, according to a real estate filing. Cornell, who took over as CEO of the Minneapolis retailer in August 2014, paid cash for the six-bedroom, six-bathroom home.” Read more

 

NO PITCH REQUIRED – Publicis Groupe Wins Walmart-Owned Asda’s $145M U.K. Business by Emma Hall at Ad Age. “Saatchi & Saatchi London — whose New York office has handled Walmart’s creative in the U.S. for two years — will take the Asda creative account from VCCP after three years on the business.” Read more

 

Multiple Retailers to Attend GS1 Connect Conference “Companies participating in “How to do Business With” sessions and Trading Partner Roundtables include Belk, Dillard’s, Kroger, Macy’s, Nordstrom, SUPERVALU, Target, Walgreens, Walmart/Sam’s Club and Wegmans Food Markets.” Read the release | Full agenda

 

J.C. Penney creates its own plus-size women’s fashion brand by Maria Halkias at Dallas Morning News. “Penney is positioning the brand for the younger millennial shopper…The merchandise will be in about 500 Penney stores and online May 1…about 200 stores are getting branded “The Boutique” departments.” Read more

 

Actor Hugh Jackman pitches new venture to Kroger at Cincinnati Business Journal. “Wolverine” and “Les Miserables” star Hugh Jackman was in Cincinnati this weekend to talk to Kroger executives, WCPO reports. Jackman was pitching his Laughing Man Coffee & Tea to the Cincinnati-based grocer.” Read more

 

Target Testing Connected Health Sections by Alan Wolf at Twice. “The pilot program is rolling out to 550 Target stores across the country and is expected to be in place by May. The Connected Care sections are approximately 6 feet wide and hold about 14 different medical-grade products, including blood pressure monitors and pain management. All can connect to smartphones to make it easy for customers “to keep track of important wellness information and data,” a Target spokeswoman told TWICE in an email.” Read more

 

“Home Depot and Lowe’s are just completely sold out of any kind of materials” –  Softball size hail pierces ceilings in Wylie, TX at CBS DFW. “When Yvonne Mora’s ceiling finally caved in from hail damage, insulation rained down onto her kitchen. “It looks like cotton candy,” she said staring the pile of pink covering her countertop. But the real damage is visible overhead. Monday’s softball size hail pierced Mora’s roof.” See the video / Read more

 

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Longtime Macy’s exec resigns by Andy Brownfield at Cincinnati Business Courier. “Macy’s Chief Marketing Officer Martine Reardon will leave the company effective May 13.” Read more

 

Walmart To Provide $150,000 for Univ. of Arkansas School of Law Diversity Program Read more

 

Market Force: America’s Favorite Grocery Chain (Wegmans #1, #2 Publix, #3 Trader Joe’s) via Business Insider. Read more

 

Job count at Walmart’s new C. Fla. distribution center soars to 1,000 by Rachel Williams at Orlando Business Journal. “When the project was confirmed last summer, it was announced that the new center would create 625 new jobs, but that number has risen to 1,000, Stan Conway, executive vice president of Majestic Realty, told Orlando Business Journal.” Read more

 

Strawberries are Now the Most Contaminated Produce by Jade Scipioni at Fox Business. “Strawberries have officially replaced apples as the most pesticide-ridden produce. According to the 2016 Environmental Working Group’s Shopper’s Guide, nearly all “conventional” strawberry samples—about 98%—tested by federal officials had detectable pesticide residues. In addition to that, 40% of all strawberries had residues of 10 or more pesticides detected.” Read more

 

Canada: Loblaw says its plan to build 50 new stores, renovate 150 more will create 20,000 jobs this year via Financial Post. Read more

 

You Can’t Buy ‘Hamilton’ Tickets, But You Can Buy Its Bloomingdale’s Merchandise by Laura Gurfein at Racked. “Bloomingdale’s is set to open pop-up shops at the 59th Street and Soho stores filled with show-related merchandise later this week…” Read more

 

Jeff Bezos: What the commercial space industry can learn from the Internet revolution by Todd Bishop at GeekWire. Read more

 

Wal-Mart ties with ChannelAdvisor to boost online assortment by Nathan Layne at Reuters. “The deal should make it easier for the thousands of retailers and vendors that are working with ChannelAdvisor to get their products on Wal-Mart’s website. Wal-Mart has made expanding its online assortment, currently at about 9 million items, a priority for its online business this year.” Read more

 

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