“McMillon, Simon top picks as next Wal-Mart CEO” by Kim Souza at City Wire.  “The Wal-Mart Board of Directors meeting scheduled for later this week may include the selection and announcement of Doug McMillon or Bill Simon as the new top boss at Wal-Mart Stores.  A majority of insiders that include analysts, academics, service providers and consultants recently interviewed for this story give the nod to 46-year-old Doug McMillon, CEO of Walmart International. If McMillon is not selected, the insiders say Bill Simon, 53, CEO of Walmart U.S., will be promoted to the top job.”  Read more

 

“Wal-Mart Cutting Two Quarters of Orders as Inventory Swells” by Renee Dudley at Bloomberg News via SF Gate.  “Last week, an ordering manager at the company’s Bentonville, Arkansas, headquarters described the pullback in an e-mail to a supplier, who said others got similar messages. “We are looking at reducing inventory for Q3 and Q4,” said the Sept. 17 e-mail, which was reviewed by Bloomberg News.”  Read more

 

“Wal-Mart wrestles down inventory ahead of holiday push” by Kim Souza at City Wire.  “The categories seeing the biggest cull rate include food, consumables, health and wellness and home. The aggressiveness with which Wal-Mart has cut inventory over the past 60 days has been greater than anything seen out of the retailer in recent years, according to analysts with Cleveland Research Company.” Read more

 

“Family Dollar Takeover in the Works?” by Ely Portillo at Charlotte Observer.  “For what it’s worth – and file this under “odd” – I was contacted this week by someone who identified themselves as “an investigator based in New York conducting some research on behalf of an investment fund regarding the Family Dollar company.”  They were looking for information about whether CEO (and founder’s son) Howard Levine views the business as a “family affair,” and how that might influence his decisions about the company’s future. Hm.” Read more

 

“Target Launches Online Baby Goods Subscription Plan” at Fox Business.  “Target Corp will launch a free service on Wednesday that lets shoppers set up recurring deliveries of bulky baby goods, a move that mimics Amazon.com Inc and is aimed at attracting more moms.  Target has a battle ahead since it is not the first to offer such delivery, and for now is only selling 150 items such as diapers, baby wipes and formula.”  Read more

 

“Home Depot’s CEO: ‘We’ve pretty much built all the Home Depot’s we need to build (in US)’ “  via Fortune’s Leadership Series.  See the video

 

“PayPal Seen With ‘Limited Traction’ At Home Depot” by Reinhardt Krauss at Investors Bus. Daily.  “PayPal kicked off their in-store payment option at 2,000 Home Depots across the U.S. over 12 months ago,” wrote RBC Capital analyst Mark Mahaney. “We recently re-visited 11 Home Depots in the (San Francisco) Bay Area in order to determine whether adoption of PayPal’s in-store payment functionality has increased. Overall, we discovered still limited traction.” Read more

 

“Target Introduces Target Ticket, a Family-Friendly Digital Video Service” at WSJ.  “Target partnered with Common Sense Media, a San Francisco-based non-profit organization best known for its reviews of movies and television shows. Through the partnership, Target Ticket gives guests access to thousands of reviews, making it easier for parents to choose the right content for their children.”  Read more

 

“Jewel scrapping self-checkout at some stores” by Samantha Bomkamp at Chicago Tribune.  “Jewel-Osco is getting rid of self-checkout lanes from some of its stores.  Jewel said it’s an effort to reconnect personally with all of its customers despite the higher costs the shift entails.  Theft is also a concern driving some grocers away the unmanned checkouts, as are hassles such as liquor and other purchases that require an employee to step in. Self-checkouts generally have one staff member assisting customers at four or six stations at once.”  Read more

 

“Advertisers miss chance to reach black consumers” by Robert Channick at Chicago Tribune via Seattle Times. “The buying power of African Americans continues to grow, but advertisers are missing the mark by passing over black-oriented media.  That is the conclusion of a Nielsen report, which shows that of the $75 billion spent last year in the U.S. on television, magazines, Internet and radio advertising, less than 3 percent went to media focused on black audiences.”  Read more

 

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