Amazon Raises Its Free Shipping Minimum To $49 For Non-Prime Members by Frederic Lardinois at TechCrunch. “The good news, though: if you’re buying books, the minimum to qualify for free shipping is still $25 (assuming those books are eligible for the free shipping promotion).” Read more

 

Brand Finance Global 500: The world’s most valuable brands of 2016 (Walmart #8, Home Depot #28, Target #78…) See the top 500 list

 

Makeup-free Adele spotted on the shopping hunt in Target by Chelsea White at Daily Mail. “The Hello hitmaker was seen taking her time perusing the racks of West Hollywood’s Target checking out some beauty products. The star was also on the hunt for something fun for her three-year-old son Angelo and was seen picking up an Incredible Hulk coloring book.” See the pics / Read more

 

Lumber Liquidators stock tanks after CDC says wood flooring carries higher cancer risk by Ciara Linnane at MarketWatch. “The CDC said recent testing of the company’s wood had used an incorrect value for ceiling height. “As a result, the health risks were calculated using airborne concentration estimates about 3 times lower than they should have been.” Read more

 

Amazon shows off its Minneapolis-area fulfillment center set to open later this year by Kavita Kumar at Star-Tribune. “Hundreds of little orange robots that resemble heavier and bigger versions of Roombas will be humming along the floor fetching items for employees to pack and send to customers. Only about 13 of Amazon’s dozens of fulfillment centers in the U.S. use robots.” Read more

 

**A message from Sweets & Snacks Expo – Five Speakers You Can’t Miss in May! #5 – Sally Lyons Wyatt, IRI Worldwide to present “The State of the Snack Industry 2016”. Sally is a recognized thought leader and frequent speaker at conferences in the CPG industry and an authority on consumer eating and shopping trends. See bios for Sally & other featured speakers | See the Best in Show Winner for 2015 | This Year’s Exhibitor’s | May 24-26, 2016 – Chicago, IL

 

Here’s Why Walmart Stumbled on The Road to China by Robert Salomon at Fortune. “The lesson in all of this is that, when it comes to globalization, managers are not just optimists; all too often, they are unbridled optimists. They habitually overestimate the benefits of globalization and underestimate its costs.” Read more

 

Amazon recruiting heavily for Echo and Alexa engineers, hosts big invite-only event to find talent by Taylor Soper at GeekWire. “It’s not just about the utility,” he added. “The product is sort of becoming part of the family; it has a place in the home. People are interacting with it in ways that go beyond just turning on lights or listening to music. It has become part of the household, and that’s pretty incredible.” Read more

 

CEO talks cigarettes with CVS’ top doc by Eleanor Kennedy at Nashville Business Journal. “As for the fact that other players in the pharmacy space have not followed suit, Brennan said, that may be because, among other factors, “It’s a lot of money to walk away from.” Read more

 

UTAH SENATOR LOVES HIS COSTCO HOT DOGS – Utah family is ‘complete’ thanks to Orrin Hatch’s penchant for Costco hot dogs by Marjorie Cortez at Deseret News. “Well, they’re so cheap. It’s $1.50 and all the condiments you want and you get a drink with it. My gosh, it doesn’t get any better than that,” Hatch said.” Read more

 

CVS Customer Buys Heating Pad, Finds Box Full Of Family Keepsakes Instead by Ashlee Kieler at Consumerist. ““I didn’t want to take it back to CVS just to have them throw it away,” the woman says of the documents that were all in Russian. Instead, she decided to contact the local police department.” Read more

 

Why Retailers Are Missing Out on Mobile With Millennials by Adrianne Pasquarelli at Ad Age. “Most aren’t ready to tackle this,” said Julie Ask, VP and principal analyst, e-business and channel strategy, Forrester Research. She noted that many teen retailers haven’t invested enough in mobile and have simply shrunk their desktop sites.” Read more

 

Wayfair to Create 450 Jobs in Texas Read the release

 

A startup that wants to help big retailers battle coupon sites like RetailMeNot raises $875,000 by Alyson Shontell at Business Insider. “When people shop online, they’re always looking for a discount. Often before checking out, a shopper will do a Google search for promotional codes to plug in. But the store’s own promotions are hardly ever at the top of the search results, even for big stores like Best Buy.” Read more

 

Syrup business can’t stop gas pipeline from cutting trees down via NY Post. “The 120-foot wide pipeline right-of-way would force the felling of up to 200 maples, or about 80 percent of the family’s sugaring trees.” Read more

 

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