Amazon unveils small business credit line with Goldman Sachs at CNBC. “Now, in a sign of the close relationship between the two companies — Amazon used Goldman bankers for its $13.7 billion takeover of Whole Foods — the tech giant will share merchant data with Goldman, the people said. If sellers consent to it, Goldman will use data on businesses’ revenue and tenure on the e-commerce platform to help determine who should be approved, the people said.” Read more

 

May consumer prices fall 0.1%, the third consecutive month at AP News. “The Labor Department said Wednesday that its consumer price index fell 0.1% last month after tumbling 0.8% in April and 0.4% in March.” Read more

 

United Natural Foods Q3: Net Sales +12% / Net Income +54% / Adjusted EBITDA +32% Press release

 

As ‘America’s department store,’ Macy’s must take action on diversity, CEO says at CNBC. “There are a lot of advisors out there saying, ‘There is a lot of black talent.’ How does Macy’s enable that? That is on my agenda,” he said. “We are going to take action.” Read more/Video

 

Neiman Marcus store at Hudson Yards is being shopped as office space at NY Post. “Opened barely a year ago at the swanky mega mall it anchored on Manhattan’s West Side, the bankrupt luxury retailer is considering closing the store for good while its landlord shops the three-story, 188,000-square-foot space to office tenants, according to reports.” Read more

 

Amazon’s Prime Air drone delivery team is so secretive that employees are often forced to use fake employer names in public at Business Insider. “…when the team tested its drones in employee backyards to collect real-world data, they were frequently interrupted by law enforcement who showed up after suspicious neighbors, who didn’t get sufficient answers about the team’s identity, called them to check in. Since employees were not allowed to say who they worked for, they often had to use fake team names, like “Project Venice” when asked about their affiliation.” Read more

 

Best Buy: Starting June 15, more than 800 locations across the country will begin allowing a limited number of people inside “…limiting the number of customers inside the store to 25% of capacity, which allows approximately 60 or more customers in a store depending on its size.” Press release

 

Chewy Q1 net sales +46% Press release

 

**A message from SPS Commerce. Are you leaving unused open-to-buy dollars on the table? When you’re constantly calling and emailing vendors to check on orders, it’s impossible to accurately determine order status or how much outstanding budget you have. 2:28 video | Contact/Website

 

Roku taps Kroger to sharpen targeted advertising at Supermarket News. “Roku’s shopper data program will provide Kroger sales information to help marketers make more precise and measurable media-buying decisions. Roku said marketers will be able to activate advertising across hundreds of ad-supported channels and link ad exposure directly to in-store and online sales.” Read more

 

HD Supply Q1 net sales -6.6% Press release

 

‘HERO PAY’ – Kroger employees in Virginia and West Virginia will be staging car caravan protests in eight cities on June 10 at WWBT. Read more

 

Amazon Struggled During the Pandemic. Can Smaller Rivals Take Advantage? at Wall Street Journal. “A survey by investment bank Jefferies Group LLC showed that almost one-third of respondents said they turned to non-Amazon sites during the pandemic because of delivery and inventory problems. At Thrive, new paid membership sign-ups in March and April were up threefold from the prior year. But the same problems that plagued Amazon ravaged Thrive.” WSJ subs.

 

Guess Q1 net revenue -51.5% Press release

 

Alibaba taps international influencers to sell more globally at TechCrunch. “AliExpress plans to recruit as many as 100,000 “promoters,” who will help merchants and brands on AliExpress promote through YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and other popular internet platforms.” Read more

 

GameStop quarterly in-store sales drop 30% at Hollywood Reporter. Read more

 

Amazon takes over Bronx warehouse once home to rival Jet.com – leasing 200,000 sf at Prologis’ 1055 Bronx River Avenue at The Real Deal. Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra

Amazon demands ‘full accountability’ for cop who arrested black delivery driver

These 22 LGBTQ-friendly brands are putting their money behind Pride

Nielsen presents virtual tools for shopper research

CVS adds 80+ products under its Live Better by CVS Health brand

Nintendo now says 300,000 accounts breached by hackers

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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