Jay Jorgensen, Walmart’s global chief ethics and compliance officer, to exit the company in January by Kim Souza at Talk Business. “Daniel Trujillo, who has served as senior vice president and international chief compliance officer, will replace Jorgensen, according to an internal company memo sent Friday (Dec. 14) by Rachel Brand, Walmart’s chief legal officer.” Read more

 

Delivery robot bursts into flames at UC Berkeley by Sophia Brown-Heidenreich at The Daily Californian. “Garnering more than 300 reactions and more than 90 comments within an hour of uploading, the video of the robot in flames made waves on the page. Students have called for a moment of silence, suggesting finals week may have finally gotten to the robot as well.” Pic/Read more

 

Amazon Targets Unprofitable Items, With a Sharper Focus on the Bottom Line at Wall Street Journal. “Inside Amazon, the items are known as CRaP, short for “Can’t Realize a Profit.”…One example: bottled water from Coca-Cola Co. Amazon used to have a $6.99 six-pack of Smartwater…Amazon notified Dash customers it was changing that default item to a 24-pack for $37.20.” WSJ subs.

 

CVS defends settlement that allowed Aetna merger as judge assesses at Reuters. Read more

 

Goldman Sachs downgraded shares of Walgreens to a rare “sell” rating Friday, doubting that the pharmacy chain’s plans to transform its drugstore business will work. at CNBC. Read more

 

Europe’s Online Retailers Suffer Nightmare Before Christmas at Bloomberg via Fortune. “This goes against the script,” said Stephen Lienert, a credit analyst at Jefferies. “It was supposed to be bricks and mortar that’s dying and online is the future, but that headline gets ripped up today.” Read more

 

German union calls strike at Amazon warehouses at Reuters. “Amazon has repeatedly rejected Verdi’s demands, saying it believes warehouse staff should be paid in line with competitors in the logistics sector, not as retail staff.” Read more

 

Neiman Marcus bites back at Marble Ridge Capital over claims that the retailer defaulted on debt agreements at Bloomberg. “To be clear, Neiman Marcus is not in default under any of its debt documents,” the company said in its filings. “Neiman Marcus likewise is not insolvent.” Tiered subs.

 

Best Buy shares dropped Monday after Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgraded the stock to underperform at CNBC. Read more

 

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Minnesota Amazon workers & Somali community leaders rally in suburban Minneapolis to demand better working conditions at Pioneer Press. “Amazon’s fulfillment center in Shakopee employs more than 1,500 workers. The online retail giant estimates about 30 percent of the workers there are East African.” Read more

 

Canada Goose is delaying the opening of its flagship store in Beijing as Huawei protest mounts at Bloomberg via Vancouver Sun. Read more

 

Chicago lifts the veil on its Amazon HQ2 bid by Greg Hinz at Crain’s Chicago Business. Tiered subs.

 

Small assault-style rifle firms thriving under activists’ radar by Ross Kerber & Tim McLaughlin at Reuters. “America’s leading gun makers have struggled over the past two years, with the three biggest seeing their rifle market share slip to 44 percent in 2016 from 57 percent in 2011, according to ATF data. Over the same period, a cluster of about 30 small companies combined for 51 percent of overall rifle production, up from 37 percent.” Read more

 

Target says orders placed by Thursday are ‘guaranteed’ to be delivered by Christmas Eve at MarketWatch. Read more

 

…The last day to send gifts with FedEx, UPS and USPS at USA Today. Read more

 

Prada will stop selling monkey key chains decried as racist by Erin Jensen at USA Today. “I don’t make a lot of public posts, but right now I’m shaking with anger,” Ezie wrote. “Today after returning to NYC…I walked past Prada’s Soho storefront only to be confronted with the very same racist and denigrating #blackface imagery.” Pics/Read more

 

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