Costco July Comp Sales +8.3% / US +9.7% / Ecom +20.9% “…net sales of $10.59 billion for the retail month of July…an increase of 10.1 percent from $9.62 billion last year. For the first forty-eight weeks of fiscal 2018, the Company reported net sales of $127.40 billion, an increase of 12.1 percent.” Press release

 

Party City lands a deal with Amazon at CNBC. “Party City will offer an assortment of items on Amazon to start, but with a big focus on Halloween costumes, the company said…expects the pilot program will eventually expand to other product categories for Christmas and the New Year, “with further expansion possible in 2019.” Read more

 

…Party City Q2 Comp Sales +0.1% Press release

 

Walmart tries to make it easier for online shoppers to return their unwanted purchases at CNBC. “Starting this fall, customers buying items from third parties on Walmart.com will be able to print shipping labels directly from the website and clearly see the return policies for individual items online, according to a memo sent to sellers and obtained by CNBC.” Read more

 

Ahold Delhaize will consolidate web sales under its Peapod online delivery service by Nina Trentmann at Wall Street Journal. “Ahold Delhaize’s U.S. net sales fell to €9.21 billion ($10.67 billion) in the quarter ended June, from €9.99 billion in the prior-year period.” Subscription

 

…CEO Muller promised to provide more details on Peapod Digital Labs and the new Stop & Shop format at Ahold Delhaize’s Capital Markets Day, scheduled to take place on Nov. 13 in New England at Progessive Grocer. Read more

 

San Francisco’s luxury home furnishings retailer Gump’s files for bankruptcy at Reuters. Read more

 

Aldi Is Expanding in the U.S. With These New Products by Natasha Bach at Fortune. “The chain plans to grow from 1,600 stores last June to 2,500 by the end of 2022…The chain aims to have new products accounting for a fifth of its range by early next year…The new products will broadly fall under three categories: fresh and healthy, convenient, and must-have items.” Read more

 

Top 100 retailers by U.S. sales growth (Bass Pro #2, PetSmart #7, Five Below #8, Kwik Trip #24) at Kantar/NRF. Ranked list

 

Walmart and JD.com invest $500 million in a Chinese online delivery company at CNBC. “Dada-JD Daojia was formed from the merger of JD Daojia, which is JD.com’s online-to-offline business, and Dada Nexus, a large crowd-sourcing delivery platform in China with operations in more than 400 major cities.” Read more

 

Casper plans 200 stores in a bid to win the mattress wars by Elizabeth Segran at Fast Company. Read more

 

**A message from Sondare Megaphone sound enhancing  case – Baby Boomers, aging seniors and the hearing impaired can have trouble hearing their smart phone. Our patent pending technology boosts the sound level 2X and directs sound towards you. No wires or batteries. Provides louder and clearer: ringtones, text/email alerts & family communications. Website/Video | Sample

 

H-E-B hires tech exec as chief product officer by Kristin Mosbrucker at San Antonio Business Journal. “Mike Georgoff will report to H-E-B’s new chief digital officer, Jag Bath, CEO of Favor Inc., which was acquired by H-E-B in February.” Read more

 

Kroger Names Gil Phipps Vice President of Branding, Marketing and Our Brands Press release

 

Is Amazon behind the mysterious project in the Atlanta area? by Tyler Estep at AJC. “The county’s planning commission voted to recommend approval of the special-use permit necessary for the code-named “Project Rocket”— a 2.5-million-square-foot facility projected to create 1,000 jobs or more — to be built as planned.” Drawings/Read more/Video

 

Rite Aid and Albertsons Companies Mutually Agree to Terminate Merger Agreement Press release

 

Amazon prepares to launch Echo and Alexa in Mexico, its first localized Latin American country by Paul Sawers at Venture Beat. Read more

 

Amazon enlists first class of military veterans to graduate from Apprenti technical training program by Kurt Schlosser at GeekWire. “Gov. Jay Inslee, Amazon vice president Ardine Williams and Apprenti Executive Director Jennifer Carlson joined in the celebration at Amazon in Seattle.” Pic/Read more

 

Jeff Bezos to Keynote 2018 Air, Space & Cyber Conference held September 17-19, 2018 in National Harbor, Md. Press release

 

Home Depot employee gets an in-store surprise from her favorite soccer team at Built from Scratch. Read more

 

Buffalo Wild Wings wants to add sports betting to its menu by David Pardum at ESPN. “Licensing requirements to offer sports betting vary by state but likely would require Buffalo Wild Wings to partner with a current gaming operator. The company said it wouldn’t elaborate further on the issue for now.” Read more

 

Everyone* Pours Bacon Fat Down the Drain, Everyone Lies About It by Lara Korte at Wall Street Journal. “Carrie Richardson, 43, from Green Bay, Wis., assumed that her husband followed her lead in allowing the bacon fat to cool and harden before throwing it in the garbage. But Brad Richardson, 44, recently revealed to her the truth. “I pour it down the toilet,” he said.” Subscription

 

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Seattle soda tax brings in more than $10M in first six months

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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