Target Recalls Over 120,000 Halloween Window Decorations by Madeline Farber at Fortune. “Luckily, Target has not received any reports of injuries or choking incidents.” Read more

 

Video: Jeff Bezos shares big ideas, from Amazon’s drone landing pads to a 10,000-year clock by Alan Boyle at Geek Wire. “When the robotic aircraft go into operation, they’ll be able to fly at speeds of more than 50 mph with a 20-mile range. The system is designed to deliver packages weighing less than 5 pounds, a weight range that Amazon says covers 86 percent of the products it sells. “It’s going to work really well in one of the hardest neighborhoods urban, dense suburban neighborhoods,” he said. “You just need a landing field. And if you have a landing field, you can mark it with a symbol which you can print out on your printer and put wherever you want the vehicle to land.” See the video / Read more

 

Retailers Get Early Start on Recruiting Seasonal Workers Amid Tight Labor Market by Eric Morath at Wall Street Journal. “Data from job-search site Indeed.com shows retailers, and the warehouse and logistics firms they compete with for seasonal labor, started searching for temporary workers a month earlier than in recent years.” Read more (subscription)

 

Nebraska’s first Container Store expected to draw about 3,500 customers opening weekend by Mara Klecker at Omaha World Herald. “More than 100 shoppers stood in front of the new store at Westroads Mall (on Saturday morning)…The first customer in line, Cindy Mangiameli, 61, of Elkhorn got to the store at 7 a.m. She had never been to a Container Store but enjoys organizing, she said. She left the store empty-handed — she needs to evaluate her home and come back with a list and a game plan.” Read more

 

Target’s nightly light show a ‘digital mood ring’ for Minneapolis by Kavita Kumar at Star Tribune. “Sometimes, the upper reaches of ­Target Corp.’s headquarters transform into an underwater scene with tropical fish darting around, including a playful puffer fish that blows itself up. This time of year, they might be treated to one of many seasonal scenes such as a Halloween one — and coming soon, a snow globe and ­Christmas lights. Over the years, Target’s in-house creative team has designed about 30 such motifs that rotate throughout the year.” Read more

 

J.Crew finally has an activewear line by Josh Kosman at NY Post. “Two years ago, (CEO Mickey) Drexler was not about following trends. The retail legend said in an October 2014 interview that he considered and dismissed making yoga clothing.” Read more

 

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Kohl’s unveils ‘The Kitch,’ a new Bartolotta-operated corporate dining facility by Melanie Lawder at Milwaukee Business Journal. “After announcing one year ago that it planned to partner with Milwaukee-based The Bartolotta Restaurants to bring an experiential dining experience to Kohl’s corporate headquarters in Menomonee Falls, the new food service operation is up and running.” 20 pics

 

REI to close again for Black Friday via Fox Business. Read more

 

Dick’s wins auction for U.S. business of bankrupt Golfsmith – sources by Jessica DiNapoli at Reuters. “Dick’s plans to keep open at least 30 Golfsmith stores and wind down the rest with liquidators from Hilco Global and Tiger Capital Group, the people said. It plans to keep about 500 of the company’s employees. Golfsmith had 109 stores in the United States at the time of its bankruptcy filing last month.” Read more

 

Burberry and Coach Are Not in Active Merger Talks via Fortune. Read more

 

Sears insists it’s paying its vendors as reports swirl about spat with toymaker by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC. “Jakks, the fifth-largest U.S. toy company, told investors on its third-quarter earnings call that it had halted shipments to a “major U.S. customer,” which was presumed by some to be Kmart. A Wall Street Journal report, citing sources familiar with the matter, also linked the companies together.” Read more

 

In Marlboro Country, a Big-Money Race for the New Smoke by Jennifer Kaplan at Bloomberg. “Perched above crystalline Lake Neuchatel, southwest of Zurich, the glass hexahedron holds secrets to a future when, Philip Morris says, the world will be blissfully smoke-free. That’s right: Philip Morris, of all companies, is telling smokers to quit…” Read more

 

Duluth Trading Company opens first store in the East — with a lumberjack demonstration by David Schuyler at Milwaukee Business Journal. “The new store, in King of Prussia, Pa., is also distinguished by the inclusion of a “tool museum” based on Pennsylvania carpentry shops, according to a public invitation to the store’s grand opening.” Read more

 

Sneaker culture: Behind the $1B shoe resale business by Lisa Fickenscher at NY Post. “On the morning of Oct. 18, some of New York City’s savviest investors, a mostly young group of males, lined up outside a store in Manhattan’s Soho neighborhood waiting for the hottest product in recent months to make its debut…Hitting the public markets that day was the Satin Air Jordan 1 Banned, perhaps the most coveted sneaker ever. The $175 Nike product…carries an asking price today on eBay of about $2,000.” Read more

 

Target takes top spot in solar, besting Walmart for first time (Costco #5) via Solar Energy Industries Association. See top 25 list

 

Canada: Weak retail sales result makes Canada rate cut more likely via Financial Post. “Retail sales fell 0.1 per cent in August, compared with forecasts for a 0.3 per cent gain. Consumer inflation accelerated for the first time in five months in September to 1.3 per cent, however the jump was below the 1.4 per cent rate economists were forecasting.” Read more

 

Hundreds of yoga-pant loving women march on man’s home after he writes scathing letter-to-editor claiming they look ‘disturbing’ on women over 20 by Anneta Konstantinides at Daily Mail. “More than 300 people marched in their yoga pants on Sunday to protest a newspaper letter by one man who told women to stop wearing their Lululemons…’Not since the mini-skirt has there been something worn by so many women who should never have it on in the first place,’ he wrote in a ‘Letter to the Editor’ published in The Barrington Times.” See the pics / Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Grim video at Costco egg supplier reveals how ‘cage-free’ hens live, animal advocates say

Walmart sues cookware maker for ‘using’ name

76-year-old man sits for 15 hours overnight in mobility scooter for opening of new Aldi

Walmart food waste