Boxed reportedly rejected $400 million buyout offer from Kroger by Matthew Boyle & Craig Giammona at Bloomberg. “(Boxed Wholesale’s) board voted last week to reject the offer from (Kroger), said the person, who asked not to be identified because the discussions were private. Boxed also had preliminary talks with Amazon.com Inc., Target Corp. and Costco Wholesale Corp., but Kroger was the only company to submit a bid, the person said. Boxed has a $470 million valuation, the person said.” Read more

 

Neiman Marcus Q2 Comp Revenue +6.7% Press release

 

Amazon all-hands meeting: Jeff Bezos & Whole Foods CEO on stage inside Key Arena by Taylor Soper at GeekWire. “Jeff Bezos was in attendance, taking questions from employees as he typically does at all-hands meetings.” Pics/Read more

 

Cat & Jack skinny jeans sold at Target being recalled for laceration danger by Charisse Jones at USA Today. “The company says shoppers should take the jeans back to a Target store because the metal stars, attached to the bottom of the pants, can loosen, and fall off, potentially harming the skin.” Read more

 

Amazon Is Shifting Prime Pantry Service to Subscription Model by Spencer Soper at Bloomberg. “Amazon.com Inc. is shifting its Prime Pantry service, which focuses on non-perishable household goods like breakfast cereal, laundry detergent and shampoo, to a $5 per month membership model. Amazon will make the change gradually.” Read more

 

Humans of Amazon: Meet some of the people behind Seattle’s tech juggernaut by Matt Day at Seattle Times. Read more (Tiered subs.)

 

Bentonville Is a Mecca for Luxury-Home Buyers by Sarah Nassauer at Wall Street Journal. “Last year David Redfield, a senior vice president at Walmart, moved into a $700,000, three-bedroom condo near Bentonville’s center. Recently divorced and with two nearly grown children, downtown became “a place I want to be part of, not just read about,” said Mr. Redfield.” Read more/Pics (Subs.)

 

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Speaker Ryan’s Visit to Home Depot Store Support Center 26:41 video

 

Nordstrom acquires two tech startups to further boost its digital credibility by Kurt Schlosser at GeekWire. “Nordstrom announced Thursday that it has closed on deals to acquire the retail technology companies BevyUp — makers of a digital selling tool — and MessageYes— a platform for e-commerce through mobile messaging.” Read more | Press release

 

Dick’s gets traffic surge after taking stand on gun sales by Lisa Fickenscher at NY Post. “A second customer-traffic monitoring company showed the number of cars in the parking lots of Dick’s stores was up by a high single-digit percentage over a four-day period — from Feb. 28 to March 3.” Read more

 

Toys ‘R’ Us Is Prepping to Liquidate Its U.S. Operations at Bloomberg. “Hopes are fading that a buyer will emerge to keep some of the business operating, or that lenders will agree on terms of a debt restructuring, the people said.” Read more

 

Big grocery store to open in Amazon’s latest high-rise — and it’s not a Whole Foods at Nat Levy at GeekWire. “PCC, a Seattle-based organic grocer that competes with Whole Foods locally, will open a store in the base of the $570 million Rainier Square project.” Read more

 

Amazon files lawsuits over counterfeit Vera Bradley purses and Otterbox phone cases by Monica Nickelsburg at GeekWire. Read more

 

Dollar General Announces Paid Parental Leave and Adoption Assistance Benefit Press release

 

Walgreens shuffles financial leadership at CNBC. “Takeda Pharmaceuticals CFO James Kehoe will replace Walgreens’ George Fairweather, who has been in the role since 2015 and will become a senior advisor to CEO Stefano Pessina for business development and finance.” Read more

 

Wayfair Expands Housewares Offering Press release

 

American Eagle Outfitters tops same-store estimates via CNBC. “The company’s comparable sales rose 8 percent in the fourth quarter ended Feb. 3, beating analysts’ average estimate of a 7.34 percent rise.” Read more

 

Home Depot to pay $27.8M for hazmat, privacy violations by Teri Figueroa at San Diego Union-Tribune. “…for illegally tossing out hazardous material and private customer information without first rendering it unreadable, the District Attorney’s office said Thursday.” Read more

 

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