Walmart confirms plans to add hundreds of tech jobs this year by Kim Souza at Talk Business. “There are roughly 2,000 more jobs to be added to its nine tech centers located across the globe this next fiscal year, according to Jenn Ericksen, a corporate spokeswoman with Walmart Labs…Walmart will hold its year-beginning meeting in Houston next week with employees from around the country.” Read more

 

Study Reveals Shopping Behavior Convergence Between Men and Women by Arthur Zaczkiewicz at WWD. “Male survey participants felt that 41% of their purchases were being made online (vs. 38% LY)…“Women respondents reported making only 40% of their purchases online this year (vs. 46% LY)…“It’s also noteworthy that men are more likely than women to be frequent Amazon shoppers [53% vs. 45%]” Tiered subs.

 

Retailers are wasting their time on tech that looks exciting but isn’t useful by Sarah Halzack at Bloomberg via LA Times. “Innovation that isn’t actually an improvement is quite common in retail…Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc., for instance, is touting a test of digital cooler doors that can serve targeted ads. Great, just what every shopper has always wanted…” Tiered subs.

 

The nicest Sears you’ve ever seen isn’t owned by Sears by Andrea Navarro & Jonathan Roeder at Bloomberg via Seattle Times. “Have you time traveled back to the 1980s? Nope: You’re in Mexico…Mexican Sears, controlled by billionaire Carlos Slim, is completely unrelated to the U.S. company…currently operates nearly 100 Sears stores across Mexico.” Tiered subs.

 

Caribou Coffee Names Longtime Target Executive John Butcher as CEO by Nick Brown at Daily Coffee News. Read more

 

Buc-ee’s opens first store outside the state of Texas by John Sharp at AL.com. “The Alabama Buc-ee’s is believed to be the largest travel station in the state at 52,235-square-feet or more than 21 times the size of the average convenience store. It features an eye-popping 120 fuel pumps.” Read more

 

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Amazon.com starts direct sales of merchandise in Brazil after delays at Reuters. “Amazon, which some rivals had expected to kick off direct sales of items beyond books as soon as the Christmas selling season, said it will directly sell 11 categories of merchandise from over 800 suppliers from L’Oreal to Black & Decker as of Tuesday.” Read more

 

‘Fill or kill’: the three weeks that saved Sears at Reuters. Read more

 

Four on trial in Paris over horsemeat scandal at France 24. “Supermarkets across Europe pulled millions of suspect food products like frozen lasagne and meatballs from their shelves in 2013 in a scandal that deepened wariness about the meat industry and food safety on the continent.” Read more

 

Dollarama opens its online store in Canada – allows customers to buy products in bulk at CTV News. Read more

 

Amazon Go, One Year Old, Has Attracted a Host of Cashierless Imitators by Matt Day & Spencer Soper at Bloomberg. “Venture capital firms backed U.S. companies working on store automation with $111 million in 2018, a record in Pitchbook data going back to 2003. About half of that sum went to Standard Cognition.” Tiered subs.

 

Billion-dollar sneaker startup Allbirds to open store number four by Taylor Soper at GeekWire. “Allbirds logos and an “opening soon” tagline adorn the outside of a space previously occupied by Starbucks-owned Teavana…the San Francisco-based startup and maker of simple wool shoes is now valued at $1.4 billion after a recent $50 million Series C investment.” Read more

 

Dick’s Sporting Goods CEO Ed Stack on leadership and service at NRF. Podcast

 

Postmates’ quest to design a delivery robot that people don’t hate by Mark Wilson at Fast Company. “It’s funny, we took inspiration from a variety of regions, and what kind of carrier devices humanity used in the past–like carts in Africa and the Middle East, or saddle bags” says Amit. “And so some of the prototypes looked more like a Tonka truck. One was even something like a llama.” Read more

 

Japan’s 7-Eleven bans pornographic magazines in run-up to Olympics by Justin McCurry at The Guardian. Read more

 

Shares of eBay surge as Elliott Management reveals $1.4 billion stake, recommends portfolio review at CNBC. “Elliott’s stake, which represents more than 4 percent of eBay’s shares, comes with an extensive letter of recommendations for the company’s future. The fund’s “Enhance eBay Plan” suggests the company spin off StubHub as well was eBay’s “portfolio of Classifies properties.” Read more

 

eBay Frowns on Orders Wrapped in Amazon Boxes by Ina Steiner at eCommerce Bytes. “For a decade or more, eBay tolerated a selling practice known as “Amazon drop-shipping” that left some buyers confused or upset when their orders arrived in Amazon boxes…But with no advance warning, eBay is now prohibiting the controversial practice, and it has yet to notify sellers.” Read more

 

Ozzy Osbourne Commemorates Bat-Biting Anniversary With Detachable Head Toy by Daniel Kreps at Rolling Stone. “Despite the web exclusive plush doll’s $40 price, the first batch of toys have already sold out; fans can preorder the Ozzy Osbourne Plush Bat now at the singer’s webstore.” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

CVS to open health-focused concept stores in February

Starbucks expands delivery services to 6 more cities

Laser appears pointed in Tom Brady’s face during AFC title game

EU fines Mastercard 570 million euros over cross-border barriers

Thief robs kids of nearly $1,200 in Girl Scout cookie money at mall

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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