US employers added 250K jobs in October, soaring past expectations of +190K at Fox Business. Read more

 

Shipping container data details what retailers are importing for Christmas by Lori Ann LaRocco at CNBC. “Kohl’s is betting on shopper demand for ladies’ cardigans, cable knit holiday stockings, cook pots and radio-controlled toys, the data show. Amazon ordered 50 containers full of Paw Patrol Ultimate toy fire trucks. Target shipped 32,000 Razor A2 Elite scooters, 24,375 Sunbeam microwave ovens and 30,798 18-quart turkey roasters.” Read more

 

Target will open its doors at 5 pm on Thanksgiving, one hour earlier than last year at A Bullseye View

 

Jeff Bezos says he’s choosing HQ2 location with his heart by Sarah Ashley O’Brien at CNN. “(Bezos) was interviewed by journalist and historian Walter Isaacson at an event Thursday…Bezos revealed that there are “somewhere around 10,000 or 12,000 people” who work on Alexa and Echo at the company. “It is technically one of the hardest things — not that just that we’ve ever done — that’s ever been done. It is … ASR — automatic speech recognition, that’s super hard.” Read more/Video

 

Walmart sues its former credit-card issuer, Synchrony Financial at MarketWatch. “The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Arkansas, alleges that some of Synchrony’s underwriting standards financially harmed Walmart. The merchant said it is seeking damages “in an amount to be proven at trial but estimated to be no less than $800 million.” Read more

 

…Synchrony response: “This lawsuit is nothing more than an attempt by Walmart to exert leverage and avoid the contractually defined process for valuing the loan portfolio that Synchrony has serviced…” Press release

 

Publix Q3 comp sales +0.6 Press release

 

“THE T.J. MAXX FOR KIDS” – Five Below becomes the Amazon-proof store by Suzanne Kapner at Wall Street Journal. “Online is great when you know what you want,” Five Below Chief Executive Joel Anderson said. “When you walk into one of our stores, you will discover things you didn’t know you wanted. It’s like a treasure hunt. We’re the T.J. Maxx for kids.” WSJ subs.

 

Deloitte Holiday Shopping Survey:

• 88% of survey respondents prefer free shipping over receiving their holiday packages faster.
• Of the 77% of shoppers who are concerned about retailers who experienced breaches, 91%  say they would continue to shop those same retailers.
• 67% of smartphone shoppers plan to use their phones to make a purchase, up from 59 percent last year.  Press release

 

Costco Will Pay Up To $200 For Hep A Shots In Berry Row by Emily Field at Law 360. Law 360 subs.

 

Walmart launches new AR scanning tool in its iPhone application which will help customers with product comparisons by Sarah Perez at TechCrunch. “The technology was first developed by a team at an internal Walmart hackathon using Apple’s ARKit technology.” Read more

 

**A message from X1 Ebike – Up to 37 miles on a single 4-hour charge. Folds into the size of a golf bag in 1 second. GPS tracking, VIN # & alarm for security. Video | Website | Contact

 

Amazon opening second 4-star store for top-rated items in Denver suburb by Nat Levy at GeekWire. “…in the Denver suburb of Lone Tree, Colo…in the Park Meadows shopping center.” Read more

 

Congressman asks Target to delay closing Chicago South Side stores by Manny Ramos at Chicago Sun Times. “This is unconscionable. It’s an outrage. It’s a really callous decision by the Target corporation to abandon this community,” Rush said. “It’s morally criminal for them to make this decision.” Read more

 

Kohl’s is sweetening its rewards program this holiday season at CNBC. “…including a pre-Black Friday event Thursday where shoppers can get $15 to use for every $50 spent. The same deal will run again from Nov. 19 to Nov. 23, according to Kohl’s, and again on Cyber Monday.” Read more

 

The Smartphone Market Is Now Officially in a Recession by David Meyer at Fortune. “IDC reported a 6% year-on-year decline in third-quarter shipments, down to 355.2 million units. Strategy Analytics put the total at 360 million units, down 8% from the 393.1 million units shipped the same quarter a year ago.” Read more

 

…Apple will stop sharing numbers of how many devices it’s selling at TechCrunch. Read more

 

Canada Goose Enters the Footwear Category With Acquisition of Baffin at Footwear News. “Baffin, which was established in 1979, is best known for its insulated cold-weather performance footwear. The Ontario, Canada-based company caters to several categories including hiking, hunting lifestyle and fishing.” Read more

 

Floor & Decor Q3 comp sales +11.1% Press release

 

CLV NUMBER – Wall Street Journal digs into customer lifetime value/CLV scores by Khadeeja Safdar at Wall Street Journal. “There needs to be a public conversation around the accuracy of the scores being used,” says Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum, a nonprofit digital-privacy research group. “You can essentially be accused of being cheap or a fraudster, and it may not even be true.” WSJ subs.

 

BJ’s Wholesale names Domino’s Pizza Chief People Officer to Board Press release

 

L.L. Bean looks north for boost at AP via Boston Herald. “…partnering with Jaytex Group to distribute L.L. Bean products to Canadian retailers like Sporting Life, Hudson’s Bay, Mountain Equipment Co-Op and SportChek…Jaytex also will open L.L. Bean-branded stores in Canada, starting with the first store in the Toronto area in 2019. The goal is to open 20 stores across Canada within 10 years.” Read more

 

Wayfair spent $196 to win over each new customer it added over the past year, shares crater at CNBC. “Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail: “When customers only spend $443 a year, this seems like a rather excessive, and completely unprofitable, acquisition cost,” he wrote in a research note Thursday.” Read more

 

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