Costco delays credit-card switch by Janet I. Tu at Seattle Times. “The original contract with Amex ends March 31 this year but “our plan is to extend that” by a few months until the Citigroup deal kicks in, said Richard Galanti…The timing of the transition is “fluid,” Galanti said. “It’s between Amex and Citi — negotiating and completing the agreements to do that transition.” Read more

 

Target takes gender-neutral approach with new kids home brand by Kavita Kumar at Star Tribune. “It was an aisle of pink, fairy princesses, ponies and flowers,” Julie Guggemos, Target’s senior vice president of design and product development said of Target’s current offerings for children’s bedrooms. “And for the boys it was rockets and dinosaurs. Well, you know what? Girls like rockets and basketball. And boys like ponies. “Who are we to say what a child’s individual expression is? We really wanted to develop a collection that would be universal.” Read more

 

USA TODAY RANKS SUPER BOWL COMMERCIALS – Amazon Echo #14 See the 63 spots ranked

 

Sears Ranks Below Goodwill Among Women Shoppers by Phil Wahba at Fortune. “According to a January survey of 3,917 American women by Prosper Analytics & Insights, Sears is the preferred apparel store of only 1% of female shoppers.” See the top 13 retailers ranked

 

First look at Amazon’s Treasure Truck: Getting a deal from Jeff Bezos’ ‘four-wheeled joy machine’ by Kevin Lisota at GeekWire. “The Treasure Truck itself felt like a carnival hawker, with colorful marquee-style signs, LED message boards and a display case for today’s treasure. Rotating at the top of the truck was a bright yellow sign saying “Hello Seattle”, along with some salmon spinning on a wheel in front of a bubble machine, of all things. The Treasure Truck even has its own name: Scout.” See the pics / Read more

 

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CHICAGOLAND – Jewel-Osco president: ‘We’re here to battle for the customer’ by Greg Trotter at Chicago Tribune. “We’re basic operators. We keep it pretty simple. We work hard every day at just running better stores. That may sound overly simple, but there’s a lot of work that goes into that.” Read the Q&A

 

JCP HQ Sale: “It’s going to be the most sought after development opportunity in North Texas this year” by Steve Brown at Dallas Morning News. Read more

 

Ingles Q1 Comp Sales (ex-gas) +2.3%  Read the release

 

Hasbro’s 4Q Revenue Rises 12.8% at Fox Business. “Hasbro reported its biggest jump in quarterly revenue in nearly five years, beating analysts’ estimates by a wide margin, driven by demand for toys based on the “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and “Jurassic World” movies.” Read more

 

Amazon Releases the Top 20 Most Romantic U.S. Cities  See the top 20 list

 

Google set to open Kirkland campus expansion with ‘human-sized nest’ and ‘hideaway caves’ by Taylor Soper at GeekWire. “The tech giant will officially open its Kirkland campus expansion…Tuesday…The land formerly housed a chemical mixing and packaging plant and Google completed two environmental cleanups to remove contamination at the property.” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Arizona mom says Barneys told her to breast-feed in bathroom

Man Dies After Running In Krispy Kreme Challenge

Politico: 100 biggest donors of 2016 election cycle

NY Post: Kendall and Kylie Jenner’s clothing line starts to catch on

Jessica Alba’s ecommerce firm Honest Co working on IPO

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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