Walmart temporarily closes over 600 stores as winter storms pound parts of US at Fox Business. “As of 8 a.m. Tuesday, approximately 628 Walmart and Sam’s Club stores from Oregon to Florida have temporarily closed while the company’s emergency operations center monitors the storms and “other potential disasters.” Read more

 

CVS Health Q4 revenue up nearly 4% Press release

 

…CVS posts strong Q4 numbers, but pandemic weighs on results at AP. “CVS is reporting surprisingly strong profit and revenue numbers for the fourth quarter, though the pandemic dragged adjusted operating income down by 21.8%.” Read more

 

Advance Auto Parts Q4 comp sales +4.7% Press release

 

Vaccine delays leave grocery workers feeling expendable at AP. “Apparently we are not front-line workers when it comes to getting the vaccine. That was kind of a shock,” said Dawn Hand, who works at a Kroger supermarket in Houston, where she said three of her co-workers were out with the virus last week. She watches others getting vaccinated at the in-store pharmacy without knowing when she’ll get her turn.” Read more

 

US Foods Q4 net sales down 11.5% Press release

 

Walmart’s Covid-19 Vaccine Rollout Heads to Small Towns at Wall Street Journal. “Ann Jackson and her husband, Norman Jackson, 73 and 76 years old respectively, arrived for their vaccine appointment midmorning after waiting for weeks to get an appointment at the local hospital, said Ms. Jackson. Later, she added chips, bananas and T-shirts to her cart. “You never want to waste the trip to Walmart,” she said.” WSJ subs.

 

Chewy plans to hire several hundred at new Seattle-area office at GeekWire. “The online pet retailer will open a corporate office in the Seattle region by the end of this year and plans to hire several hundred for technology, product and merchandising roles.” Read more

 

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Tractor Supply Has a New Target: Pet Parents at Adweek. “Tractor Supply Company…is expanding its animal services—more commonly for horses, cows and chickens—by offering online pet prescriptions as well as on-demand veterinary advice on its app for dogs and cats.” Adweek subs.

 

Bluetooth Overlay Skimmer That Blocks Chip at Krebs on Security. “I was interested to hear from a reader working security for a retail chain in the United States who recently found Bluetooth-enabled skimming devices placed over top of payment card terminals at several stores. Interestingly, these skimmers interfered with the terminal’s ability to read chip-based cards, forcing customers to swipe the stripe instead.” Read more/Pics

 

Running through a pandemic with Jim Weber, CEO of Brooks Running at Reuters. “We just said, ‘You know what? We’re going to burn the boats on everything else, and just focus on people who run.’ People always tell us, ‘You guys are leaving a lot on the table – why don’t you focus on lifestyle, or basketball, or anything else?’ We have no trouble saying, ‘Nope.’” Read more

 

ByteDance to walk away from TikTok-Oracle-Walmart deal at Computing. “China’s ByteDance is now looking to restructure its US operations, the (South China Morning Post) claims, citing ‘sources familiar with the matter’.” Read more

 

Shopify’s Secret Weapon Is Thousands of New Business Owners at Wall Street Journal. “Most of Shopify’s more than one million customers are first-time entrepreneurs, said Harley Finkelstein, president of the Ottawa-based company, which will report fourth-quarter results on Wednesday. “Imagine a future where everyone is an entrepreneur. We’re moving in that direction,” he said.” WSJ subs.

 

Tipsheet Extra

Q&A: Kroger diversity plan takes action

US Postal Service planning to slow down first-class mail: report

The plastic bag is doomed. Here are better alternatives backed by Walmart and Target

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Tesla charging cost magnified as Texas electricity auction system fuels price spike

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