Walmart sues government to pre-empt allegations it helped fuel opioid crisis at Fortune. “(Walmart) argues in the suit that the U.S. Justice Department and Drug Enforcement Administration is scapegoating the chain to divert attention from the agencies’ failures to effectively address the public-health crisis over opioids. Watchdog groups have “meticulously cataloged” the ways regulators have “failed to safeguard the public from improper diversion of prescription opioids,” Walmart’s lawyers said in the 54-page complaint.” Read more

 

American Express Sees Higher Consumer Retail Spending at Wall Street Journal. “Non-travel and entertainment spending—which made up about 70% of spending going into the pandemic—increased about 1% in the third quarter from a year earlier, Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Campbell said in an interview Friday. He said that climb was partly because of sizable online transactions growth.” WSJ subs.

 

Gap Inc. exiting malls, to shutter 350 stores by 2024 at ABC News. “That will result in 80% of its remaining Gap stores being in off-mall locations…it also plans to close 130 of its Banana Republic stores in North America in three years.” Read more

 

Walmart has a grand plan to help suppliers club together to buy green energy at CNBC. “We launched (Gigaton PPA) because of interest from the suppliers, and just listening to them say ‘oh, we wish that we could do more in renewables, this is hard for us, we don’t have the procurement team, we don’t know how to go about it,’” McLaughlin told CNBC.” Read more

 

Instacart, in partnership with Aldi, will support SNAP EBT for online groceries at TechCrunch. “The program will launch over the next few weeks, and will first arrive at ALDI’s over 60 Georgia stores before expanding to more than 570 stores across Illinois, California, Florida and Pennsylvania in the months ahead.” Read more

 

Tractor Supply Q3 comp sales +26.8% “…driven by comparable average transaction count and ticket growth of 14.3% and 12.5%, respectively.” Press release

 

Mattel Q3 net sales +10% Press release

 

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Walmart de Mexico Q3 revenue +6.7% at Yahoo. Read more

 

A UBS report says Dollar General pays workers the least among 25 major retailers at Business Insider. “Dollar General pays employees the least at $9.68 an hour on average, UBS said in a report…Dollar Tree and Dollar King follow closely behind at $10, and $10.11, respectively. By comparison, Walmart pays employees $13.08 an hour on average per UBS.” Read more

 

CVS CMO on the chain’s new media network, health care marketing trends and Halloween Ad Age subs.

 

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. appoints Mary-Farrell Tarbox and Ann-Marie Clendenin as Regional Vice Presidents for the Central and East regions respectively “Prior…Ms. Tarbox held multiple roles at Crate & Barrel Holdings, including as VP for Stores…Ms. Clendenin joins Bed Bath & Beyond after serving as US Retail President for Aritzia, prior to which she spent more than 8 years at the Kate Spade organization as VP for Global Omnichannel Operations.” Press release

 

Flipkart is acquiring a 7.8% stake in Aditya Birla Fashion as the Walmart-owned Indian e-commerce firm makes a further push into the apparel category in one of the world’s largest retail markets. TechCrunch

 

Dick’s Sporting Goods alum Jennifer Moreau joins Dollar General as VP of PR PR Week subs.

 

Chick-fil-A to start selling its sauces at Walmart, other national retailers at USA Today. Read more

 

Florida man used Kool-Aid packets to steal $1K in Walmart merch: cops at NY Post. “A not-sneaky-enough Florida thief was busted walking out of a Walmart with $1,000 in stolen merch — after pretending to ring it up at a self-checkout by repeatedly scanning a 24-cent Kool-Aid packet he’d palmed, local authorities said.” Read more

 

SANTA STIFFED – Macy’s said Santa Claus won’t be greeting kids at its flagship New York store this year at Fox 5 NY. “…the decision by Macy’s differs from big mall owners, which will still go ahead with in-person Santa visits by banning kids from sitting on his lap and making sure they stay six feet away from him…Macy’s will be offering a free online experience on its website…” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra

Elton John Barbie hits Walmart stores for the price of $50

Costco, Etsy and Nordstrom lead on ACSI e-commerce satisfaction survey

Meet the 24-year-old who’s tracking every broken McDonald’s ice-cream machine in the US

Reese’s created a robot door that dispenses peanut butter cups

Makro owner brings in Walmart executive to drive online in South Africa

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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