Home Depot Q1 Comp Sales +6.5% / US Comp +7.4% “Home Depot reported sales of $22.8 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2016, a 9.0 percent increase from the first quarter of fiscal 2015.” Read the release

 

BEATS STREET – Home Depot’s Q1 Earnings Top Expectations via Fox Business. “Net income rose to $1.80 billion, or $1.44 per share in the quarter…Analysts on average had expected earnings of $1.36 per share and revenue of $22.39 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.” Read more

 

TJX Q1 Comp Sales +7% “Net sales for the first quarter of Fiscal 2017 increased 10% to $7.5 billion and consolidated comparable store sales increased 7% over last year’s 5% increase. Net income for the first quarter was $508 million.” Read the release

 

ShopTalk BIG TALK – Ex-CEO Ron Johnson Says J.C. Penney Should Have Stuck With His Plan by Phil Wahba at Fortune. “I still think if we had continued on, the company would have been a lot better than this painful u-turn where they’re trying to find growth from a new baseline” (Ron) Johnson said.” Read more

 

Hudson’s Bay to open up to 20 new stores in the Netherlands via The Globe & Mail. “The company said it is in the process of finalizing long-term leases and expected to open the first locations in the summer of 2017 under the Hudson’s Bay and Saks Off 5th banners.” Read more

 

DE-LAY-OFF: MCX – big retail’s answer to Apple Pay – announces layoffs and yet another product delay by Noah Kulwin & Jason Del Rey at Recode. “MCX will postpone a nationwide rollout of its CurrentC application…As a result, MCX will need fewer resources. This change has resulted in staff reduction of approximately 30 employees.” Read more

 

**A message from Man Dip – Sour cream is for sissies – Eat like a man! Sour cream is something you slap on a baked potato – it is not a dip! Man Dip uses real cream cheese loaded with chunks of meat and peppers to create dips that are rich and savory with just the right amount of kick. Protein rich – Gluten free – Served hot. See the five new flavors | Rated a Top 5 New Product | Website | Retailers request a sample pack at info@eyeonretail.net

 

Pastor to drop lawsuit against Whole Foods over anti-gay slur on cake by Claudia Grisales & Phillip Jankowski at American-Statesman. “After receiving news that Brown was ending his lawsuit Monday, Whole Foods released a statement saying the company was ending its counter suit and that it was “very pleased that the truth has come to light.” Read more

 

Walmart Introduces Walmart Pay in Texas and Arkansas

 

…early customer reviews mixed by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “Checking out a small purchase at a Neighborhood Market and a Supercenter in Bentonville the cashiers in both cases did not know how it worked. We wanted to activate the gift card first, and pay the residual with the debit card, but when trying to scan the Walmart Pay code at the register the service would not connect.” Read more

 

Walmart Is Trying to Make Generic Drugs Cheaper via Fortune.” Read more | Press release

 

The Future Of Shopping Just Opened In This Tiny Midwestern Town by Jesse Hirsch & Alicia Kennedy at Good. “For real disruption, look no farther than Farmhouse Market, posted up in humble New Prague, Minnesota (population 7,800.)…You might picture something like this launching in San Francisco, with ample stock of KIND bars and goji berries. But this is rural Americana. Members are given keycards that allow them to shop 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Read more

 

Ex-Walmart CIO Joins Kimberly-Clark by Steven Norton at WSJ. “Suja Chandrasekaran, former global chief technology officer and chief data officer at Wal-Mart Stores, has joined Kimberly-Clark as chief information officer.” Read more (subscription)

 

Amazon Brings Free Food Delivery To Manhattan & Dallas by Leena Rao at Fortune. “Prime Now (members) will be able to get meals from over 350 Manhattan restaurants delivered to their doorsteps within an hour, the company said on Tuesday.” Read more | Manhattan list of restaurants | Dallas list of restaurants

 

Tyga is selling a $1,200 jacket at Saks, says people will buy it because it’s ‘art’ by Nicole Bitette at NY Daily News. “It’s like, ‘Yo, do you love me that much? Do you understand my art that much that you’re willing to pay?'” Read more

 

BIG VOICE – Amazon Wants Alexa to Take Control of Your Smart Home by Greg Bensinger at WSJ. “Voice is just so natural, it’s much quicker than typing,” said Howard Morgan, a partner at venture firm First Round Capital, whose investments include Uber Technologies Inc. and food-delivery startup BlueApron Inc. “We’re encouraging our portfolio companies to consider using Alexa; simply, it removes one barrier to getting people to use your service.” Read more (subscription)

 

**A message from The 2016 National Stationery Show – We’re open for business today and tomorrow! The ONLY stationery market in North America! May 15-18 at Javits Center. More than 800 exhibitors. Show categories | Website | Register now

 

A sneak peek at Warby Parker’s soon-to-open Brooklyn store by Teresa Novellino at New York Business Journal. See the pics / Read more

 

The Post Office Almost Delivered Your First E-Mail by Devin Leonard at Bloomberg. “There’s a reason few people remember E-COM. The Postal Rate Commission, which had to approve it, subjected Johnson’s proposal to a contentious 15-month review. “I spent 20 days on the witness stand,” Johnson says…” Read more

 

Safeway shopper slips in laundry determent; lawyers allege corporate cover-up; Portland jury awards $1.6 million by Aimee Green at The Oregonian. “Jurors said they were taken aback by discrepancies in the case presented by Safeway, and that the company didn’t appear to learn from Armstrong-Stevenson’s fall: It didn’t develop a coordinated spill-response policy to quickly cordon off and clean up spills…” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Woman wins lottery – decides to be Walmart greeter

Walmart truck driver wins $10 million lottery jackpot – decides to go to Hawaii

Target conducting food experiments in Boston, San Fran and Edina

Coca-Cola’s Dream – Have a Bottle the Consumer Can Eat

4.5 foot Copperhead snake bites person in Lowe’s store

Giant Eagle President/COO to Retire

Walmart.com Head Exits to Join Digital Agency

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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