Kroger ends its unmanned-vehicle grocery delivery pilot program in Arizona by Russ Wiles at Arizona Republic via USA Today. “The companies now will start the next phase of the program — an autonomous-vehicle delivery service at two Kroger stores in Houston that will reach customers in four ZIP codes there.” Read more

 

Lumber Liquidators Q4 comp sales +0.4% Press release

 

Former Sears CEO says he tried to forge a deal with Home Depot & Best Buy by Suzanne Kapner at Wall Street Journal. “Arthur Martinez: ‘Best Buy’s expectations were so high that there was no favorable return on our investment. I think the stock was at $7 and founder Dick Schulze wanted in the high $20s. With Home Depot, the antitrust analysis indicated that there was competitive overlap and that federal regulators would demand the divestment of a significant number of stores, most of them Home Depot stores. Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank could not countenance that as the founders. Every store is their baby.'” WSJ subs.

 

Overstock Q4 revenue -1.0% Press release

 

Amazon’s new Virginia headquarters get $23M in county incentives, despite protests via USA Today. Read more

 

Despite vote to strike, King Soopers is ready to keep negotiating with its employees by Eric Lupher at ABC 7 Denver. “The existing contract between the two sides ran out in January. King Soopers/City Market operates 152 stores. All but four are in Colorado.” Read more

 

San Diego’s second miniature Target is now open for business by Jennifer Van Grove at San Diego Union-Tribune. “The venue also features a CVS Pharmacy, as well as ChargeItSpot kiosks for guests who need to power up their mobile devices (at no cost) while visiting.” Tiered subs.

 

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Jeff Bezos’ invite-only MARS conference gears up by Alan Boyle at GeekWire. “We know that “Star Wars” star Mark Hamill is at MARS because he shows up in the background of a selfie tweeted out by gravitational-wave researcher Chiara Mingarelli.” Pics/Read more

 

41% of millennials say a damaged phone screen is worse than seeing their “check engine” light flash on in the car at Study Finds. “…about 3 out of 5 millennials (58%) feel life is more stressful right now than ever before.” Read more

 

Starbucks celebrates its 30,000th store Press release

 

Walmart installs five more online pickup vending machines in Houston area by Paul Takahashi at Houston Chronicle. “The new pickup towers join more than 145 others in Walmart locations across Texas.” Tiered subs.

 

Amazon Tests Pop-Up Feature Touting Its Lower-Priced Products by Jay Greene at Wall Street Journal. “The recent experiment, conducted in Amazon’s mobile app, went a step further than the display ads that commonly appear within search results and product pages. This test pushed pop-up windows that took over much of a product page, forcing customers to either click through to the lower-cost Amazon products or dismiss them before continuing to shop.” WSJ subs.

 

Author of ‘The Everything Store’ planning new book on Amazon and Jeff Bezos by Monica Nickelsburg at GeekWire. “Simon & Schuster plans to publish Brad Stone’s book in 2021.” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Gun shop sold rifles online to accused New Zealand shooter

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85% of suppliers have not completed the supply chain digitization process

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New Target to replace Toys ‘R’ Us in Brooklyn

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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