Target urges employees to help turn around performance ahead of holidays by Nandita Bose at Reuters. “Competition has been fierce and we have had a few bumps on the road this year,” Cornell told thousands of store employees gathered at an annual meeting near its headquarters in Minneapolis. “We have 137 days to turn this into a winning year.” Read more

 

…”Jon Bon Jovi just opened up for me” John Mulligan, Target’s COO, quipped as he followed the rocker on stage by Kavita Kumar at Star Tribune. Read more

 

…Target Will Hammer Home A Low-Price Message to Shake Its Slump by Phil Wahba at Fortune. “Among other efforts, it is promoting low prices more prominently in its mid-week circular. And in November, it will start installing…end-caps at the extremities of its aisles, showcasing more inexpensive items with one price in very large characters to convey that Target offers “value.” Read more

 

FDA Warns Stores in Crackdown on E-Cigarette Sales to Minors by Katherine Doherty at Bloomberg. “Federal regulators began a crackdown on sales of e-cigarettes and other tobacco products to children under the age of 18, issuing warning letters to 55 retailers across the U.S.” Read more

 

Federal food stamp program to test online shopping for recipients by Greg Trotter at Chicago Tribune. “The test run, authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill, is intended to help the U.S. Department of Agriculture work out the kinks before making online purchasing a permanent option. To help accomplish this complex goal, USDA officials are expected to announce a request for online grocery retailers to participate in the program. Up to five retailers in as many as three states will be chosen; the program is expected to begin next summer.” Read more

 

NY Times: Department Stores Find Room to Grow in Canada by Ian Austen & Rachel Abrams. Read more

 

Lowe’s: Woolies hid ‘get out’ game plan by Ben Wilmot at The Australian. “Lowe’s revealed in court that a document, known as “The Game Plan”, had been developed by the Australian retailer with the aid of high-profile insolvency adviser Mark Korda of KordaMentha, and Woolworths’ investment banking advisers at Citi.” Read more

 

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Prime Now Adds its First Beauty Store to the Service in Chicago “Prime members in Chicago can now shop all their favorite Merz Apothecary items such as personal care, beauty and natural health products and have those items conveniently delivered right to their door in as little as an hour.” Press release

 

Aeropostale snags rent deal and saves more stores by Lisa Fickenscher at NY Post. “…late Thursday an undisclosed number of mall operators agreed to cut the rents for another 171 stores.” Read more

 

Newly Renovated, Bergdorf Goodman Courts The Ladies Who Instagram by Ainsley O’Connell at Fast Company. “To visit the remodeled ground floor of the Fifth Avenue department store Bergdorf Goodman is to float on a pearly cloud of luxury dreams. An ordered landscape of designer handbags rises up from the gray marble floors, backlit and aglow…” See the pics / Read more

 

Target and Garth Brooks Team Up to Release “Garth Brooks: The Ultimate Collection” on Nov. 11th Press release

 

NPD: Amazon Echo owners spend 10% more on Amazon than before by Darrell Etherington at Techcrunch. “…there was also a 6 percent bump in the overall number of purchases made by Echo owners on Amazon.com when compared to their pre-Echo existence.” Read more

 

Jeff Bezos gets spaceflight award and a sword – then gives away $250K by Alan Boyle at GeekWire. “Unlike Musk, Bezos doesn’t want to move to Mars … at least in the near term. “Think about it: no whiskey, no bacon, no oceans, no hiking, no urban centers. Eventually Mars might be amazing. But that’s a long way in the future.” Read more

 

Unilever said to be the early frontrunner to acquire The Honest Company at Techcrunch. Read more

 

Sneak peek: Eddie Bauer’s flagship store in Bellevue has one very cool feature by Coral Garnick at Puget Sound Business Journal. “Store founder Eddie Bauer and his team often would sleep in the cold storage unit overnight to test parkas and sleeping bags. Beginning Sept. 18, shoppers will be able to step inside an 8-foot-wide by 8-foot-tall “Ice Box,” to see how gear holds up in sub-zero temperatures.” See the pics / Read more

 

The U.S. e-commerce market rolls strongly into Q3 by Stefany Zaroban at Internet Retailer. “Nonstore sales grew 10.9% in August, according to figures released today by the U.S. Commerce Department. That’s a deceleration from July and Q2, but still strong compared with norms of the prior several quarters.” Read more

 

Coke marketing exec slams Olympic sponsorship by Natalie Mortimer at The Drum. “The model just does not function partly because whether you are hosting the games or not, competitively the easiest job in the world is to be the Pepsi marketing director,” he said.” Read more

 

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