Hudson’s Bay Poaches Helena Foulkes From CVS by Phil Wahba at Fortune. “Foulkes, long seen as a potential CEO at CVS, will have her hands full at HBC. In its most recent quarter, HBC…reported comparable sales fell 3.2%…HBC is also in an uneasy truce with an activist investor who has pressured it to sell of its German business and even consider turning the Saks flagship in Manhattan into a hotel.” Read more

 

Coach owner Tapestry’s sales top Wall Street estimates at CNBC. “During the latest quarter, global same-store sales of the Coach brand rose 3 percent, while Kate Spade’s total same-store sales dropped 7 percent.” Read more

 

Walmart acquires virtual reality startup by Jason Del Rey at Recode. “Spatialand makes software tools that let creators transform existing content into immersive, virtual reality experiences…The startup’s founder, Kim Cooper, and about 10 employees, will join Walmart in the deal. Katie Finnegan, who has been overseeing the Store No. 8 incubator, will serve as interim CEO of the new virtual reality company.” Read more

 

QVC’s Plan to Survive Amazon and Escape the Cable TV Death Spiral by Gerry Smith at Bloomberg. “In the Kitchen With David” is one of QVC’s most popular shows, drawing on average more than 2 million viewers…He has sold almost 900,000 air fryers. Whenever Venable tastes a dish he really enjoys, he raises his hands and turns in a circle while saying “happy dance, happy dance” over and over. It’s his signature move.” Read more

 

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Kroger to sell its convenience stores to UK’s EG Group for $2.15 billion via CNBC. “Kroger said it plans to use proceeds from the sale to buy back shares and lower debt…Its supermarket fuel centers and Turkey Hill Dairy are not part of the sale.” Read more

 

Lululemon’s shocking CEO resignation due to lapse in code of conduct by Hollie Shaw at Financial Post. “The executive’s transgressions were not detailed by the company, but it was clear that the conduct breach was not related to the company’s operations.” Read more

 

Victoria’s Secret Boss Bets on a Radical Idea: Smartphones Will Fade by Khadeeja Safdar at Wall Street Journal. “People crave social interaction and will seek it at places like malls. “There are times when that gets interrupted, but people want to be with other people,” he says. “I’ve got 5,000 years of history on my side,” pointing to the ancient shopping bazaars in Rome and Istanbul.” Read more (subs.)

 

Former GameStop CEO J.Paul Raines will resign as a company director, effective immediately, “in order to focus on his health and family.” by Korri Kezar at Dallas Business Journal. Read more

 

Tesco fraud case collapses after defendant gets heart attack at Fox Business. Read more

 

Williams-Sonoma Appoints Ex-Macy’s Exec Yasir Anwar as Chief Technology Officer Press release

 

Retailers, NGO Create Standards for Artisans, Home-Based Workers by Ben DiPietro at Wall Street Journal “…retailers including Target Corp., Patagonia Inc., Eileen Fisher and West Elm, part of Williams-Sonoma Inc., teamed with nonprofit Nest–an organization focused on the development of the global craft industry–to draft more than 130 compliance standards for home-based workshops.” Read more (subs.)

 

A survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers finds 36% plan to grocery shop online this year, up from 22% in 2017 at Internet Retailer. Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Taylor Swift has spent $50M on a single NYC block

Customers, employees remember closed Target with candlelight vigil

Booker boss Wilson to run Tesco’s British business

Justin Timberlake backed out of using Prince hologram at the last minute

Dunkin’ Donuts shares slip on soft sales in U.S.

Amazon passes Samsung for 2nd place in worldwide tablet shipments, sees 50% growth in 2017

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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