Walmart-owned Flipkart in talks to buy Indian grocery chain Namdhari’s Fresh: report at Reuters. “Namdhari’s operates over 30 stores in the southern city of Bengaluru, and the acquisition will help Flipkart expand its food and grocery segment…” Read more

 

CVS Health crushes first-quarter expectations, raises full-year forecast at CNBC. “CVS’ retail business also performed better than the Street expected, with same-store sales increasing 3.8%. CVS attributed higher sales in the front of the store to focusing more on health products.” Read more

 

…CVS won’t work with ad or pr agencies who work with tobacco and e-cigarette companies Press release

 

U.S. private employers added 275,000 jobs in April, well above economists’ expectations and the most since last July at Reuters. Read more

 

Home Depot CFO Carol Tomé to retire at the end of August at CNBC. “She will be succeeded by Richard McPhail, the current senior vice president of finance control and administration. Tomé has been at the company for 24 years and McPhail joined in 2005.” Read more

 

Blue Apron Q1 net revenue -28% Press release

 

Lululemon to open flagship store in Chicago, offering food, drinks, yoga classes, a meditation room by Ryan Ori at Chicago Tribune. “…and, yes, workout apparel for sale — when it opens in the Lincoln Park area in July. The 20,000-square-foot “experiential store” will become Lululemon’s prototype for big stores offering an array of yoga classes and other activities.” Tiered subs.

 

Carter’s Q1 U.S. retail comp sales -3.7% Press release

 

**A message from Real Coconut Water: Brazilian coconuts = Sweeter taste. 100% pure coconut water. PL or branded organic in Tetra Pak. Sell sheet | Website | Samples: info@eyeonretail.net

 

Post Office boss ponders cutting mail delivery to five days while expanding package delivery to seven by Paul Ziobro at Wall Street Journal. “Did you tell the board that dog won’t hunt?” Rep. Mark Meadows (R., N.C.) asked Ms. Brennan during a tense exchange…Rep. Brenda Lawrence (D., Mich.) added: “I will never support reducing delivery days.” WSJ subs.

 

Lumber Liquidators Q1 comp sales -0.8% Press release

 

Amazon opens online truck brokerage by Jeff Della Rosa at Talk Business. “Amazon’s digital freight brokerage platform at freight.amazon.com was undercutting market prices from 26% to 33%, and its announcement to offer free one-day shipping for Prime members is expected to increase consumer expectations and the cost to compete in e-commerce, according to a recent FreightWaves article.” Read more

 

Big 5 Sporting Goods Q1 comp sales +4.6% Press release

 

Kohl’s won over moms. Now it’s going after Millennials by Nathaniel Meyersohn at CNN Business. “CNN Business got an exclusive visit to the first outfit bar in Havertown, Pennsylvania, a suburb outside Philadelphia, the day it opened in late April. In the 600-square-foot section, Kohl’s pulls together a curated mix of its national brands like Levi, Nike and Champion, as well as a few of its in-house clothing lines.” Read more

 

Loblaw Q1 food retail comp sales +2.0% / drugstore comp sales +2.2% (pharm +1.2%, FE +3.1%) via Financial Post. Read more

 

Walmart CFO Brett Biggs Q&A at Wall Street Journal. WSJ subs.

 

E-Retail Hacks More Lucrative Than Ever at Krebs on Security. “Traditionally, the average price for card data nabbed from online retailers…has ranged somewhere between $2 and $8 per account…card data swiped from compromised retail stores…has long hovered around $15-$20 per card…(now) prices for both CVVs and dumps (are) roughly in line with each other.” Read more

 

Amazon is doubling its Denver workforce with plans to hire 400 tech workers by Monica Nickelsburg. Read more

 

Walmart to feature “shoppable” advertisements by Sarah Perez at TechCrunch. “Walmart will debut several new shows for its streaming service Vudu that feature “shoppable” advertisements. That is, instead of just seeing an ad for a product that Walmart carries, customers will be able to buy the products seen in the shows, too.” Read more

 

FDA Authorizes Sale of IQOS Tobacco Heating System in the U.S. Press release

 

Prime members in 88 metros can now receive delivery in as little as an hour from Whole Foods Press release

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Maine becomes 1st state to ban single-use foam containers

Reusable straw company spending millions to fight off China copycats

Police search for machete-wielding Costco shopper

Amazon is rebranding Souq, the Middle Eastern retailer it bought in 2017

Walmart opens first transportation hub not connected to a DC

Amazon names top 10 states with fastest growing small/med sized businesses

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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