Hayneedle lays off 200 employees in Omaha, closes main office at 94th and Dodge at KETV ABC 7. “…leaving 100 people working in Omaha….The Hayneedle business and select functions are being integrated within Walmart.com…In May 2019, 59 Hayneedle employees were laid off at the office at 94th and West Dodge. Another 180 were let go from the customer care location in the Chalco Hills area southwest of Omaha.” Video/Read more

 

U.S. Signals Crackdown on Counterfeit Goods Sold Online by William Mauldin & Alex Leary at Wall Street Journal. “The DHS report, which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, says law enforcement will begin identifying cases immediately and “seek all available statutory authorities to pursue civil fines and other penalties against these entities.” It also calls for new laws “to explicitly permit the government to seek injunctive relief against third-party marketplaces and other intermediaries dealing in counterfeit merchandise.” WSJ subs.

 

Whole Foods shoppers report food shortages by Hayley Peterson at Business Insider. “Whole Foods said Wednesday that its supplier of private-label beans, grains, lentils, and rice unexpectedly closed, leading to shortages of those items nationwide. The Amazon-owned company also said it recently faced some weather-related issues that temporarily impacted the availability of lettuce from California.” Read more

 

Walmart seeking to reinvent role of merchants to be more efficient by Kim Souza at Talk Business. “It’s a very big job for the buyers and their team of five or six that they also manage,” (Rick) Lockton added. “Buyers still walk around with 20 more reports every day. This part of the business is still quite manual. It’s still old school. My team is working on five different issues that deal with functions of the buyer’s work.” Read more

 

Coach suddenly folds up ginormous Manhattan store by Steve Cuozzo at NY Post. “The 6,000 square-foot Coach emporium at 595 Madison Ave. had been at the prime corner for more than thirty years. Coach spokesperson Andrea Shaw Resnick said the closing “was always part of our planning when we opened our Coach House store at 685 Fifth Ave.” That was in 2016.” Read more

 

Timberland Struggles to Sell Its Classic Boot by Charity L. Scott at Wall Street Journal. “Sales of the iconic boot brand in the December quarter fell 4% from a year earlier, according to owner VF Corp. And executives warned that sales were expected to fall for the fiscal year that ends in March, instead of increase as they had previously promised.” WSJ subs.

 

23andMe just laid off 100 employees by Monica Chen at CNBC. “CEO Anne Wojcicki told CNBC she’s been “surprised” to see the market starting to turn…“This has been slow and painful for us,” she said…Wojcicki notes that privacy could be a factor.” Read more

 

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Ralph Lauren CEO says the closet of the future will likely have three distinct sections by Christopher Zara at Fast Company. “(CEO) Louvet said the wardrobe of a typical consumer will consist of three categories: rented clothes, pre-owned clothes, and new clothes…“Consumers today are not necessarily excited about owning, particularly the younger population,” Louvet said. “ Read more

 

36% of online shoppers more likely to make a purchase if the product was delivered by drone (25% less likely) at Fox Business. Read more

 

Walmart debuts gym memberships for ‘$9 a paycheck’ by Shawn M. Carter at Fox Business. “…which is about $234 a year based on 26 paychecks annually…Users can visit Walmart’s gym page to find access to 9,000 facilities in all 50 states.” Read more

 

Sonos CEO apologizes for confusion, will deliver bug fixes and security patches to legacy products “for as long as possible” by Chris Welch at The Verge. Read more

 

Tiffany’s $21M Win Over Costco On Thin Ice In 2nd Circ. Law 360 subs.

 

Instacart Launches New “Instacart Meals” Product For Grocers “…a new grocery meals product that powers easy ordering, delivery and pickup of made-to-order food…As a first step, Instacart has collaborated with Publix to introduce the product with a new digital deli counter including its popular Publix subs.” Press release

 

Kroger Shares Fresh Food Trends for 2020 and Launches Podcast Press release

 

How Costco and Sam’s Club compare in ecommerce by Jacquelyn Cooley at Digital Commerce 360. “Over 50% of dollars spent in the last year on Costco.com were in the Appliances, Electronics or Industrial & Home Improvement departments. These three departments only comprise 15% of Samsclub.com sales…Sam’s Club’s robust pick-up-in-store and home-delivery services allow the retailer to excel in fast-moving consumer goods. 38% of sales come from Grocery and Household Essentials…” Read more

 

Hanford’s first Smart & Final Extra! store set to open Press release

 

Kroger and Ocado to Operate High-Tech Customer Fulfillment Center in Frederick, Maryland “350,000-square-foot CFC…400 new jobs will be created with up to 100 more added later…located at 7106 Geoffrey Way in Frederick, MD…expected to become operational 24 months after the site breaks ground and will service several markets, including Washington D.C., Baltimore and Philadelphia.” Press release

 

‘No smoking gun’: Bezos hacking report leaves cybersecurity experts with doubts by Brian Fung at CNN. Read more

 

7-Eleven is 70,000 Stores Strong Press release

 

Target’s new swimwear campaign features model with rare skin condition by Samantha Kubota at NBC Today. “Target’s 2020 swim campaign features Jeyza Gary, who has a rare skin condition called Ichthyosis…Gary, despite having a genetic condition that makes her skin scaly, says she has always believed in self-love. “Obviously, I have limitations but I’m not the kind of person who highlights things I can’t do,” she said. “I just work around them.” Read more/Pics

 

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