True Value Weighs Sale, Could Fetch About $800 Million by Kiel Porter at Bloomberg. “The company is working with an investment bank to examine strategic options, including a sale, said the people, who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly. The process is expected to attract private equity firms, the people said. No final decision has been made and the company may elect not to pursue a sale.” Read more

 

Amazon wins India’s approval to invest in domestic food retail at Reuters. “Amazon.com Inc has secured approval to stock and sell food and groceries in India, potentially expanding its business in the fast-growing economy where it is in a pitched battle with home-grown rival Flipkart.” Read more

 

J.C. Penney’s CFO Ed Record is leaving the company next month by Korri Kezar at Dallas Business Journal. Read more

 

Best Buy lost $1 billion in value on the news of Amazon’s Geek Squad competitor by Jason Del Rey at Recode. “Amazon’s rival services are already live in seven West Coast cities and Amazon job listings are signaling a wider rollout across the country to cities like Las Vegas, Dallas and Miami.” Read more

 

…Best Buy introduces ‘smart home’ service aimed at caretakers’ needs by Jackie Crosby at Star Tribune. “Best Buy launched a pilot of the Assured Living service in January after hearing from 30- to 50-year-old customers who were juggling caregiving duties with busy jobs and families. The retailer worked out the kinks with about two dozen employees and their families.” Read more

 

Couche-Tard buying U.S. convenience store Holiday; deal includes over 500 locations via Montreal Gazette. “Couche-Tard CEO Brian Hannasch says the deal will give the convenience-store operator a particularly strong position in the Greater Twin Cities.” Read more

 

JCPenney To Revamp Loyalty Program, Make It Easier To Earn Rewards by Ashlee Kieler at Consumerist. “Under the new loyalty system, shoppers can now earn more than $10 in rewards each month, and those rewards will be valid for 60 days, the company says. Previously, shoppers were only able to earn $10 rewards once a month.” Read more

 

BOSTON: Amazon confirms new Boston office, plans to hire 900 by Catherine Carlock & Kelly J’ O’Brien at Boston Business Journal. “The new office is expected to open in the spring of 2018, but Amazon plans to continue its hiring spree in the area until then. There are currently 327 open positions posted on its website for the Cambridge-Boston area.” Read more

 

…CHICAGO: Amazon will double its corporate office presence in Chicago to accommodate 400 employees at 227 W. Monroe in the city’s Loop business district by Lewis Lazare at Chicago Business Journal. Read more

 

SAN DIEGO: 2,000 shoppers converge on Grocery Outlet at new Imperial Beach center by Allison Sampite-Montecalvo at San Diego Union-Tribune. “We were hoping for a Sprouts or Trader Joe’s but it seems like a happy medium,” she said. “They have a great organic produce section.” Read more

 

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Abercrombie calls off sale, shares dive 20 percent at NY Post. Read more

 

More than 800 breweries will soon begin printing seals on their beers that identify them as “Certified Independent Craft.” by Caitlin Dewey at Washington Post via Denver Post. “To qualify to use the seal, breweries cannot be more than 25 percent owned or controlled by any alcohol company that’s not itself a craft brewer. Its annual production also can’t exceed six million barrels.” Read more

 

The $3 Toothpaste Club? Startup to Test the Power of Brands by Sharon Terlep at Wall Street Journal. “It’s an inefficient process,” Brandless co-founder Ido Leffler said of the traditional system of packaged-goods companies selling their products through brick-and-mortar retailers. “We are re-appropriating those dollars back to the consumers.” Read more (subs.)

 

Vintage Capital offers to buy Rent-A-Center for $15 a share at Reuters via CNBC. Read more

 

CMU is making progress with exoskeleton technology by David Templeton at Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Carnegie Mellon University’s latest study shows that a computer-controlled system it developed — essentially an ankle brace with a motor that helps flex the ankle to push off the ground more easily during walking — brings notable energy savings for those with normal walking ability…Energy savings of 14 percent were realized when compared with the energy expenditure of walking naturally.” Read more

 

Ex-Advance Auto Parts SVP named Barnes & Noble VP of Stores Press release

 

E-Commerce as a Jobs Engine? One Economist’s Unorthodox View by Andrew Ross Sorkin at NY Times via CNBC. “Amazon publicly says it has 12,000 employees in Kentucky, but the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports only 2,640 workers in Kentucky in the e-commerce category. “By contrast, the general warehouse industry,” Mr. Mandel writes, “had more than 23,000 workers in Kentucky.” Read more

 

eBay’s VP of global communications exits by Diana Bradley at PR Week. Read more

 

These teens made $350,000 in 6 months helping fidget spinners go viral by Ali Montag at CNBC. “If we got the injection molding during that time all of those [sales] would have been ours,” Weiss says.” Read more

 

Coach Successfully Completes Tender Offer to Acquire Kate Spade & Company Press release

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

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Bethany Hamilton, tiger shark attack survivor, draws crowd at Costco

Lululemon is suing Under Armour over a sports bra design

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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