Gymboree expected to file for bankruptcy, with plans to close all 900 of its stores at MarketWatch. “While Gymboree is expected to liquidate, the fate of Janie and Jack stores is still up in the air, one of the people said.” Read more

 

Kroger CEO Says Shoppers Wary About Future by Jordyn Holman & Anne Riley Moffat at Bloomberg. “It’s fascinating right now from a customer standpoint. They feel incredibly good about the economy but very nervous about where things are headed,’’ Kroger Co. CEO Rodney McMullen said in an onstage interview at the National Retail Federation’s annual trade show in New York City.” Tiered subs.

 

Kohl’s closing its Dallas customer service center in early March and expanding locations in San Antonio and Milwaukee at MarketWatch. Read more

 

How Hubert Joly aims to turn Best Buy into a ‘happiness’ company by Jackie Crosby at Minneapolis Star Tribune. “Here’s the scoop,” Joly said this fall, sitting at a conference table in his sixth-floor office. “We’re not in the business of selling TVs and computers. We’re a company that’s in the happiness business.”…His goal, he said, is to make Best Buy into a company “that’s purpose-driven and is fueled by human magic.” Tiered subs.

 

Target CEO Brian Cornell spoke at NRF’s Big Show today at 9:00 am ET Meeting agenda

 

Amazon Dash buttons judged to breach consumer rules in Germany by Natasha Lomas at TechCrunch. “It complains that Amazon’s terms allow the company to substitute a product of a higher price or even a different product in place of what the consumer originally selected for a Dash push purchase…The Munich court has now sided with the group’s view that Amazon does not provide sufficient information to Dash consumers, per Reuters.” Read more

 

Petco closing its “Drs. Foster and Smith” operations, eliminating 289 jobs at the online business by Rick Barrett at Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “Petco said the operations, with the exception of Live Aquaria, will shut down during a two-week period starting March 10. Petco said since it acquired Drs. Fosters and Smith in 2015, the pet supplies industry has changed at a rapid pace.” Read more

 

Trump Mocks Amazon Boss Jeff “Bozo,” Praises National Enquirer at Hollywood Reporter. Read more

 

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In the next several years, “the amount of returns is going to be over a trillion dollars a year” by Courtney Reagan at CNBC. “Many retailers end up throwing away over 25 percent of their returns,” Moore said. “Holistically, that ends up being over 5 billion pounds of goods that end up in landfills a year from returns.” He estimates over the next several years that could swell to 10 billion pounds of returns in landfills around the world.” Read more

 

Target plans RFP for strategic comms support by Thomas Moore at PR Week. Tiered subs.

 

CVS-Aetna Judge tells DOJ Attys to get on with it by Stephen Singer at Hartford Courant. “A federal judge has rejected the U.S. Justice Department’s argument citing the federal government shutdown as a reason to interrupt its review of the antitrust aspects of the $69 billion acquisition of Aetna Inc. by CVS Health Corp. U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon on Friday ordered the Department of Justice to file public comments and its response by Feb. 15.” Read more

 

A new $100 million investment values Postmates at $1.85 billion ahead of its IPO at Recode. “The investment includes participation from a new backer, the prominent public-market investor BlackRock, as well as Tiger Global and other current shareholders.” Read more

 

Lowe’s wants documents in ex-executive’s bias case sealed at WITN NBC. “Michael Jones was chief customer officer until 2016 for (Lowe’s). His federal lawsuit alleges he was unfairly pitted against a white executive in a succession plan to take over for Robert Niblock as CEO. Jones wants $12.5 million, as well as other financial damages for emotional harm.” Read more

 

Why retailers are fleeing Fifth Avenue by Nathaniel Meyersohn at CNN Business. “Nordstrom is opening a store on the city’s West Side, while Nieman Marcus is opening a store in Hudson Yards, a developing district in western Manhattan. Westfield Oculus and Brookfield Place, two shopping areas at or near the World Trade Center, are also becoming popular for brands.” Read more

 

Yeti jumps 10% after raising guidance at CNBC. “For the fourth quarter, Yeti said it projects net sales climbed 19 percent to $241.2 million. That’s above the $226.5 million analysts had projected.” Read more

 

Amazon nears deal to lease space in Chrysler Building by Steve Cuozzo at NY Post. Read more

 

Walgreens Tests Digital Cooler Doors With Cameras to Target You With Ads by Lara O’Reilly at Wall Street Journal. “This new technology could provide brick-and-mortar stores with a marketplace similar to online advertising. Ice cream brands could duke it out to get the most prominent placement when it is 97 degrees outside; an older man could see ads for different products than a younger woman.” WSJ subs.

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

NASCAR lets go of 50 employees in round of layoffs

Costco sells out of 26 lb. mac & cheese tub with 20-year shelf life

SpaceX cuts about 577 positions – mostly at its CA HQ

Metallica and Stone Brewing have thrashed out a beer collaboration

West Elm snaps up prestigious independent design brand

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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