CAME TOGETHER QUICK – Amazon Met Whole Foods Just Six Weeks Ago—But It’s No ‘Tinder Relationship’ by Todd Bishop at GeekWire. “It’s been a whirlwind courtship,” Mackey said. “Little over six weeks after we met on this blind date, we’re officially engaged, as of today. But like an old traditional marriage, where there are all kinds of rules and chaperones, we can’t consummate the marriage, until we’re actually officially hooked up. … This is not a Tinder relationship.” Read more | Meeting transcript

 

…Whole Foods CEO Hints at Launching Another Brand Under Amazon via Fortune. “Amazon plans to keep the natural grocer’s high standards, Whole Foods Chief Executive John Mackey said, adding, “They’re not stupid enough to go change that.” But Mackey, at the Friday town hall, said, “Over time, there could be other formats that evolve that—that might—wouldn’t be branded Whole Foods Market, potentially, wouldn’t be our standards.” Read more

 

Kevin Spacey, 50 Cent and NBA stars join Target for $170M investment in Casper by Anthony Noto at New York Business Journal. Read more

 

MENTOR – Gwyneth Paltrow Gets Advice From Walmart’s Marc Lore by Jack Neff at Ad Age. “Marc Lore [CEO of Walmart eCommerce U.S.] is a new mentor of mine. He’s obviously an e-commerce genius. He’s incredibly helpful to me. …I have a business coach. It takes a village, as they say.” Read more (tiered subs.)

 

One of the Amazon execs leading its cashierless ‘store of the future’ has left the company by Jason Del Rey at Recode. “Bali Raghavan, whose LinkedIn profile describes his last Amazon role as “Director — Just Walk Out Technology, Amazon Go,” has joined the heavily funded real estate startup Opendoor as its vice president of engineering.” Read more

 

Governor attends Costco chicken plant groundbreaking in Nebraska by Barbara Soderlin at Omaha World-Herald. “..it makes sense for Costco to have more control over its own supply, said Jonathan Luz, director of strategic planning and infrastructure development for Costco…“Our need is abnormally regular,” he said.” Read more

 

How Ulta CEO Mary Dillon Defines Beauty & Her Perfect Chicago Day by J.P.Anderson at Michigan Avenue. “If I weren’t a CEO: “I think I’d be in showbiz [laughs]. If there’s ever any opportunity to get up and do karaoke or lead people in a line dance or something, I’m the first person there.” Read Q&A

 

Southeastern Grocers CEO Exits “Anthony Hucker, the Company’s Chief Operating Officer, will assume the responsibilities of President and Chief Executive Officer on an interim basis following the resignation of Ian McLeod to take up another opportunity.” Press release

 

Harris Teeter makes its return to Charlotte’s Sedgefield neighborhood on Tuesday by Jennifer Thomas at Charlotte Business Journal. 16 pics/Read more

 

UPS Will Charge More for Holiday Season Deliveries by Phil Wahba at Fortune. “UPS on Monday announced a new 27 cent surcharge on all U.S. ground shipments to homes between Nov. 19 and Dec. 2…and again from December 17-23.” Read more

 

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Ontario pharmacists to be required to report errors by Sammy Hudes at Toronto Star. “The move comes after Andrew Sheldrick, 8, died last year of a toxic overdose of baclofen, a muscle relaxant drug, according to a coroner’s report.” Read more

 

BANKRUPT – Apparel chain Papaya Clothing files for bankruptcy by Matt Linder at Internet Retailer. “Among its assets are the retailer’s more than 80 store locations and its 75,000 square foot headquarters that is also home to its online fulfillment center.” Read more

 

Costco Inks $9M Deal To End Calif. Pharmacists’ OT Suit by Dave Simpson at Law 360. “Under the agreement outlined in Friday’s motion for preliminary settlement approval, Costco Wholesale Corp. will pay nearly $5,000 apiece to roughly 1,175 pharmacists and pharmacist managers with Costco tenure dating back to April 2010.” Read more (subs.)

 

Amazon Pay rolls out its first payments integration on Instagram by Taylor Soper at GeekWire. “When a user sees something they want to buy on Moda’s Instagram, they can now check out using their Amazon log-in info, removing the need to manually type in address and other payment information.” Read more

 

Mall Landlords Roll the Dice With Tech Investments by Esther Fung at Wall Street Journal. “Some of the investments aren’t faring so well. Macerich Co., one of the biggest U.S. mall owners, last quarter wrote off $10 million invested in a startup that purported to help online and European retailers expand their physical store presence in the U.S.” Read more (subs.)

 

RADIO STAR – Home Depot #1 national advertiser at radio for nine consecutive weeks at Inside Radio. “The top 10 for the week ending June 19 is also quite familiar: Home Depot at 1, iHeartRadio at 2, Lowe’s at 3, GEICO at 4, JC Penney at 5, AutoZone at 6, McDonald’s at 7, Macy’s at 8, O’Reilly Auto Parts at 9 and Staples at 10.” Read more

 

Fed. Circ. Clears Amazon Of Infringing Bar Code Reader IP by Matthew Bultman at Law 360. Read more (subs.)

 

Stitch Fix has hired a new CFO. An IPO probably comes next. by Jason Del Rey at Recode. “Paul Yee was most recently the global chief financial officer at People Against Dirty, the parent company of the household product brand Method. Before that, Yee served as the vice president of finance and investor relations at Peet’s Coffee; he has also worked at Gap and Old Navy.” Read more

 

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