Holiday sales fell at Best Buy, shaped by slower demand for smartphones by Kavita Kumar at Star Tribune. “Best Buy’s holiday sales fell 1.4 percent compared to a year earlier…”There was not a newness factor in the iPhone,” Joly told reporters on a conference call this morning. “The iPhone 6s was merely an incremental change from the iPhone 6.” Read more  Read the company release

 

Ontario Superior Court rejects Target Canada’s recovery plan by Marina Strauss at Globe & Mail. “Now, Target Canada, which filed for court protection from its creditors almost exactly a year ago – on Jan. 15, 2015 – will almost certainly have to draw up a new plan in the case, which has squeezed a wide swath of suppliers, landlords and other businesses.” Read more

 

New Tiffany Ad Campaign Takes Indirect Aim at Costco by Phil Wahba at Fortune. “It’s the kind of thing you’d expect to start seeing around Valentine’s Day, when bridal season starts to ramp up. But in this case, the messaging has a backstory. The rings are at the heart of a long and nasty court battle between Tiffany and Costco Wholesale.” Read more

 

Target Partners With NY Museum In Design Competition For Students at CBS Minnesota. “The national competition is being launched in partnership with Target. The retailer will manufacture seven limited-edition chairs. Five will be installed in the recently redesigned Arthur Ross Terrace and Garden of the New York City museum. The winner will be awarded two chairs.” Read more

 

Sports Direct boosts stake in Dick’s Sporting Goods by Ashley Armstrong at The Telegraph. “The Mike Ashley-owned retailer has boosted its stake to…2.34pc of Dick’s Sporting Goods…Commenting on this latest activity, the retailer said: “The main rationale for these stakes is to allow Sports Direct to hopefully build a relationship and develop commercial partnerships with the relevant parties. Read more

 

Menards extends its sponsorship agreement with Richard Childress Racing Nascar team by James Emmett at SportsPro. Read more

 

Kohl’s Replaces JC Penney as Oscars Sponsor by Adrianne Pasquarelli at Ad Age. “After 14 years of sponsoring the event, JC Penney will be bowing out this year, a spokeswoman confirmed.” Read more

 

**A message from ASD Market Week – 45,000+ people don’t want you to read this. Who are they? Retail buyers that have discovered ASD Market Week — the largest wholesale trade show in the United States. Shop in categories including: fashion & accessories, beauty & fragrance, gift & home, toys & novelties and many more. See the product & buyer categories. See the show layout video. Read ASD’s Insider blog. February 28 – March 2, 2016 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

 

Money 20/20 Creators Launching Shoptalk to Convene Retail Community by Arthur Zaczkiewicz at WWD. “The confirmed speakers include…Jet.com ceo Marc Lore; Kohl’s executive vice president of digital technology and innovation Ratnakar Lavu; Macy’s senior vice president of strategy and innovation Michael Tobin, and John Koryl, Neiman Marcus group president of stores and online…Target Corp.’s chief strategy officer Casey Carl…among many others.” Read more  Download the Shoptalk brochure

 

The true cost to Amazon of the ‘Amazon Tax’ by Sarah Halzack at Washington Post. “When the so-called Amazon Tax was put in place, shoppers spent 8.3 percent less on products on Amazon after the tax went into effect….In other words, shoppers were shelling out the same amount overall on purchases on Amazon, but because a share of that tab was now going to taxes, the shopper was getting less product for their spending and Amazon was pulling in less revenue from that transaction.” Read more

 

Las Vegas Strip Gets Another CVS at CBS Las Vegas. “CVS now has four locations in the area and Walgreens has five stores, with a new location opening just last year.” Read more

 

Boston Globe expose on elite 15-member business group in Boston with a $100,000 annual membership fee, BJ’s Laura Sen was member until she left in mid-2015 by Jon Chesto at Boston Globe. Read more

 

Publix CEO Announces Retirement Plans “Upon (Ed) Crenshaw’s retirement, President Todd Jones will become President and CEO.” Read the release

 

Holiday Report: Nearly one-third of shoppers purchased products online and then picked up at the store by Courtney Reagan at CNBC. “69 percent of shoppers who used click and collect this holiday season purchased additional items while picking up in store. Its survey, which polled 1,014 consumers from Dec. 28 to Dec. 30, also found 36 percent of shoppers using those types of services made another purchase in an adjacent store at the time of pick up.” Read more

 

Infamous site of 19 Salem Witch Trial hangings is now a Walgreens by Kelly McLaughlin at Daily Mail. “‘I found it odd, since the town embraces their history, that there were no markers there. None … just a Walgreens on the corner,’ she added.” Read more

 

Some Sears, Kmart stores to close in cost cutting via CNBC. Read more

 

J.C. Penney closing 7 stores by Maria Halkias at Dallas Morning News. Read more

 

Amazon Opens Pickup Location at UC Berkeley “This 3,500 square foot space is the first Amazon pickup location on a university campus to feature an interactive Amazon device experience where students can watch movies, play games, read books, listen to music, and more on Kindle e-readers, Fire tablets, and Fire TV devices.” Read the release

 

As diseases proliferate, mosquitoes becoming Public Enemy No. 1 by Liz Szabo at USA Today. “Diseases spread by insects “are the next big threat to the Western Hemisphere, including the U.S.,” said Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.” Read more

 

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