Houston: Active shooter taken down by police via ABC 13. “Multiple people were injured and a shooting suspect was taken down by police after he opened fire at a strip center in southwest Houston…”We received a call at 6:29 that we had a shooting at the Petco store…the first units were directed to the parking lot where the shooting was still active,” HFD’s Jay Evans says.” Read more

 

Best Buy will highlight products by start-ups in section of store, website by Kavita Kumar at Star Tribune. “The initiative is reminiscent of Amazon’s move last year to create Launchpad, a dedicated space on its website to highlight products from start-ups. It also aims to streamline the process of getting loaded on its site. “We’ve been working with start-ups for years,” said Carly Charlson, a Best Buy spokeswoman. “We want to make it easier and faster for our customers to get their hands on the products.” Read more

 

Boy on scooter sets fire to Walmart merchandise and causes $1 million in damage by Veronica Rocha at LA Times. “With the flick of a lighter, a 12-year-old boy riding a push scooter set fire to the crafts section of a Barstow Walmart this week, causing at least $1 million worth of damage, police said. The boy rode off after setting fire to the merchandise around 2 p.m. Wednesday, police said.” Read more

 

Target.com chief departs company by Nick Halter at Minneapolis/St.Paul Business Journal. “CEO Brian Cornell said in a statement that (Jason) Goldberger’s duties will be split between Chief Information Officer Mike McNamara and Chief Merchandising Officer Mark Tritton. McNamara, a former Tesco executive, will take over Target.com. Tritton, who came by way of Nordstrom, will take over pricing and promotions.” Read more

 

Kohl’s to open smaller-format stores this fall by Melanie Lawder at Milwaukee Business Journal. “Here’s the list of the smaller-format Kohl’s locations slated to open later this month: Marshfield, WI..Marinette,WI…Aberdeen, SD…Bemidji, MN…Galesburg, IL…Greenfield, IN” Read more

 

HHGregg has a plan to fix its bland stores by James Briggs at Indy Star. “Retail executives aren’t supposed to say this…HHGregg CEO Robert Riesbeck is saying it anyway. He’s standing in the 96th Street store, looking across thousands of square feet of high-end appliances, when he offers a brief, yet brutal, evaluation of his company.” I would say we’re not unique in retail,” Riesbeck said…” Read more

 

Macy’s Shooter – ‘So creepy, rude and obnoxious that I kept a Taser by front door’ at Daily Mail. “Arcan Cetin, 20, an immigrant originally from Adana, Turkey, was arrested near his Oak Harbor home on Saturday after he allegedly killed five people in Macy’s Burlington’s Cascade Mall. He has been charged with five counts of murder.” Read more

 

Amazon parents from near and far visit Seattle to get wowed by where their kids work by Kurt Schlosser at GeekWire. “On Friday, with hallways, sidewalks and restaurants crowded with a recognizably older generation of folks, it looked like “Bring Your Parents to Work Day” at Amazon — and that’s exactly what it was. The first-time event at the tech giant welcomed some 5,000 parents from as nearby as Seattle and as far away as China and India.” Read more

 

Queens-based FreshDirect to expand one-hour grocery delivery service by Lisa Fickenscher at NY Post. “FreshDirect, the 14 year-old online grocer that has been growing its market share for years, is expected to ramp up its expansion plans — as well as rev up its one-hour delivery service, called FoodKick — with the help of a $189 million investment from JP Morgan Asset Management, and others, to announced on Monday.” Read more

 

J.D.Power: Home appliance shoppers who find brand & retailer websites less complicated to use than expected are nearly 3X as likely to visit a store location Press release

 

**A message from Alma Italy – Enjoy the innovative, yet simple elegance of Alma Cookware. Featuring La Sughiera – the thick-tempered glass lid with upper hole allows for spice-adding and stirring without removing the lid. Featuring Egizia – this warm color pottery connects modern technology with a traditional rural aesthetic. Made in Italy | Website | Italy-America new product search | Retailers request samples at info@eyeonretail.net

 

Jet Raided Local Pet Stores When Distributors Wouldn’t Play Fetch by Ruth Reader at Fast Company. “The Amazon competitor also looked into buying a physical pet store in order to foster a relationship with niche pet food distributors and manufacturers, one well-placed source claims. More often, Jet tried to get mom-and-pop pet shops to act as distributors for its big online marketplace, the source says.” Read more

 

Party City set for the year’s biggest holiday: Halloween by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC. “With the spooky holiday accounting for 25 percent of its business, Party City has opened 275 pop-up shops, hired 35,000 temporary employees and expanded the seasonal section in its permanent stores by an average of two aisles…some 40% of the season’s roughly $575 million in sales occurs in the last week, Harrison said.” Read more

 

Australia: Supermarket suppliers remain ‘under pressure’ as Woolies, Coles cull product range by Madeleine Heffernan at Sydney Morning Herald. “Coles is understood to have been reducing its range for years and is set to slash its range by as much as 15 per cent in coming years. Grocery wholesaler Metcash, which supplies almost 1700 supermarkets across Australia such as FoodWorks and Foodland, said it aimed to reduce the product range it offered to independent retailers.” Read more

 

Yeti: How a $67 Million Investment Became a $3.3 Billion Windfall by Matt Jarzemsky at Wall Street Journal. “If all goes as hoped, Cortec Group, with just 20 employees in Midtown Manhattan, could make a profit on paper of about $3.3 billion in the coming initial public offering of Yeti Holdings Inc., according to people familiar with the matter.” Read more (subscription)

 

MIT’s flea market specializes in rare, obscure electronics via Boston Herald. “Once a month in the summer, a small parking lot on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s campus transforms into a high-tech flea market known for its outlandish offerings. Tables overflow with antique radio equipment, some of it a century old. Visitors can buy a telescope that’s the size of a cannon. One man has hauled in a NASA space capsule he owns…” Read more

 

Amazon Building Huge New Wind Farm in Texas by David Z. Morris at Fortune. “Amazon has announced that it will develop its largest wind farm yet: a 100 turbine, 253 Megawatt facility in Texas. It is slated to open in late 2017.” Read more

 

Logo dispute between HealthPartners, Wal-Mart lands in court by Christopher Snowbeck at Star Tribune. “Both groups have logos that feature overlapping tilted squares. Earlier this month, HealthPartners asked a federal court to rule that its use of the symbol does not constitute unfair competition or a trademark infringement.” Read more

 

Canadian Tire is trying to stop consumers from comparing its products’ prices with those at Amazon by Marina Strauss at Globe & Mail. “HBC intends to double its sales of private and exclusive brands, he said. Along with private labels, the retailer collaborates with suppliers, designers and others to produce HBC-only items, he said. For instance, only Hudson’s Bay runs Topshop boutiques in Canada.” Read more

 

Lowe’s Donates $1 Million To The Smithsonian’s National Museum Of African American History And Culture Press release

 

Shelley and Doug McMillon give $50,000 in effort to end child abuse in Benton County by Nancy Peevy at The City Wire. “It’s dear to my heart because it touches so many children in Benton County. One out of 4 girls, and 1 out 6 boys are abused, probably by somebody they know” (Shelley) McMillon said.” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Claim: Walmart employees refuse to make ‘racist’ Blue Lives Matter police cake for police retirement party

Justin Timberlake Abandons Sexy, Premieres Trolls Soundtrack in Every Walmart in America

Kind-hearted Aldi staff give autistic boy best surprise ever for his birthday – and he absolutely loves it

Frank Blake outlines plan for hospital’s future

Amazon steps in to ‘fix’ Hillary book review

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