A tech goof might have just leaked the date for Amazon Prime Day at CNBC. “This year’s Amazon Prime Day is reportedly scheduled to start around midday July 16 and continue through the following day. The information was accidentally published on a banner of Amazon’s U.K. website this week, according to TechRadar.” Read more

 

Kroger Q1 Supermarket Comp Sales Without Fuel +1.4% “When calculating identical sales to (include) Kroger Specialty Pharmacy and ship-to-home solutions – Kroger’s identical sales, without fuel, were 1.9% in the first quarter. The company intends to use this calculation going forward.” Press release

 

…Kroger tightens 2018 profit forecast, shares soar at Fox Business. “Kroger raised the lower end of its adjusted profit forecast to a range of $2 to $2.15 per share from $1.95 to $2.15 per share estimated previously.” Read more

 

How Amazon Became One of Washington’s Most Powerful Players by Brody Mullins, Laura Stevens and John D. McKinnon at Wall Street Journal. “Amazon now has an army of nearly 100 lobbyists at more than a dozen lobbying firms working on a list of issues including taxes, trade, government procurement, internet policy, drone regulation, grocery rules, music licensing and, more recently, food stamps.” Read more (Subs.)

 

Stitch Fix shares pop on speculation of Oprah taking stake in the company at CNBC. “A representative for Winfrey later told Bloomberg the speculation wasn’t true. Stitch Fix declined CNBC’s request for comment.” Read more

 

Amazon’s try-before-you-buy fashion service is now available to all Prime members — but the discounts are gone by Jason Del Rey at Recode. “The Prime Wardrobe service gives customers seven days to try on a wide range of clothing…at home before being charged for the items they want to keep. Customers have to order at least three items and no more than eight (that’s down from a maximum of 15 at the launch of the beta program and 10 in November).” Read more

 

Mass. could be third state with both $15 minimum wage and paid leave by Katie Johnson at Boston Globe. Read more (Tiered subs.)

 

Walmart ‘surprised’ old store is a migrant shelter by Michael Corkery at NY Times via CNBC. “But real estate records pointed to the potential use. A Walmart executive signed a document that indicated the buyer was purchasing the property with a $4.5 million loan from a nonprofit that runs migrant children shelters.” Read more

 

Aldi Named America’s Grocery Value Leader for the Eighth Consecutive Year Press release

 

**A message from Kidibul – The festive, bubbly beverage made for kids’ parties! 100% natural & sparkling juice in a champagne type bottle with natural cork & wire to pop. Kids love the bubbles! Website | PowerPoint | Samples: info@eyeonretail.net

 

Skyrocketing insulin prices provoke new outrage by Nathaniel Weixel at The Hill. “The price for a vial of one the most popular insulin brands, Humalog, increased from $21 in 1996, to $35 in 2001, to $234 in 2015, to $275 in 2017.” Read more

 

Buffett, Bezos and Dimon’s pick to change health care is known as a thought leader, not necessarily a business leader at CNBC. “It’s a strange pick,” said Craig Garthwaite, director of the Health Enterprise Management Program at Northwestern…”I have a lot of respect for him. He’s a great physician who can run a hospital. But does he know how to run a (pharmacy benefits manager), deal with pharmaceutical companies and the business side of health care?” Read more

 

Pilot Flying J Reveals Most Popular Food and Beverage Items by State (NY – Hot Dog, MN – Egg Rolls) Press release/List

 

Why Petco’s CEO Choice is So Intriguing at Pet Business. “…at a time when Millennials are playing an increasingly vital role…(Ron) Coughlin brings to his new role a successful track record of engaging this demographic. This was true not only at HP Inc…but also in his previous role as chief marketing officer for PepsiCo’s $10-billion-plus international beverage business.” Read more

 

Trader Joe’s ranks #1 among multichannel retailers in Forrester Research’s 2018 U.S. Customer Experience Index (Costco #2, BJ’s #5) at Supermarket News. Read more

 

Stolen special edition Neiman Marcus car recovered from Mississippi River by Janice Broach at WMC Action News 5. “It was full of mud weighed a ton,” said D.C. Thompson with Lazer Towing. “It was hard to get out. Was no fish in it.”…Neiman Marcus made 50 of the special cars. The only one in Memphis was purchased at Infiniti of Memphis by a man who lives in Memphis.” Video/Pic/Read more

 

Bossa Nova just raised another $29 million for its grocery store robots used by Walmart at CNBC. Read more

 

Field Agent Study: 65% of the 451 online grocery-shoppers reported making at least one unplanned purchase during their digital shopping “trip.” Study data

 

REPEAT OFFENDER – Monkey who attacked Home Depot employee attacked another employee the week before at ABC 25 News. “The monkey, named Spanky, was recorded attacking an employee named Marilyn Howard on June 4th, biting and scratching Howard on her arms, back, and face…In the video, you can hear an employee say to Ballard, “Last week, we asked you not to bring it in here!” Video/Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Future ‘A Star Wars Story’ Spinoffs on Hold at Lucasfilm

ESPN’s Internal Political Divide: Bristol Tradition vs. “Woke” Reformers

European beers impacted by CO₂ supply shortage

Threshold for harmful chemicals in drinking water lower than thought

The Amazon Fire TV Cube is so good I want one for every TV in my house

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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