Retailers eager to lodge antitrust complaints against Amazon and Google, citing ‘information bottleneck’ by Naomi Nix at Bloomberg via Seattle Times. “The Retail Industry Leaders Association, which also represents Target and Best Buy among others, said it’s prepared to present their concerns to the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission, which have carved up antitrust oversight of Silicon Valley’s biggest companies.” Tiered subs.

 

Arizona Governor to withdraw Nike financial incentives after shoe company pulls ‘Betsy Ross’ American flag sneakers at CNBC. “Nike has been planning to build a manufacturing plant on metro Phoenix’s west side, which was expected to bring 500 jobs to the area, The Arizona Republic reported on Monday.” Read more

 

Shrouded in secrecy, big new Amazon retail store in Seattle appears ready to open soon by Nat Levy at GeekWire. “A few unique characteristics make this store stand out and give credence to the possibility that it could be something different from the typical Amazon Go store…The total area of the retail space is about 10,400 square feet…much bigger than the 1,500 and 3,000 square feet of front-of-house area in other Go stores.” Read more

 

Coty shares plummet as $600 million turnaround plan falls short of expectations at MarketWatch. “Some may have been hoping for larger portfolio changes, or a major M&A announcement,” wrote Wells Fargo in a note. “At this point, Coty remains a long-term turnaround story, in our view, and we note that turnarounds generally never happen in a straight line.” Read more

 

Jim Walton donated $1.2 billion of the retailer’s stock last week at Philadelphia Inquirer. “The recipient wasn’t disclosed, but family members have regularly donated to the Walton Family Foundation, whose causes include education and the environment.” Read more

 

Amazon to create 1,800 jobs in France at Reuters. “The increase will bring Amazon’s total number of permanent staff to 9,300 by end 2019 and reflects the group’s commitment to the French market where it has invested over 2 billion euros ($2.26 billion) since 2010.” Read more

 

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Should Macy’s Build a Giant Tower in One of N.Y.’s Most Congested Neighborhoods? by Matthew Haag at NY Times. “What was once a manufacturing hub has given way to an overflowing corridor of tourists and commuters cramming onto sidewalks, roadways and subway stations. “Have you tried walking from here to Penn Station?” said Mr. Assile, 70, referring to the commuter train station. “It’s horrendous.” Tiered subs.

 

Some 50% of teens surveyed by Piper Jaffray in its most recent semiannual “Taking Stock With Teens” report said that Amazon was their favorite website at Business Insider. Read more

 

Home Depot Goes “Ad Wild” on Radio at Radio Ink. “The exact figure was 97,699… GEICO held onto second place…running a still-healthy 50,241 spots… Other advertisers in the top five included Lowe’s (44,328) which climbed two places…big mover for the week was Walmart, which went from 25th to eighth.” Read more

 

Golf participation increased last year for the first time since 2003 to 24.2 million people playing at least one round at National Golf Foundation. Read more

 

John Oliver rips Amazon over warehouse work by Kurt Schlosser at GeekWire. “…a top (Amazon) executive didn’t wait long to fire back on Twitter…Oliver’s 21-minute report on warehouses and workers focused a great deal on Amazon, with other jabs at retail rival Walmart as well as conditions at a facility that handles Verizon phones.” Read more

 

Endless AI-generated spam risks clogging up Google’s search results by James Vincent at The Verge. Read more

 

Sushi Chain YO Reels In Grocery Kiosk Operator by Ben Dummett at Wall Street Journal. “London-based YO plans to acquire Houston-based SnowFox, which operates 700 sushi kiosks—typically large sushi counters found in supermarkets across a swath of the U.S.—for more than $100 million, according to the person.” WSJ subs.

 

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