H&M Faces Russian Criminal Investigation Over Customs Duties at Bloomberg. “Russian authorities opened a criminal investigation into clothing retailer Hennes & Mauritz AB for allegedly avoiding 3.1 billion rubles ($42 million) of customs duties.” Read more

 

‘We Are Forgotten’: Grocery Workers Hope for Higher Pay and Vaccinations at NY Times. “Brookings found that 13 of the largest retail and grocery companies in the United States earned $17.7 billion more in the first three quarters of 2020 than they did a year earlier, but most stopped offering extra compensation to their associates in the early summer.” Read more

 

The NFL’s 2021 Super Bowl attracted 96.4 million viewers at CNBC. “Brady’s last Super Bowl win in 2019 while with the Patriots generated roughly 98.2 million viewers; the lowest since 97.5 million tuned into the 2008 Super Bowl…“All things considered, the fact this game got played is nothing short of a miracle,” Cohen added.” Read more

 

Online grocery shopping drives up sales at Ocado at AP. “Ocado, one of the biggest internet-only grocery retailers, said Tuesday that sales rose 35% during the last fiscal year as the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the shift toward internet shopping.” Read more

 

Simon Property Group is expecting this year to be better than last at CNBC. “(CEO Simon) listed Kohl’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Primark as three examples of retailers that his team is in talks with for new locations. However, he cautioned, “it’s going to take some time” to get back to 2019 levels.” Read more

 

DoorDash acquires salad-making robotics startup, Chowbotics at TechCrunch. “It’s not entirely clear how the company’s technology will fit into the delivery service’s current offering, though DoorDash notes it will “improve consumer access to fresh and safe meals, and enhance our robust merchant offerings and logistics platform.” Read more

 

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In Florida city, hackers try to poison the drinking water at AP. “Fortunately, a supervisor saw the chemical being tampered with — as a mouse controlled by the intruder moved across the screen changing settings — and was able to intervene and immediately reverse it, Gualtieri said. Oldsmar is about 15 miles (25 kilometers) northwest of Tampa…Oldsmar officials have since disabled the remote-access system.” Read more

 

Kohl’s Announces Partnership with Eddie Bauer Press release

 

Malls Spent Billions on Theme Parks to Woo Shoppers. It Made Matters Worse. at Wall Street Journal. “Pyramid and Triple Five have gone much further than other mall owners in adding grand spectacles to their biggest U.S. properties, racking up debt they are now having trouble repaying. Last year, three of their four big U.S. malls defaulted on some CMBS debt, according to Trepp; the fourth mall is delinquent on some local-government bills.” WSJ subs.

 

Price Chopper and Tops Markets to Merge “Scott Grimmett, Price Chopper/Market 32’s President and CEO, will be CEO of and serve on the Board of Directors of the new parent company which will oversee the operations of nearly 300 Price Chopper, Market 32, Market Bistro and Tops Markets stores and collectively employ more than 30,000 teammates.” Press release

 

Ontario will slowly open the door to some non-essential retail in the coming weeks — but many businesses are frustrated at being left out at Toronto Star. “We’re encouraging businesses to just open completely, and now, I think more will be tempted to do it. They should be opening up at 100 per cent,” said Sobolev, who’s also an organizer of the antimask group Hugs Over Masks. Sobolev says at least 400 businesses across the country have vowed to take part in the protest Thursday, no matter what the state of COVID-related lockdowns are in their region.” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra

Walton Family Foundation plans more than $2B in philanthropic support over next five years

Woman in Gorilla Glue hair horror may sue over ordeal

Star Wars saves Hasbro’s 2020 sales with ‘Mandalorian’ toys

‘Cobra Kai’ Overtakes ‘Bridgerton’ in Nielsen Streaming Rankings

Eli Lilly says CFO resigns after ‘inappropriate communication’ with staff

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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