Target shares plunge on earnings shortfall and weak outlook on sales by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC. “Same-store sales: A decline of 1.5 percent versus the 1.4 percent decline expected by FactSet…The company also plans to lower prices. “We will invest in lower gross margins to ensure we are clearly and competitively priced every day,” Cornell said.” Read more | Press release

 

Hundreds allege sex harassment, discrimination at Kay and Jared jewelry company at The Washington Post via Denver Post. “Declarations from roughly 250 women and men who worked at Sterling, filed as part of a private class-action arbitration case, allege that female employees at the company throughout the late 1990s and 2000s were routinely groped, demeaned and urged to sexually cater to their bosses to stay employed. Sterling disputes the allegations.” Read more

 

UBS: Costco is going to raise membership fees next quarter at Yahoo Finance. “In a research note published on Monday, UBS analyst Michael Lasser said the firm continues to believe a membership fee hike is coming from the wholesale club this year, most likely in the second quarter.” Read more

 

Walmart’s app will now let Pharmacy and Money Services customers skip the line by Phil Wahba at Fortune. “…rolled out a major upgrade to its mobile shopping app that allows its pharmacy customers to quickly and simply order refills, track those orders and their costs…Walmart will be setting up “express lanes” in the pharmacies to customers who have placed orders via the app…The express lanes will be at almost all of Walmart’s 4,700 stores by the fall.” Read more

 

U.S. judge dismisses case against Wal-Mart over Mexico bribery at Reuters. “U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla in Manhattan said holders of Wal-Mex’s American depository shares cannot pursue claims that Wal-Mex’s former Chairman Ernesto Vega and Chief Executive Scot Rank knew or were reckless in not knowing about the bribery allegations.” Read more

 

Starbucks to Make Italian Debut With Upscale Roastery Cafe at Bloomberg. “The 25,500-square-foot retail space will open in a historic post office building in the city’s center in late 2018…The store in Piazza Cordusio will feature premium, small-batch coffees as well as products from Italian artisan baker Rocco Princi, the exclusive food provider for all new Roastery locations globally. It will also serve alcohol.” Read more

 

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Mysterious object appears at Amazon’s drive-up grocery store in Seattle — but when will it open? by Nat Levy at GeekWire. “Is it a tablet where customers can punch in an order? A camera that lets the store know when customers arrive? A scanner that recognizes your face, figures out what you had for dinner last night and then queues up those same items?” Pics/Read more

 

Target is installing solar power systems on five stores in the Denver metro area — its first in Colorado by Cathy Proctor at Denver Business Journal. Read more

 

How The Home Depot Optimizes Omni-Channel by Laurie Petersen at MediaPost. “Erin Everhart, senior manager of media strategy for The Home Depot, gave an animated and revealing window last week into the “organized chaos” of her day-to-day life at the DIY giant to make the best use of every media dollar. Speaking at MediaPost’s OMMA Atlanta, she started with a real-life example of how we shop today…” Read more

 

J.Jill Launches Initial Public Offering Press release

 

Walmart Canada’s CMO moves to the fashion world by Jeromy Lloyd at Strategy. “Sandra Sanderson is heading for sunnier climes, leaving her role as chief marketing and quality officer of Walmart Canada to join White House Black Market. She joins the women’s specialty retailer as senior vice president of marketing in its head office in Fort Myers, Fla. The store has more than 400 retail locations and 72 outlets across North America.” Read more

 

Walmart Disappoints HuffPo: Didn’t Feature Any Women Filmmakers For Oscars Short Films by Marina Fang. “Walmart told Hornaday that the company did ask female directors to participate in the series, but none did, “mainly due to scheduling.” Read more

 

Revlon teams up with Amazon on heels of ‘Love Project’ by Anthony Noto at New York Business Journal. “Amazon will stamp the Revlon name on 10 million of its shipping boxes as part of a campaign dubbed “the Love Project.” The initiative kicked off last week on Feb. 23.” Read more

 

Denver: Bill to let Wal-Mart and Target sell more booze survives bloody fight by Ed Sealover at Denver Business Journal. Read more

 

Food Lion to Remodel 93 Stores in Greater Greensboro, N.C., Market in 2017 Press release

 

Adidas offers tropical island to 40-yard dash record-breaker by Matthew Kish at Portland Business Journal. Read more

 

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