Target to move media business from Haworth to GroupM by Nicole Norfleet at Star Tribune. “There have been rumblings that Haworth is in discussions to take over Wal-Mart’s media account. A Wal-Mart spokesman confirmed Tuesday in an e-mail: “We have had conversations with Haworth Marketing and Media. They are a great agency with unique capabilities that could be an interesting partner in the future.” Read more

 

…Longtime Target chief marketer Michael Francis came on board as a marketing consultant at Walmart Jan. 1. …Mr. Francis had worked with Haworth for many years at Target by Alexandra Bruell & Jack Neff at Ad Age. Read more

 

Walmart Is the Latest Retailer to Make a Cage-Free Egg Vow by John Kell at Fortune. “Walmart, which has sold cage free eggs at the company’s U.S. stores since 2001, said it would meet the 2025 goal based on “available supply, affordability and customer demand.” Read more

 

Kohl’s nixes in-store coffee shop concept, Kohl’s Café by Melanie Lawder at Milwaukee Business Journal. “…over the next few weeks it will be removing its Kohl’s Café experimental coffee shops installed in its Menomonee Falls and Delafield locations. The trial coffee shops, which opened in September 2015, were ideas that sprouted from customer input but were not as successful as necessary, the company said.” Read more

 

NY Magazine: Etsy Wants to Crochet Its Cake, and Eat It Too by Amy Larocca. “Etsy’s 819 employees — not the sellers but the people keeping the Etsy servers up and running and everything else — work in something like an extremely cozy private welfare state. There is free lunch, there is on-site continuing education, there is someone with pink hair to reinflate the tires of the bike you were sweetly encouraged to ride to work…” Read more

 

Target to open two small-format stores on Long Island by David Winzelberg at Long Island Business News. “Target is also planning to open a 46,000-square-foot store in the Meadowbrook Commons shopping center at the intersection of Sunrise Highway and Meadowbrook Parkway in Freeport. That store in the Kimco Realty-owned center, formerly occupied by Stop and Shop, is also slated for an October opening.” Read more

 

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WSJ: Pompoms Come Bouncing Back by Alexandra Wolfe. “…Since her nuptials, pompoms have spun from kiddie playrooms and fashion runways to wedding aisles and just about everywhere else…The look, says Neiman Marcus fashion director Ken Downing, is “kind of groovy granny.” The pompom, he declares, “has become a folkloric flourish.” Read more (subscription)

 

Jeff Bezos Calls Amazon ‘Best Place In The World To Fail’ In Shareholder Letter by Ryan Mac at Forbes. “Someone energized by competitive zeal may select and be happy in one culture, while someone who loves to pioneer and invent may choose another,” said Bezos. “The world, thankfully, is full of many high-performing, highly distinctive corporate cultures. We never claim that our approach is the right one – just that it’s ours – and over the last two decades, we’ve collected a large group of like-minded people.” Read the letter / Read more

 

Walgreens vet Bryan Pugh joins Fred’s by Michael Johnsen at Drug Store News. “Bryan Pugh has been named chief merchandising and marketing officer; Craig Barnes has been promoted to EVP supply chain, global and domestic logistics; and Mike Holligan has been promoted to EVP store operations.” Read more

 

Luke Bryan Expands Cabela’s Clothing Line by Annie Reuter at Taste of Country. “Luke Bryan is expanding his apparel brand to another clothing line named for his latest single. The line, called HFE, includes a new collection of apparel inspired by “Huntin’, Fishin’ and Lovin Every Day.” Read more

 

Target.com President Jason Goldberger Is Coming to Code/Commerce on May 17th by Jason Del Rey at Recode. Read more

 

Staples doesn’t call a single witness in Office Depot trial by Josh Kosman at NY Post. “A federal judge on Tuesday pressured the FTC to accept a settlement offer from Staples that would clear the way for the office supply chain to merge with rival Office Depot.” Read more

 

Washington Post: There really are too many stores. Just ask the retailers by Sarah Halzack. “…He points to Williams-Sonoma as a blueprint of where more legacy brick-and-mortar retailers might be headed. Williams-Sonoma has 239 stores that are largely only located in high-performing malls, and it is already drawing more than 50 percent of its sales from e-commerce.” Read more

 

Walmart fires cashier in Missouri who wouldn’t stop hugging customers by Doug Moore at St.Louis Post Dispatch. “A Facebook page, Hugs for Frank, was set up, inviting people to a protest outside the store this Saturday. As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 1,000 people had indicated they planned to attend.” Read more

 

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