Target to team with Gwen Stefani for live music video commercial during Grammys by Kavita Kumar at Star Tribune. “The four-minute live commercial/music video will include multiple sets and costume changes — and Target promises there will be guest appearances and other surprises. It will be performed Monday at a soundstage in Los Angeles while the Grammy Awards event happens across town at the Staples Center.” Read more

 

Whole Foods Q1 Comp -1.8% “For the quarter, total sales increased 3% to a record $4.8 billion.” Read the release

 

Whole Foods Is Undergoing a ‘Fundamental Transformation,’ Says Co-CEO by Beth Kowitt at Fortune. “Announced last year, the smaller, lower-priced 365 stores are “the future of where Whole Foods Market will be evolving,” company co-CEO and co-founder John Mackey said on an earnings call Wednesday evening.” Read more

 

Walgreens threatens to pull out of Theranos partnership at Reuters via WSJ. “Walgreens…threatened to terminate its relationship with Theranos Inc unless the blood-testing company quickly fixes the problems found by federal inspectors at its laboratory in California, the Wall Street Journal reported.” Read more | Read WSJ article (subs.)

 

Lumber Liquidators’ Flooring Has Low Risk of Cancer, CDC Says by Matthew Townsend at Bloomberg. “..though it could potentially trigger irritation and breathing problems.” Read more

 

The NRF said Wednesday that it expects a year of healthy though hardly stellar growth for the industry in 2016, releasing a forecast that sales will rise about 3.1 percent via Washington Post. Read more

 

Amazon VP Diego Piacentini takes two-year position with Italian PM by Madeline Vuong at GeekWire. “He will serve as the lead for the prime minister’s digital technology office and he will do so pro bono. “After 16 years at Amazon, it’s a way for me to give back to the country in which I was born,” Piacentini said in statement. “… I travel a lot anyway in my life, so it’s not going to be a really big change.” Read more

 

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Q&A with Marci Grebstein, Lowe’s Chief Marketing Officer via Total Retail. “Q: If you weren’t working in the retail industry, what do you think you’d be doing? A: I would go to culinary school. I love cooking and have found it to be my creative outlet…Q:What’s the best advice you’ve ever received, and who gave you the advice? A: A former boss of mine who I greatly respect used to tell me that if I haven’t ticked someone off today, I wasn’t doing my job…” Read the Q&A

 

Walgreens CIO starts with the customer and works backward by Clint Boulton at CIO-Asia. “He says his toughest challenge is luring talented IT workers, which are in short supply, in the Midwest…With so many IT startups and the allure of pre-IPO riches in Silicon Valley, why should IT workers joined Walgreens? Dhar points to the popularity of the company’s mobile app, among other factors.” Read more

 

Hudson’s Bay Co eyeing acquisition of bankrupt Dutch department store chain V&D by Hollie Shaw at Financial Post. “Several recent reports in the Dutch media, citing sources close to the negotiations, say HBC governor Richard Baker is squaring off for the stores against Dutch retail and real estate investor Roland Kahn of Cool Investments, owner of the Netherlands-based retail chains CoolCat, M & S Mode, America Today and the lingerie brand Sapph.” Read more

 

Ex-call center workers sue Kroger by Alexander Coolidge at Cincinnati Enquirer. Read more

 

CVS employees save elderly Port Charlotte man from falling for scam at WINK News. “When the cashier found out why he was buying the cards, she felt something wasn’t right. “She said, ‘Mister, it’s a scam,’” Matheson said. “‘I’m telling you, it’s a scam,’ she said. ‘Please don’t buy those things there.” See the video / Read more

 

Nordstrom Unveils Manhattan Flagship Store Footprint And Exterior Design “The store will encompass four properties in the Columbus Circle neighborhood of Manhattan along Broadway between West 57th and West 58th Streets. The approximately 363,000 square-foot store is expected to open in 2019.” See the pic / Read the release

 

Amazon shares bounce on news of $5B buyback via CNBC. Read more

 

The Top CMOs of 2015, as Chosen by an Algorithm (Walmart #7) by Jack Neff at Ad Age. Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Target bumped from top spot as Minnesota’s top institutional donor

Fishpeople partners with Walmart to push sustainable seafood option

BuildDirect Wants To Become The Amazon Of The Home Improvement Industry, Launches Marketplace

The real problem luxury brands aren’t talking about

Judge poised to OK $10 million deal ending asst managers’ class actions vs Dick’s Sporting Goods

Man steals $380 worth of DVDs from Walmart, dies while running away

The Adult Diaper Market Is About to Take Off

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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