Tesla could add C-stores and restaurants at car-charging stations by Luke Stangel at Austin Business Journal. “People are coming and spending 20 to 30 minutes at these stops,” Straubel said, according to Restaurant Business. “They want to eat, they want to have a cup of coffee, they want to use the bathroom.” Read more

 

Freshii a dud at Target; eatery will close all 18 Target store locations by Dan DeBaun at Minneapolis/St.Paul Business Journal. “A statement from Freshii reads. “Sales levels of these locations did not support a continued investment of resources by both parties.” Read more

 

BJ’s owner looking to sell chain for $4.5B by Josh Kosman at NY Post. “BJ’s was at a similar place this spring but postponed the sale after Amazon, a potential BJ’s suitor, in June agreed to buy Whole Foods, a source said. Amazon is now likely out of the running. Walmart in 2011 showed interest in buying BJ’s, but is not expected to this time, a source said.” Read more

 

Kohl’s CEO Kevin Mansell to retire in May 2018 by Melanie Lawder at Milwaukee Business Journal. “Kohl’s executives Michelle Gass, 49, and Sona Chawla, 50, will succeed Mansell, with Gass assuming the title of CEO and Chawla taking the role of president of the company.” Read more | Press release

 

Former Walmart U.S. CEO Bill Simon joins Drizly board by Kelly J. O’Brien at Boston Business Journal. Read more

 

Retail stores want to cash in on growing chew toy sales by Lisa Fickenscher at NY Post. “The fast-paced growth has convinced some nontraditional toy sellers, like Home Depot, T.J.Maxx and even Tractor Supply Co., to start stocking pet toys in recent years.” Read more

 

Marc Lore still feels like he’s running a startup a year after Walmart bought Jet by Zak Stambor. “We’re moving fast, we’re innovating, we’re having fun,” Lore said at the Shop.org conference in Los Angeles.” Read more

 

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Macy’s Is Overhauling Its Rewards Program to Win Back Straying Shoppers by Phil Wahba at Fortune. “Macy’s says it will introduce far more features in 2018, including perks that could include exclusive early access to a hot new fragrance or personalized trunk shows. But it wanted to start with a pitch to its most frequent spenders, whom CEO Jeff Gennette told Fortune have not abandoned Macy’s, but are not quite the regular shoppers they were before. “We were seeing customer spending shifts that we needed to stop,” Gennette said in an exclusive interview.” Read more

 

Jet.com Launches First Campaign of the Holiday Price Wars by Phil Wahba at Fortune. “Jet.com said on Monday that customers would get 5% cash back on orders made between Sept. 18 and Oct. 29 and be able to apply the credit to holiday season purchases as of November 13, about when Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales will be in full swing. Customers can accumulate and redeem a credit, called “JetCash,” of up to $50.” Read more

 

Target Makes First Self-Serve Programmatic Buy at NBCU by John Lafayette at Broadcast & Cable. “This is a watershed moment for advertisers, who have been looking for a way to unlock the power of first-party data in television,” said Kristi Argyilan, SVP of marketing for Target. “Through programmatic ad buying, NBCUniversal is giving us the opportunity to apply better data to our TV decisions and choose the programming that resonates most strongly with our guests.” Read more

 

Google Pulls YouTube from Amazon’s Echo Show in a Tech Face-Off via Fortune. Read more

 

Walmart is using Facebook’s enterprise office product, Workplace by Kurt Wagner at Recode. “Walmart is not yet paying for Workplace — Facebook offers a 90-day free trial of the product — but will be a paying customer once the free trial is over, according to a Facebook spokesperson.” Read more

 

Breach at Sonic Drive-In May Have Impacted Millions of Credit, Debit Cards at Krebs on Security. “The ongoing breach may have led to a fire sale on millions of stolen credit and debit card accounts that are now being peddled in shadowy underground cybercrime stores, KrebsOnSecurity has learned.” Read more

 

Walmart is #1 destination for makeup at Field Agent. “Walmart (64%) fared best in our survey, followed by rivals Target (48%) and Walgreens (38%). At 35% and 27% respectively, specialty beauty retailers Ulta and Sephora also made strong showings in our survey.” More cosmetic study stats

 

Target, Toyota to Sponsor NBC’s ‘The Voice’ at Variety. “(Target) will run ads created with NBC that feature former winners of the show – Chris Blue, Sundance Head and Alisan Porter – which will air in commercial time and also in a dedicated hub at NBC.com. The retailer will also run content touting its own brand as well as the show in brief ads that run within a Snapchat show associated with “The Voice.” Read more

 

Walmart unveils new baby products by Charisse Jones at USA Today. “…its private baby brand, Parent’s Choice, is adding 100 new items and upgrading roughly 100 more…rolling out into January of 2018, and are already for sale in many Walmart stores. The products include eco-conscious wipes, spill-proof sippy cups, a new 53-piece bedding collection and an expanded menu featuring organic baby food. There will also be environmentally friendly products like a “premium’’ diaper with a lining made in part from sustainable wood pulp and baby wipes crafted from recycled T-shirts.” Read more

 

Dollar General Denied Vision-Impaired Applicant, EEOC Says by Dave Simpson at Law 360. “The EEOC claims that Dollar General violated the Americans with Disabilities Act when it rejected a job applicant with monocular vision, a disability that would not prevent him from working in the small-box discount retailer’s warehouse.” Read more (subs.)

 

How Walmart Founds Its Footing in the Amazon Era by Jack Neff at Ad Age. “Aspirational products at disruptive prices” was how Scott McCall, senior VP of home and seasonal, described Walmart’s product development effort.” Read more

 

Judge approves $27 mln Home Depot data breach settlement at Reuters. Read more

 

With Walmart As Its Owner, Here’s How Shoes.com Is Rebooting Its Business by Sheena Butler-Young at Footwear News. “The new site — unveiled this week — will add trendy brands such as Sam Edelman and Hunter to its assortment. Here, (SVP Alex) Proelss gives FN the scoop on the key facets of the relaunch.” Q&A

 

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Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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