Uber Poaches Target CMO Jeff Jones by Adam Lashinsky & Phil Wahba at Fortune. “Jones starts Sept. 19 at Uber, where he will head worldwide marketing and operations. He replaces board member and early employee Ryan Graves in those roles, though Graves remains in a senior capacity at Uber.” Read more

 

…Jones met (Founder Travis) Kalanick at the TED 2016 conference in Vancouver, where the pair started talking about how Uber could improve its reputation by Kavita Kumar at Star Tribune. Read more

 

2,000 Cram into Nebraska Furniture Mart to meet ‘Fixer Upper’ stars Chip and Joanna Gaines by Maria Halkias at Dallas Morning News. “The couple seemed surprised by the rockstar response and standing room only audience who came to witness the couple’s personalities up close and find out what’s next. The next big thing is a restaurant…And someone in the audience shouted out a suggested name: “Fixer Supper”.” Read more

 

Gap employees miraculously escape fire at distribution center by Yaron Steinbuch at NY Post. “We were just hoping no one was hurt. No one could survive that if they were still inside,” Torrisi told the paper. “It looks like the whole roof is gone.” “We just saw this bright orange glow,” Fox said.” Read more

 

Sears to Start Selling Paint Again “…bringing trusted brands including Craftsman, Weatherbeater and Easy Living…Sears will be reintroducing paint in 23 stores across the country before rolling the offering out to all of its retail locations.” Press release

 

Petco invests in tech startup by Mike Freeman at San Diego Union Tribune. “Petnet, a maker of personalized feeding technology for dogs and cats, has raised $10 million in an initial round of venture capital led by San Diego’s Petco.” Read more

 

Alimentation Couche-Tard first-quarter profit rises 9% by Damon Van Der Linde at Financial Post. “The result in the first quarter of fiscal 2017 was mixed: revenues took a hit due in part to lower fuel prices, while U.S. fuel retail margins were largely responsible for the company’s higher-than-expected earnings per share.” Read more

 

Toys R Us Canada promotes Chief Merchant to President by Matt Linder at Internet Retailer. “Melanie Teed-Murch…has been with the retail chain for 20 years. In her new role she will be responsible for the retail chain’s online arm and Canadian stores.” Read more

 

**A message from 2016 Sweets & Snacks Expo – The Most Innovative New Products winners have been announced! Winners were awarded in nine categories: chocolate, non-chocolate, sweet, salty, savory, novelty, seasonal, gourmet/premium and gum/mints. See the winners here. The 2017 Sweets & Snacks Expo is nearly 90% sold out and will take place May 23-25 at Chicago’s McCormick Place – Notify me when registration opens

 

Wealthy consumers don’t like to pick up online orders in stores by Stefany Zaroban at Internet Retailer. “Of consumers across all income demographics, 57% said they had picked up an online order in a store in the last year. However, of those with household income above $200,000 per year, that number drops to only 36%.” Read more

 

Bloomberg: Will Amazon Kill FedEx? by Devin Leonard. Read more

 

Abercrombie Closing up to 60 Stores After Posting Wider Loss by Anne D’Innocenzio & Joseph Pisani at AP via ABC. “The retailer is changing its marketing to play down its sexy image, and last year got rid of provocative pictures on its shopping bags and bare-chested male models greeting customers at the door.” Read more

 

DSW Q2 Comp Sales -1.2% “…compared to last year’s increase of 1.8%.” Press release

 

Lowe’s Introduces LoweBot in the Bay area “This fall, Lowe’s will introduce LoweBot, a NAVii™ autonomous retail service robot by Fellow Robots, in 11 Lowe’s stores throughout the San Francisco Bay area. Following a successful robotics test of OSHbot at one of the company’s Orchard Supply Hardware stores.” Press release

 

Fred’s Q2 Comp Sales -2.0% Press release

 

Amazon to launch retail pickup location at UW-Madison this fall by Melanie Lawder at Milwaukee Business Journal. Read more

 

Cargill, General Mills, Wal-Mart collaborating to improve farm soil, water quality by Tom Meersman at Star Tribune. “The idea evolved from a meeting of CEOs that Wal-Mart held two years ago at its Arkansas headquarters. The topic: how the companies could help support agriculture in the Midwest…” Read more

 

Shopping Malls’ New Product: Fun by Esther Fung at Wall Street Journal. “Food and entertainment currently account for 22.1% of the space leased in malls, compared with 19.2% in 2012, according to data from CoStar Group Inc. This year, Pyramid has 49 entertainment tenants which account for 9.6% of leasable area in its portfolio, up from 16 tenants and 4.3% of its portfolio in 2010.” Read more (subscription)

 

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