Walmart says it will acquire more startups by Katie Roof at TechCrunch. “Lore claims that it already has the infrastructure to do overnight delivery for 87 percent of the country and is working on spreading out inventory to these warehouse locations. Expect Walmart to “crush it over the next two years,” said Lore. He says he “wouldn’t trade our position with anyone right now.” Read more

 

…Wal-Mart Sees ‘Second-Mover Advantage’ in E-Commerce by Laura Stevens at Wall Street Journal. “E-commerce is a scale game,” Mr. Lore said in an interview at The Wall Street Journal’s WSJ D.Live technology conference on Tuesday. “We’re looking at a lot of different things right now, everything, in every sector.” Read more (subs.)

 

Netflix CEO wears Target ‘Stranger Things’ sweater to earnings conference call by Mark Reilly at Minneapolis/St.Paul Business Journal. “We’re learning how to do merchandising,” Hastings said. “We’ve got some amazing displays and amazing materials out at Target.”The $33 sweater already out of stock at Target online, by the way.” Read more

 

Why Kohl’s Next CEO Is Not Afraid of Bringing Amazon Into Its Stores by Phil Wahba at Fortune. “On Wednesday, Kohl’s will start handling returns of merchandise bought on Amazon at 10 of what will soon be 82 of its stores in Los Angeles and Chicago. The chain is also debuting the first of its Amazon smart home boutiques within Kohl’s stores.” Read more

 

…Kohl’s incoming CEO said she wants to take things slow. “For now, let’s walk before we run,” Gass told CNBC when asked about the retailer’s future with Amazon. Read more

 

Walgreens’ downtown Chicago tech center to bring 300 new jobs by Jim Dallke at Chicago Business Journal. “Walgreens said the downtown office will host most of the company’s retail pharmacy technology team along with the digital, mobile and e-commerce technology units.” Read more

 

US online retail sales likely to surpass $1 trillion by 2027: FTI at CNBC.”FTI said Amazon.com Inc’s total share of these online sales is likely to increase to 53 percent by 2027 from 34 percent in 2016.” Read more

 

Kroger central division President Katie Wolfram retires – Pam Matthews to succeed her Press release

 

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Amazon and Big Apartment Landlords Strike Deals on Package Delivery by Laura Cusisto at Wall Street Journal. “Amazon has signed contracts with apartment owners and managers representing more than 850,000 units across the U.S. to begin installing Amazon locker systems in their buildings, according to the landlords…many before the peak holiday shopping season, according to a person familiar with the matter.” Read more (subs.)

 

Target opens its small-format Uptown Minneapolis store by Dan DeBaun at Minneapolis/St.Paul Business Journal. 13 pics/Read more

 

…Philly’s 4th mini-Target opens at 7 a.m. Wednesday in Art Museum area by Suzette Parmley at Philly Inquirer. Read more/Pics

 

Amazon Expands in Brazil, Making Worst-Kept Secret Official by Fabiola Moura & Christiana Sciaudone at Bloomberg. “Amazon.com Inc. is ready to commit to Brazil. Kind of, sort of. After five years of just selling books in the country, Amazon is now launching an electronics and appliances marketplace. The official announcement came Wednesday.” Read more

 

Forbes Richest People in America 2017 (Bezos #2, Waltons’ #11-#13, Menard Jr. #47) Top 400 list

 

Amazon and Garmin team up to bring Alexa into the car with $150 Speak device by Nat Levy at GeekWire. “The $149.99 Garmin Speak is the equivalent of an Echo Dot for the car. It mounts on the windshield and accesses data by syncing up with smartphones.” Read more

 

Amazon Studios chief Roy Price resigns following sexual harassment allegations at CNBC. Read more

 

Macy’s names Danielle Kirgan as chief human resources officer by Andy Brownfield at Cincinnati Business Courier. Read more

 

A Google-owned Whole Foods? CEO John Mackey says he was open to such a deal by Greg Trotter at Chicago Tribune. “We had (a Google) executive on the Whole Foods board. And I remember when Amazon and Whole Foods were sort of courting each other and falling in love, I talked to that executive and said, ‘It’s not too late for Google to get in on this game,’” said Mackey, eliciting some laughter from the crowd Tuesday at a forum at the annual Chicago Ideas Week.” Read more

 

…Whole Foods’ John Mackey Is Struggling With Whole Foods’ Amazon Culture by Phil Lempert at Forbes. “In a speech Sunday at the American Production and Inventory Control Society’s annual conference, he described the culture clash as “challenging” and announced a retreat to help him and other top Whole Foods executives align with Amazon’s “higher purpose.” Read more

 

Neiman Marcus Presents The 91st Edition Of Iconic Christmas Book As They Celebrate 110 Years Interactive press release

 

Skinny Pop Brand Warrior Nods to Amazon’s Growing Clout in Food by Craig Giammona at Bloomberg. Read more

 

This long-time Amazon exec left the company and is now recruiting tech workers to mentor students of color by Jason Del Rey at Recode. Read more

 

Meijer shopper sues for $25M after beating by Bill Laitner at Detroit Free Press. “Detroit Police, meanwhile, announced that despite defending the officer last week, they now found the beating to be improper and have put the officer on desk duty.” Read more

 

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