Instacart Adds $200 Million to Defend Against Amazon Delivery by Olivia Zaleski & Ellen Huet at Bloomberg. “The funding values Instacart at $4.2 billion, said people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the terms are private. That’s quite a ways off from Amazon’s $649 billion market value…” Read more

 

Walmart taps Justice Department’s Rachel Brand as its corporate secretary, compliance officer by Kim Souza at Talk Business. “Rachel Brand will join the company as executive vice president, global governance and corporate secretary. Brand will report to CEO Doug McMillon and is replacing Jeff Gearhart who retired at the end of January.” Read more

 

…Women at Walmart Becoming Scarcer Despite C-Suite Promotions by Matthew Boyle & Jordyn Holman at Bloomberg. “Walmart spokeswoman Tricia Moriarty said she could not confirm or deny that the retailer’s shift to selling more groceries has changed its gender makeup. 62 percent of the more than 225,000 graduates so far from its new training academies are women.” Read more

 

Amazon paid $90 million for camera maker’s chip technology – sources by Jeffrey Dastin at Reuters. “Amazon is exploring chips exclusive to Blink that could lower production costs and lengthen the battery life of other gadgets, starting with Amazon’s Cloud Cam and potentially extending to its family of Echo speakers, one of the people said.” Read more

 

WAYFAIR OVERVALUED BY 84%? by Elizabeth Winkle at Wall Street Journal. “A recent study by marketing professors Daniel McCarthy of Emory University and Peter Fader of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School found that Wayfair spends about $69 to acquire each new customer, but only earns $59 back from each acquisition. Using a method of valuing publicly traded retailers that focuses on customer retention, Professors McCarthy and Fader conclude that Wayfair is overvalued by 84%.” Read more (subs.)

 

…Wayfair cutting board draws angst from Hindus by Donna Goodison at Boston Herald. “Lord Ganesha was highly revered in Hinduism and was meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines and not to ‘chop, dice and slice’ meat, vegetables, cheese, etc.,” Zed said.” Read more

 

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After 33 years at Neiman Marcus, CEO Karen Katz contemplates life in comfortable shoes at Dallas Morning News. Read more (tiered subs.)

 

L.L. Bean Ditches Unlimited Lifetime Return Policy as Scams Rise by Phil Wahba at Fortune. “L.L. Bean said in some cases, people are trying to get a refund for something they bought second-hand at a yard sales.” Read more

 

Reverend Jesse Jackson knocks Kroger store closings in Memphis visit at WREG 3 Memphis. “Kroger represents jobs, healthcare and food. So if you close three Kroger’s, you make it a health desert and a food desert. People can’t get to their meds or work.” Video/Read more

 

Unilever Threatens to Pull Ads from Social Media Giants by Hallie Detrick at Fortune. “That’s according to a speech Keith Weed, the global consumer goods giant’s chief marketing officer, is set to give at the annual Interactive Advertising Bureau conference in Palm Desert, Calif., on Monday…He compared cleaning up digital advertising and supply chains to the company’s efforts to find sustainable materials for its products.” Read more

 

Guess forms special committee to investigate sexual harassment claims against CEO at CNBC. Read more

 

Hawaii’s Cesspools Threaten Drinking Water, Tourism by Ian Lovett at Wall Street Journal. “Hawaii has 88,000 cesspools across its eight major islands, more than any other state. Collectively, they deposit 53 million gallons of raw sewage into the ground every day, according to the state health department. More than 90% of the state’s drinking water comes from groundwater wells.” Read more (subs.)

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Man alleges his Apple AirPods earphone blew up

Alibaba’s high-tech mirrors will let you try on virtual makeup

Man arrested after loading up two 12-gauge shotguns inside Walmart

WinCo cashier pays for Bay Area mom’s groceries

Drought in India curtails chickpea crop, leads to spike in hummus prices

As Aldi and Lidl Sell Lobsters, Tesco Spies an Opening

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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