Kroger names Cincinnati exec as first-ever African-American division president by Alexander Coolidge at Cincinnati Enquirer. “Monica Garnes, currently corporate vice president of produce-floral merchandising, will move to Phoenix to became president of the grocer’s Fry’s division.” Read more

 

Brand Finance: Amazon now the world’s most valuable brand (Walmart #9, H.Depot #27, Walgreens #95) Top 100 list

 

Loblaw, Walmart, Sobeys, Metro, Giant Tiger allegedly involved in alleged bread price-fixing scheme by Francine Kopun at Toronto Star. “The court documents released Wednesday provide more details on how the scheme allegedly worked: the agreed-upon price increases were on average, about 10 cents per product per year, with seven cents going to the suppliers and three cents to the retailers. The pattern became known colloquially as “the 7/10 convention.” Read more

 

Whole Foods’ 365 Offshoot Moving Ahead Under Amazon Ownership by Craig Giammona at Bloomberg. “365 by Whole Foods Market opened its latest store this week in Brooklyn — its first location on the East Coast. And the division is still signing leases and plans to open at least five more 365 sites this year, an indication that Amazon hasn’t backed off the concept.” Read more

 

Mastercard Lands Cabela’s Credit-Card Business by AnnaMaria Andriotis at Wall Street Journal. “Cabela’s was the 15th largest credit-card issuer in the U.S. as of June 2017…Cabela’s-branded cards have run on the larger Visa Inc. network, while Bass Pro Shops’ cards run on Mastercard’s.” Read more (subs.)

 

eBay Q4 revenue +9% “eBay grew active buyers by 5% across its platforms, for a total of 170 million global active buyers.” Press release

 

Lowe’s to give some employees bonuses of up to $1,000 and expand benefits due to tax reform at CNBC. “Effective May 1, Lowe’s will also be expanding its benefits package for full-time workers to include paid maternity leave for 10 weeks, paid parental leave for two weeks, adoption assistance of up to $5,000, and faster eligibility for health benefits, the memo said.” Read more

 

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Tractor Supply Q4 Comp Sales +4.0% Press release

 

Kroger Announces Divisions for Scan, Bag, Go Expansion “Kroger will introduce its Scan, Bag, Go shopping technology in 18 operating divisions, making the service available this year to customers at 400 stores.” Press release

 

Sears lays off roughly 220 corporate workers ‘effective immediately’ at USA Today. Read more

 

Murphy USA gets $89 million fourth quarter profit boost from GOP tax cuts by Wesley Brown at Talk Business. “Revenues in the fourth quarter rose to $3.37 billion, up 10.5% compared to $3.05 billion a year ago.” Read more

 

NRF: Valentine’s Day spending expected to reach $19.6 billion, up from $18.2 billion last year Press release

 

After 15 years, eBay plans to cut off PayPal as its main payments processor by Jason Del Rey at Recode. Read more

 

Amazon releases full Super Bowl ad by Todd Bishop at GeekWire. “… featuring celebrities Cardi B, Gordon Ramsey, Rebel Wilson, and Sir Anthony Hopkins playing the role of Amazon Alexa, under the premise that she lost her voice.” See the spot/Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

TV station hits Home Depot for destroying 1M pounds of supplies after St.Thomas hurricane

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Shell Makes as Much Money at $60 a Barrel as When It Was $100

Chicken suppliers conspired in price-fixing scam: suit

The Reinvention Of Retail Demands New Metrics

Amazon Wants to Disrupt Health Care in US. In China, Tech Giants Already Have.

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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