It may be a while before many of America’s stores open again as coronavirus crisis worsens by Phil Wahba at Fortune. “GlobalData Retail has been tracking the closings and by Thursday morning estimated that 40.9% of retail square footage in the U.S. is currently closed. The firm now expects retail sales to be down 12.4% this month, 11.6% in April, and 6.1% in May, when the crisis should start easing.” Read more

 

lululemon Q4 comp sales +20% Press release

 

Amazon warehouse workers are outraged after a coworker tested positive for COVID-19 and they weren’t notified by Josh Dzieza at The Verge. “They should have closed that building down and sanitized that whole building before they let us come in,” Johnson tells The Verge. “And they should have given everyone a robocall, because you never know if you bumped into that person in the bathroom or anything…” Read more

 

Inside the Story of How H-E-B Planned for the Pandemic by Dan Solomon & Paula Forbes at Texas Monthly. “The grocer started communicating with Chinese counterparts in January and was running tabletop simulations a few weeks later. (But nothing prepared it for the rush on toilet paper.)” Read more

 

Walmart Was Almost Charged Criminally Over Opioids. Trump Appointees Killed the Indictment. by Jesse Eisinger & James Bandler at ProPublica. “In its dealings with the DOJ, Walmart pursued a classic strategy. It relied on Jones Day, an influential law firm that has salted officials throughout the Trump administration. Walmart conceded mistakes and opened the door for a civil settlement. But the company consistently denied that any of its employees committed crimes.” Read more

 

Retailers shift production to make masks, gowns for health-care workers in coronavirus pandemic by Courtney Reagan at CNBC. “Gap has built a small team with members from its different brands and functions, in conjunction with California hospitals, to use Gap’s connections in the global supply chain to get protective masks and gowns.” Read more

 

Kroger converts store to ‘pickup-only’ by Alexander Coolidge at Cincinnati Enquirer. Read more

 

Amazon says it unintentionally hid some competitors’ faster delivery options by Jason Del Rey at Recode. “Amazon surprised millions of customers last weekend when it confirmed it had pushed back delivery of many nonessential items until late April…But Recode has learned it’s been possible to get some of these nonessential items much faster — it’s just that Amazon has hidden listings from competing sellers on its marketplace…” Read more

 

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WASHINGTON – Nearly all construction in Washington state is a nonessential activity under new stay-at-home order at Seattle Times

 

WhatsApp has seen a 40% increase in usage due to pandemic by Sarah Perez at TechCrunch. Read more

 

NEW ORLEANS – Orleans Parish has highest per-capita coronavirus death rate of American counties — by far by Gordon Russell at The Times-Picayune. “New Orleans has recorded more deaths than Manhattan — generally seen as America’s epicenter of the pandemic — with a population less than a quarter as large.” Read more

 

NOT MY FAULT – New Orleans would not have had Mardi Gras if coronavirus ‘red flags’ were given, mayor says by Jeff Adelson at The Times-Picayune. “Mayor LaToya Cantrell blasted federal leadership Thursday night and appeared to take aim at President Donald Trump for failing to warn the city of the potential disaster.” Read more

 

Jeff Bezos pledges to help WHO flood the world with coronavirus test kits by Alan Boyle at GeekWire. Read more

 

Lowe’s CEO Marvin Ellison says customers are buying appliances and doing home projects as they hunker down at home at CNBC. “Ellison said some customers are buying new water heaters as homes fill up with kids home from college, or additional refrigerators and freezers as they stock-up on food. He said customers are buying items related to “safety and security,” too.” Read more

 

Walmart installs coronavirus floor decals to keep people apart at Fox Business. Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra

Grocery delivery worker returns, crawls through woman’s window in sex-assault attempt

Faster Payments Council taps Walmart exec as new executive director

Consumer use of pay-advance services rises amid layoff fears

Amazon delays boost sales for gourmet grocers in wealthy enclaves

Scooter companies find dockless riding and pandemics don’t mix

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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