Kohl’s lands deal with Fanatics to sell its licensed sports gear online at CNBC. “The partnership will make Fanatics the exclusive distributor of all licensed sports apparel and accessories — for men, women and kids — for Kohl’s.” Read more

 

Walmart unveils plans for its sprawling new home office in Bentonville by Lauren Thomas at CNBC. “Walmart is one step closer to moving into a new home office for more than 14,000 people, which will be outfitted with fitness centers for employees and their families, a child-care facility, more diverse dining options like food trucks, trails for hiking and biking, and tons of windows — yes, more windows. Walmart’s current home office is notorious for lacking natural light.” Pics/Read more

 

…(Dan) Bartlett did not disclose a construction cost Friday. One real estate executive in Benton County has previously estimated Walmart’s investment could be close to $1 billion. by Kim Souza at Talk Business.  Read more

 

Amazon Bets on Kohl’s as Its Own Brick-and-Mortar Efforts Falter by Spencer Soper & Jordyn Holman at Bloomberg. “One Chicago-area Kohl’s store accepts more than 1,000 Amazon returns a day, according to an employee who works there. Most of the shoppers are handed a coupon offering 25% off of any product from Kohl’s.” Tiered subs.

 

Lowe’s acquires retail analytics platform from Boomerang Commerce “The platform provides a retail analytics solution that processes product and pricing data sets to convert them to insights and actions. The acquisition is designed to assist in modernizing and digitizing Lowe’s approach to pricing.” Press release

 

Sears’ Seven Decades of Self-Destruction by Geoff Colvin & Phil Wahba at Fortune. “After closing more than 3,500 stores over the past 14 years and filing for bankruptcy last fall, Sears could use some genuine good news. A Sears spokesman says the post-bankruptcy business “has many assets and advantages that position the company for success.” Read more

 

Amazon leads $575M funding round for Uber Eats competitor Deliveroo by Nat Levy at GeekWire. Read more

 

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Ikea invests in Livspace, a one-stop platform for interior design based in India by Jon Russell at TechCrunch. “Livspace…is aimed at taking the hassle out of interior design. The company’s platform connects homeowners with designers and the supply chain to go through ideas, chose a plan and implement it.” Read more

 

CVS boosts beauty sales by discouraging airbrushing by Laura Entis at PR Week. PR Week subs. 

 

‘Playing Catch-Up in the Game of Life.’ Millennials Approach Middle Age in Crisis by Janet Adamy & Paul Overberg at Wall Street Journal. “…millennial households had an average net worth of about $92,000 in 2016, nearly 40% less than Gen X households in 2001, adjusted for inflation…Gen X men working full time and who were heads of households earned 18% more than their millennial counterparts, and baby boomer men earned 27% more, when adjusting for inflation, age and other socioeconomic variables.” WSJ subs.

 

Lidl to open 25 new stores across the East Coast by Spring 2020 Press release/Location list

 

America’s Busiest Port Gets Ready for Robots at Bloomberg via Yahoo Finance. “The International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which represents dockworkers across the West Coast, has gathered support from local, state and federal politicians for its effort to prevent the municipal board running the port from letting the company proceed with its plans.” Read more

 

Morgan Stanley upgrades ‘retail survivor’ Target at CNBC. “The firm upgraded the stock to equal-weight from underweight and reiterated its $67 price target.” Read more

 

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