Walmart is testing a robot fry cook named ‘Flippy’ at its delis by Julia La Roche at Yahoo Finance. “Walmart saw what we were doing and said, ‘Could you bring Flippy from Dodgers Stadium to our Culinary Institute?’” Miso Robotics CEO David Zito told Yahoo Finance. Yahoo Finance visited Flippy to see it in action at Walmart’s Culinary Institute and Innovation Center.” Video/Read more

 

Stitch Fix shares plunge on weaker-than-expected user growth at CNBC. “The subscription-based styling service said its active clients grew 22 percent during the fiscal first quarter to 2.9 million, slightly below the 2.95 million active users analysts were predicting.” Read more

 

America’s Best Customer Service 2019 at Newsweek. “Academy beats Dick’s…QuikTrip over Wawa…Meijer bests Target.” Lists

 

BEST TO BLAKE – Blake Nordstrom discloses cancer diagnosis, plans to keep working through treatment by Benjamin Romano at Seattle Times. “Blake Nordstrom…disclosed Monday he has been diagnosed with lymphoma…Nordstrom told customers and shareholders that his cancer is treatable and that he and his doctors “are optimistic and encouraged by my prognosis.” Tiered subs.

 

DSW Q3 comp sales +7.3% Press release

 

Walmart India names Sameer Aggarwal as chief business officer; Devendra Chawla quits as COO at The Economic Times. Read more

 

U.S. Proposal Would Let Postal Service Sell Access to Your Mailbox by Heidi Vogt at Wall Street Journal. “The report notes that revenue could be raised by retaining the mailbox monopoly but allowing regulated access, for a fee, to certified private companies. These “franchisees” would be granted access to the mailbox for the delivery of mail and small parcels, according to the report.” WSJ subs.

 

REI Co-op expands gear rental program to 70 stores Press release

 

**A message from PaintPincher – Never Waste Paint Again! Ingenious paint can spatula that recovers paint, stain, adhesives and more from gallon and quart cans, leaving them 99.9% clean. Save up to a cup of paint per gallon! Video/Website | Request sample: info@eyeonretail.net

 

Walmart partners with Rakuten to open its first ecom store in Japan by Jon Russell at TechCrunch. “Walmart will fulfill orders in the U.S. and they will be sent by air to Japan where Rakuten will use its e-commerce smarts to deliver them. There’s no word on how long the process will take, but it will include shipping cost, duties and taxes in the final price.” Read more

 

‘We’re being mistreated’: Instacart shoppers complain of pay cuts as company shifts to new model by Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz at Chicago Tribune. “Since the new system rolled out in the Chicago market Nov. 5, some local shoppers have been boycotting low-paying orders, in hopes that if enough workers decline to take them the company will be forced to pay more.” Tiered subs.

 

Kroger buying Shopko’s pharmacy business by Joe Taschler at Journal Sentinel. Read more

 

Walmart’s new gaming PCs struggle with the basics at The Verge. “I called Overpowered’s support line, which turns out to be really just several automated menus that eventually lead to a general Walmart representative who could only offer to exchange a product if it turned out to be defective. They were unable to help me with any technical questions or problems.” Read more

 

Casey’s grocery/other merch Q2 comp sales +2.7% Press release

 

Reports and permit records indicate that Amazon has not followed through on plans to build bookstores in at least three locations in Georgia, Colorado and Idaho by Nat Levy at GeekWire. “After three years of operating Amazon Books, we remain excited about all of our stores,” the company said in a statement.” Read more

 

Cato Fashions agrees to multimillion-dollar settlement over discrimination claims by Deon Roberts at Charlotte Observer. “…has agreed to a $3.5 million settlement with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Com­mission…after a “nationwide, systemic investigation” uncovered discrimination against pregnant employees and workers with disabilities.” Tiered subs.

 

Lawyers slap Sears with $5M legal bill — for 17 days of work by Lisa Fickenscher at NY Post. Read more

 

Target pays $3 million for improperly billing automatic prescriptions refills by Abigail Feldman at Boston Globe. “Unauthorized automatic refills can result in inappropriate prescription drug use and wastes taxpayer dollars,” Attorney General Maura Healey said in a statement.” Tiered subs.

 

Terry Lundgren, former Macy’s CEO, joins ‘Squawk Box’ to discuss the health of the consumer and retail economy at CNBC. Video

 

Home Depot holds #1 spot in radio at Radio Ink. “The Home Depot aired 41,207 commercials on radio stations across the country last week, retaining its top spot on the list. GEICO was a very close second running 41,025 spots. eBay clocked in at third with 31,483, followed by two retailers, JCPenney (27,559) and Macy’s (26,329).” Read more

 

Kwik Trip takeover: Rise of the Midwest powerhouse by Trent Tetzlaff at Appleton Post-Crescent via Journal Sentinel. “The company now boasts more than 600 locations in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa, and it continues to keep the pedal down on growth, said Hans Zietlow, director of real estate for Kwik Trip….”we’re probably monitoring 200 sites at any given time to build 50 stores a year.” Read more

 

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