Wal-Mart CFO Brett Biggs tells Wall Street to not underestimate the retail giant by Kim Souza at Talk Business. “He spoke Wednesday (Mar. 8) at the Raymond James Investor Conference held in Orlando, Fla. Biggs reminded the group that the retailer serves 260 million customers each week around the world and is on track to hit $500 billion this year in sales revenue…Biggs told investors he came to Wal-Mart 17 years ago when it was a $160 billion company and at that time there also were naysayers about future Wal-Mart growth.” Read more

 

Amazon just confirmed its 10th book store, signaling this is way more than an experiment by Jason Del Rey at Recode. “People were surprised when Amazon announced its first brick-and-mortar bookstore in November 2015. Then came No. 2, 3 and 4. Sixteen months later, Amazon just confirmed to Recode that it is now working on store No. 10 — a location at the Bellevue Square shopping center across Lake Washington from Seattle.” Read more

 

Amazon actually isn’t the biggest problem, Macy’s CFO says by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC. “As chains like Macy’s and J.C. Penney remove 100 or more stores from their fleets, TJX, Burlington and Ross are on the expansion track…To fight back, Macy’s is taking a page out of those chains’ books. “I think you’re going to see more of that enter into the Macy’s logic” (CFO Karen Hoguet) said.” Read more

 

Ikea/Dollar General/Petco/Michaels Leaders Lobby Republicans in Tax Showdown by Lindsey Rupp at Bloomberg. “Four industry executives are scheduled to meet with Republicans in the House and Senate on Wednesday, including Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas and Senator Cory Gardner of Colorado. Business leaders from Ikea Group, Dollar General Corp., Petco Animal Supplies Inc. and Michaels Cos. will discuss the tax proposal, which they argue will raise prices for consumers.” Read more

 

At the Made in America Store, it’s a challenge to keep the aisles full by Barbara Demick at LA Times via Chicago Tribune. “Shoppers in search of a specific item would be advised to head to Wal-Mart. But the novelty of shopping American is enough of an adventure that the Made in America flagship attracts more than 600 tour buses annually.” Read more

 

Inside Cumberland Farms’ new 600-employee Westborough headquarters by David L. Harris at Boston Business Journal. 7 pics/Read more

 

Hiring Refugees Is Hurting Starbucks’ Brand, Analysts Say by Ryan Kilpatrick at Fortune. “According to YouGov BrandIndex, consumer perception levels for the company have fallen by two-thirds since late January.” Read more

 

Camping World Q4 Total Revenue +3.5% Press release

 

How much is your junk worth? eBay’s new Google Home ‘shopbot’ knows by Nat Levy at GeekWire. “In a demonstration of the new tool during a keynote address, RJ Pittman, eBay’s chief product officer, asked Google Home to talk to eBay. Pittman then told the eBay chatbot that he had a Canon camera, and after a brief conversation of specifics, the chatbot came up with a value for the camera.” Read more

 

Analyst: These 39 J.C. Penney stores are likely to close by Korri Kezar at Dallas Business Journal. Highest risk list

 

Lowe’s tops Home Depot in weekly radio spots at Inside Radio. “Lowe’s delivered 30,974 spots from Feb. 27-Mar. 3, topping rival Home Depot, which has been charting within radio’s top 10 for most of 2017. The latter home center is No. 5, down from last week’s No. 2, delivering 28,663 ads over the airwaves.” Read more

 

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Sears Q4 comp revenues down 10.3%, driven by an 8% drop at Kmart and a 12.3% decline at Sears at CNBC Read more

 

J.Jill Announces Pricing of IPO @ $13/share Press release

 

Top Department Stores Fashion Directors Talk Predictions for 2017 by Erin E. Clack at Footwear News. “Here, Nordstrom’s Olivia Kim, Barneys’ Marina Larroudé, Bergdorf Goodman’s Bruce Pask and Bloomingdale’s Justin Berkowitz share a glimpse into their busy working days, the big projects they’re tackling and the people who inspire them…” Q&A

 

Lands’ End names MLB exec Robert Bowman to board by Melanie Lawder at Milwaukee Business Journal. “The appointment comes as Lands’ End’s new president and CEO Jerome Griffith officially started his role at the helm of the company on Monday.” Read more

 

Staples Q4 Comp Sales -1.0% Press release

 

Lionel Richie and Amazon to Kick Off Shoptalk 2017 “Shoptalk’s impressive lineup of more than 330 speakers features top industry executives including Mindy Grossman, CEO & Director of HSN, Inc.; Devin Wenig, President & CEO of eBay; Michael Evans, President of Alibaba Group; Calvin McDonald, President & CEO of Sephora Americas; Brian Cornell, Chairman & CEO of Target; and Kevin Mansell, CEO & President of Kohl’s.” Press release/List of speakers

 

Big Tobacco Has Caught Startup Fever at Bloomberg. “Over the past two years, to nurture its community of IQOS users, Philip Morris has opened a series of retail stores throughout Europe and Asia. The IQOS store in London sits on a hip commercial stretch in Soho…” Read more

 

How Aldi Australia managing director Bronwyn Post motivates her team of more than 1000 employees by Eloise Keating at Smart Company. Q&A

 

From car parts to kettles and even ballet slippers: Slurpee fans get creative for 7-Eleven’s BYO Cup Day by Nic White at Daily Mail. “The annual ‘Bring You Own Cup’ bonanza sees thousands of frozen beverage fans give themselves almighty brain freezes with all manner of creative containers. They included kettles, kitchen measuring jugs, entire water coolers, huge jars, pots and pans, milk bottles, water bottles, and even a large watering can.” Pics/Read more

 

Elderly woman describes bread aisle beatdown at Walmart at WCNC Charlotte. “She kept socking me in my glasses, and then hitting me in my mouth. I started hollering, ‘Help, help.’ Despite her screams, the grandmother said that no one came to her rescue.” Video/Pics/Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Store closures prove retail’s bubble has ‘burst,’ says Urban Outfitters CEO

Uber’s search for a #2 exec — where does that leave ex-Target CMO Jeff Jones?

Jury convicts man in hammer attack on Ferguson Home Depot hot dog vendor

Dead shark ends up outside a St. Augustine Walmart

At least 50 frogs dumped in Aldi parking lot

Weis Markets opens new format store with a pub and ice cream parlor

Home Depot’s IT Chief a Google Fan

Walton College promotes new program with access to Senior Walmart execs

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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