Wal-Mart says ‘Yes’ to every U.S.-made product pitched for Walmart.com by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “When Steve Bratspies, chief merchandising officer for Walmart U.S., made the announcement at the Open Call and U.S. Manufacturing Summit in Bentonville Tuesday (June 28) the crowd erupted with cheers. Bratspies said a few weeks ago he wanted to be able to tell everyone yes and after working with buyers for Walmart.com that is now a reality.” Read more

 

WALMART CEO SPEAKS TO PROSPECTIVE SUPPLIERS AT END-OF-DAY MEETING by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “Your feedback is important to us as we try and achieve this $250 billion investment in U.S. made goods. We don’t manufacture things so we need your help. … We want to drive growth and be a place you can count on for growth year after year. We set an objective with Wall Street to grow our business by $45 billion to $60 billion over the next three years and we can’t do that without you” McMillon said.” Read more

 

Costco Used Weak Canadian Dollar to Repatriate Funds by Vipal Monga at WSJ. “A weak Canadian dollar and a quirk in U.S. tax rules allowed Costco Wholesale Corp. to repatriate more than $1.5 billion dollars over two years, virtually tax-free…The company essentially paid no U.S. taxes on the repatriated money, said Richard Galanti, the chief financial officer, in an interview.” Read more (subscription)

 

Home Depot Exec Named Head Merchant at Sobey’s “Lyne Castonguay will oversee all aspects of Sobeys go-to-market strategy, with responsibility for category management, marketing, data insights, research, procurement, private label and merchandising as well as the company’s digital strategy.” Read the release

 

Has Wal-Mart’s Revamped ShippingPass Subscription Ignited Shopper Interest? by Pam Goodfellow at Forbes. “A year ago…more than one in ten (12.4%) indicated that they would be “likely” or “very likely” to subscribe to the service. Fast forward a year: while Walmart has sweetened its subscription offering, it seems that interest in the program has only increased marginally with 14.8% reporting in early June 2016 that they would be “likely” or “very likely” to subscribe to the program, rising 18.6% year-over-year.” Read more

 

…Walmart offering a free 30-day trial of ShippingPass – unlimited two-day shipping Read more

 

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Colorado: Whole Foods to move regional headquarters to Denver from Boulder by Alicia Wallace & Emilie Rusch at Denver Post. “By early next year, the Austin, (Whole Foods) will settle about 100 employees into a historic, three-story brick building near Coors Field that once housed Centennial School Supply Co.” Read more

 

‘WE’RE NOT GOING TO MEET WITH A LYNCH MOB’ – Officials say no to Fremont town hall meeting for Costco chicken plant by Barbara Soderlin at World-Omaha. “His comments came after Cecilia Harry, executive director of the Greater Fremont Development Council, said attempts to meet with concerned residents in small groups have been disrupted when opponents became “hostile and disorderly.” Read more

 

Walmart heirs give $250 million to aid charter schools “To start, the initiative will focus on 17 cities to help create spaces for students to attend school in high-need urban areas. By 2027, the initiative will help public charter schools serve at least 250,000 more students across the nation.” Read the release

 

Bon-Ton could default in the next 12 months, says S&P Global Ratings by Melanie Lawder at Milwaukee Business Journal. “Bon-Ton operates 267 department stores in the Northeast, Midwest and upper Great Plains under the Bon-Ton, Bergner’s, Boston Store, Carson’s, Elder-Beerman, Herberger’s and Younkers nameplates.” Read more

 

Wal-Mart Deal With JD.com Includes Incentives for Retailer to Raise Stake by Juro Osawa at WSJ. “…Under those terms, which haven’t been made public, Wal-Mart would gain observer status at JD.com Inc.’s board meetings if the U.S. company increased its shareholding to a level equivalent to a 10% stake, based on current shares outstanding, the person said.” Read more (subscription)

 

Sports Authority received several bids covering “substantially all” of its intellectual property assets, bankruptcy research firm Reorg reported Tuesday via Alicia Wallace at Denver Post. Read more

 

Kellogg opening cereal cafe in NYC amid soggy sales at AP. “Kellogg says its cereal cafe, located on Broadway, between 48th and 49th streets, will open July 4. The cafe will also serve ice cream dishes, juices and coffees. Later this year, Kellogg says it plans to offer delivery.” Read more

 

Tweet @sbanjo: General Mills calls out Walmart for 30% fewer shelf displays as hurting sales 

 

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