“Home Depot makes a one-time exception so it can get in on the oil boom” by Sam Black at Minn./St. Paul Bus. Journal.  “How urgently does The Home Depot want to get into the oil-boom area in western North Dakota?  Consider that for the first time in the company’s history, Home Depot is converting an existing building into a retail store.”  Read more:  https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/blog/opportunity_north_dakota/2013/05/home-depot-headed-to-williston-nd.html

 

“New Reward Program Habits May Cost Consumers Money” by Kelli Grant at CNBC.  “But consumers aren’t quite as loyal — they’re active in just 44 percent of those programs, a drop of 4.3 percent from 2010. Participation in some kinds of programs is also down, with 1 percent fewer grocery program members and a 21 percent drop in fuel and convenience store memberships.”  Read more:  https://www.cnbc.com/id/100780645

 

“From more workers to fewer toilets, Lowe’s CEO lays out growth plan” by Ely Portillo at The Charlotte Observer.  ” “Part of the focus is to tighten up the width of the assortment and go deeper,” Niblock said. For example, in the past Lowe’s stocked a wider range of toilets in every store. “Last year, they went through the toilet line. They narrowed the width of the offering,” he said. “The width of the (product) line, not the width of the seat,” he specified…The company is 80 percent finished with its item-by-item review, Niblock said, and 30 percent of stores have been “reset” with the new stock.”  Read more:  https://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/05/31/4078270/from-more-workers-to-fewer-toilets.html#storylink=cpy

 

“Smartphone users are on the web so much that they are becoming ‘ubiquitous shoppers’, research suggests” at Internet Retailing.  “60% of shoppers said they’d accessed the internet on their phone while watching TV, confirming the continuing rise of so-called ‘second-screening’- where people interact with TV content using their phones.  Outside of the home, shoppers are most likely to be online while commuting (51%), at a bar/pub (45%) and at work (42%). Crucially for retailers, 36% of shoppers are increasingly using their phones to access the internet while they’re out shopping.”  Read more:  https://etail.sharedby.co/share/jwYBJB

 

“Wegmans to require all fresh produce be GAP-compliant by September” by Joan Murphy at The Product News.  “”If selling fresh produce, by September 2013, you are going to need to have at a minimum a GAP audit on record with us demonstrating you’ve got things in place that reduce or minimize the potential for contamination of product,” Pool said.”  Read more:  https://www.producenews.com/index.php/news-dep-menu/test-featured/10440-wegmans-to-require-all-fresh-produce-be-gap-complaint-by-september

 

“Walmart Introduces Supercube Tractor Trailers to increase fuel economy, get trucks off the road” by Lloyd Alter at Treehugger.  “Poor Andy Ellis. The Vice President of supply chain and logistics for Walmart Canada took the early morning redeye to Calgary for the Pathways 2 Sustainability conference to speak about “Corporate Contributions to Sustainability”, only to be questioned about GMOs, wages and toxic waste. That’s a shame, because he had a real story to tell about trucks.”  Read more:  https://www.treehugger.com/corporate-responsibility/walmart-introduces-supercube-tractor-trailers-increase-fuel-economy-get-trucks-road.html

 

“Millennials More Optimistic than Older Entrepreneurs” by Gabrielle Karol at Fox Business News.  “Despite having their early careers shaped by the economic challenges of the Great Recession, small business owners ages 18-34 are considerably more positive than older entrepreneurs. Seventy percent of millennial entrepreneurs expect increased revenue, while only 54% of entrepreneurs 35- to 50-years-old say the same.”  Read more: https://smallbusiness.foxbusiness.com/entrepreneurs/2013/05/31/sonnys-cheered-up-millennials-more-optimistic-than-older-entrepreneurs/#ixzz2V9lNgj1h

 

“Wegmans opening (in Rochester) draws thousands” by Neeti Upadye at Democrat & Chronicle.  “Ron Granston, 75, of Rochester, was the fourth person in line and had been waiting outside since 2 a.m.  “I love Wegmans . . . period,” Granston said. “Wegmans workers sent out coffee and doughnuts for us and it has been a wonderful experience so far.”  Wegmans officials said there were between 900 and 1,000 people waiting outside to enter the store, and once the doors opened, it took more than 15 minutes before every shopper was inside.”  Read more:  https://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20130519/NEWS01/130519007/Wegmans-opening-draws-thousands?nclick_check=1

 

“It’s Official! The End of Competitive Advantage” by Steve Denning at Forbes.  ““Strategy is stuck,” Professor McGrath’s book tells us. “Virtually all strategy frameworks and tools in use today are based on a single dominant idea: that the purpose of strategy is to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. This idea is strategy’s most fundamental concept. It’s every company’s holy grail. And it’s no longer relevant for more and more companies.”  Read more:  https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2013/06/02/its-official-the-end-of-competitive-advantage/

 

Thanks for reading…

 

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