“Target looks to hit pause on holiday partnerships” by Thomas Lee at Star-Tribune.  “While the Minneapolis-based retailer hasn’t completely ruled it out, creating an extensive line in time for December would be highly impractical, since Target normally needs a year or so to plan such an ambitious project.  “We have no current plans for a holiday design partnership,” spokeswoman Katie Boylan said.  Target’s decision not to deploy its most potent weapon for the most crucial sales period of the year follows its failed collaboration with Neiman Marcus last Christmas.”  Read more: https://www.startribune.com/business/214090631.html

 

“Walgreens Gets A Makeover As It Tries To Win Back Customers” by Kim Bhasin at HuffPo.  “The front of Walgreens stores will be changing “fairly dramatically” to promote health-related items over convenience products. That means a renewed focus on the pharmacy, immunizations, clinics, vitamins, beauty products, skincare and more, reflected both through the items offered in stores and the training of staff.”  Read more:  https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/01/walgreens-makeover-changes_n_3529984.html

 

“Eight Orchard Supply stores slated to close” at Silicon Valley Business Journal.  “Orchard Supply Hardware has announced the first stores to close as part of the San Jose-based retailer’s restructuring plan.”  See the list:  https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2013/07/02/here-are-the-first-eight-orchard.html

 

“Lowe’s and Walgreens to ‘Monetize Their Parking Lots’ ” by Sebastian Blanco at Auto Blog Green.  “There are currently 1,800 Hertz 24/7 locations with a total of 35,000 vehicles open around the world, and that number is expected to grow to 2,000 by the end of the year. This growth will come from adding stores like Lowes and Walgreens to the list. It’s appealing to retailers because they will be “able to monetize their parking lot. It’s almost a no-brainer. It’s part of our asset-light strategy, investing in technology and making the car, if you will, the bricks and mortar,” Hertz CEO Mark Frissora told Bloomberg.”  Read more:  https://green.autoblog.com/2013/06/28/hertz-247-carsharing-available-to-most-americans-by-2016/

 

“Will the Sharing Economy Destroy Brands?”  by Francine Hardaway at Fast Company.  “Altimeter, which has done really ground-breaking research into this new movement, proposes three possibilities for rethinking business models to contend with what’s coming. The first is called Company-as-Service.. The second, Motivating a Marketplace, involves getting out in front of the trend, and helping your customers buy your goods used and resell what they’ve finished using…And the third, Provide a Platform, is what sites like Etsy and eBay, newer brands, already do. They encourage customers to connect with each other.”  Read more:  https://www.fastcompany.com/3013681/leadership-now/will-the-sharing-economy-destroy-brands?utm_source=twitter

 

“Roundy’s — Reinventing the Grocery Store Experience at Fox Business”  “Roundy’s CEO Bob Mariano breaks down his business strategy.”  See the in-store video interview:  https://video.foxbusiness.com/v/2521284995001/reinventing-the-grocery-store-experience/?playlist_id=2219436024001&Intcmp=conferenceroom

 

“Foreign retail majors ignore India invite for investment” at Business Standard.  “American chains such as the The Kroger Company, Costco Wholesale, Walgreens and The Home Depot did not come, though they were reported to be part of the invitee list. Two German supermarket chains, Schwarz and Aldi, were asked to come but preferred to stay away.  When asked, Walgreens’ spokesperson Vivika Panagiotakakos said, “We don’t have any record of receiving an invitation to the event…It is believed Home Depot is not looking at India at this point.”  Read more:  https://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/foreign-retail-majors-ignore-india-invite-for-investment-113070100002_1.html

 

“National Retail Federation Applauds Administration’s Decision to Delay Provisions of Obamacare”  ““We commend the Administration’s wise move to delay the employer reporting and penalty obligations under the Affordable Care Act.  “This one year delay will provide employers and businesses more time to update their health care coverage without threat of arbitrary punishment.”  Read more:  https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130702006326/en/NRF-Applauds-Administration%E2%80%99s-Decision-Delay-Provisions-Affordable?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

 

“Kenneth Salazar Added to Target Corporation’s Board of Directors” at WSJ.  “Target Corporation announced today that Kenneth Salazar, former U.S. Secretary of the Interior and U.S. Senator from Colorado, has been added to its Board of Directors, effective immediately.”  Read more:  https://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20130702-908849.html

 

Thanks for reading…Enjoy July 4th weekend…We’ll return July 8th.

 

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