Kroger launches a new fresh food concept by Steve Watkins at Cincinnati Business Courier. “It will open its first Main & Vine shop in the Seattle-area town of Gig Harbor, Wash…The store will offer customers “fresh, affordable” local produce and meat and local craft beer and wine.” Read more

 

Whole Foods Forms Crisis Response Team by Will Anderson at Austin Business Journal. “It’s very difficult to prove your innocence in the court of public opinion when people want to believe what they want to believe,” co-CEO and Whole Foods founder John Mackey told the Austin American-Statesman.” Read more

 

First Walmart, Now Trinity Church Campaigns Against Gun Sales at Cabela’s by Liz Moyer at NY Times. “It wants Cabela’s to stop selling weapons that can fire more than eight rounds without reloading. Trinity made the request in a shareholder proposal for the next annual meeting of Cabela’s shareholders.” Read more

 

Valeant Deal With Walgreens Has Unusual Twist by Jonathan D. Rockoff at WSJ. “Essentially, Valeant is buying back its own drugs from Walgreens and then reselling them on consignment to the pharmacy, said a person familiar with the matter. The transaction is a title swap because Walgreens isn’t returning the drugs, that person said.” Read more (subscription)

 

Starbucks projects yet another gift card windfall by Angel Gonzalez at Seattle Times.”The company says that more than $25 billion has been loaded onto its gift cards since they were launched a decade and a half ago. That’s about the gross domestic product of Trinidad and Tobago.” Read more

 

Search for Elusive ‘Yeti’ Daunting for Holiday Shoppers by Sarah Nassauer at WSJ. “It wasn’t a hot toy causing the 33-year-old hairstylist from Dacula, Ga., to go to such lengths. It was a $40 stainless-steel insulated mug, called the Yeti Rambler. “I have a friend who is in Illinois for business and has gone to 15 different stores,“ says Ms. Inman.” Read more (subscription)

 

Macy’s Knocks Home Depot from Perch at Radio Ink. “Macy’s ran (around) 49,000 commercial last week. moving to the top spot…The Home Depot was pushed down to third with its 35,605 commercials. In fourth was Walgreen’s with 34,105. And rounding out the top five was JC Penney.” Read more

 

Amazon Coaches Merchants To Sell Smarter by Leena Rao at Fortune. “Selling Coach, which is part of Seller mobile app, is one of a number of new features that Amazon has rolled out over the past few months to merchants who sell in its marketplace, Amazon told Fortune exclusively.” Read more

 

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How Canadian Tire is grappling with the economics of e-commerce by Hollie Shaw at Financial Post. “We are in the midst of a transformation, because the economics of e-commerce aren’t there yet,” Allan MacDonald, Canadian Tire’s chief operating officer, said in an interview. “There are still a lot of unanswered questions.” Read more

 

Kroger: Charles Mitchell, VP of operations to retire after 43 years with the company at Supermarket News. Read more

 

Jet.com says it can’t guarantee Christmas delivery by Hadley Malcolm at USA Today. “A banner placed at the top of Jet’s website last week delivers the blow, alerting customers that Jet, “can no longer confidently guarantee delivery,” by Dec. 25 on items that aren’t eligible for two-day shipping.” Read more

 

Holiday Stress: Out of young adults who felt stress in a social situation, 51% of them say they depend on social media to get them through the holiday celebrations by Jonathan Chew at Fortune. Read more

 

Goldman Fund Said to Lend $750 Million for Petco Takeover by Michelle Davis at Forbes. Read more

 

Why Amazon built a warehouse inside a Midtown Manhattan office tower by Ben Fox Rubin at CNET. “We’re standing right in the center of Manhattan. That’s both a blessing and a challenge,” Stephenie Landry, the worldwide director of Prime Now, said in the middle of the warehouse floor Monday.” Read more / See the video

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Woolworths Follows Macy’s, Costco With Plans for Tmall Shopfront

Adweek: Why Do You Get a 2-Foot-Long Receipt for a Pack of Chewing Gum?

Amazon’s Bezos taunts Musk over SpaceX rocket landing

Hy-Vee Launches Grocery Delivery in All 240 Stores

Bloomberg: How the Queen of Home Shopping Does Christmas

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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