First CEO of Sam’s Club shares lessons learned from Sam Walton by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “Sam was like a father to me. He coached my first baseball team and after I graduated from Bentonville High School I joined the military and spent four years in the service. After I came home in 1964, Sam approached me about going to college. He wanted to help. He offered to front me the money for college or teach me the retail ropes. Not wanting to go in debt for college, I took him up on the job opportunity,” (Ron) Loveless said.” Read more

 

Target’s Tesija Attempts to Patch Things Up at A Bullseye View. “When we look at the amount of Lilly Pulitzer for Target product being resold, it translates to roughly 1.5 percent of the collection…The experience guests had on Target.com early Sunday morning wasn’t acceptable. It’s as simple as that…We won’t be restocking this collection: once it’s gone, it’s gone.” Read more

 

…Even Lilly Pulitzer’s own family couldn’t beat the rush at Target by Brittany Shammas at Sun-Sentinel. “Liza Pulitzer had her eye on brightly colored beach chairs that debuted Sunday as part of the hotly anticipated collaboration between Palm Beach-inspired fashion label Lilly Pulitzer and big-box retailer Target.” Read more

 

…I survived Lilly at Target by Katherine Peralta at Charlotte Five. “A bunch of other shoppers stared eagerly at our finds, and I actually feared we might get mugged…Others were parked inside dressing rooms, ready to scoop up unwanted pieces. One friend witnessed tears from disappointed teens, another saw two fighting over a pillow.” Read more

 

Eva Longoria designs bedding for J.C. Penney by Maria Halkias at Dallas News. “More than 150 of Penney’s 1,000 stores, including seven in Puerto Rico, have a large Hispanic customer base. Some of the company’s best-performing stores are in that group. Initially, Longoria’s collection will be in about 100 stores in places like Dallas, Los Angeles and Miami.” Read more

 

Tesla Wants to Power Wal-Mart by Dana Hull at Bloomberg. “Tesla is signing up big customers like Wal-Mart and Cargill, accelerating efforts to become a leader in energy storage…Mack Wycoff, Wal-Mart’s senior manager for renewable energy and emissions, said the company is intrigued by energy storage. “Instead of pulling electricity from the grid, you discharge it from the battery,” he said. “Ideally you know when your period of peak demand is, and you discharge it then.” Read more

 

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Costco Wholesale Now #71 Largest Company at Forbes.  Read more

 

Sam’s Club launches slate of new services targeting small business owners by Tricia Duryee at GeekWire. “The company is planning to announce today that it is offering discounts on a number of third-party services designed to make running a small business easier. The new services consist of identity theft protection; accounting services; small loans center; credit card processing; and website design.” Read more

 

Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores, Inc. Announces CEO to Step Down Read the release

 

Wal-Mart Looks to U.K. Unit for Lessons on Online Groceries by Saabira Chaudhuri at Dow Jones. “Asda is in the midst of constructing a “supercenter of lockers,” at a gas station on a major road between two of the U.K.’s biggest cities, Liverpool and Manchester, says the chain’s former retail director, Mark Ibbotson, who now leads innovation for Wal-Mart U.S….Once a customer punches in a code, the (robotic) arms locate the orders from their compartments, and put them on a conveyor belt from which they emerge at a collection point for pick up.” Read more

 

Struggling Tesco posts pre-tax loss of $9.5B by Holly Ellyatt at CNBC. “The loss was the largest in the high street stalwart’s 96 year history.” Read more

 

Wal-Mart’s Mexican Unit Sees 1Q Boost in Profit, Sales at Dow Jones. “Walmex Chief Executive Enrique Ostale said sales at Sam’s Club stores open more than 12 months grew by 6.8% during the quarter, for a marked improvement versus a double-digit decline in the unit’s same-store sales for the same period of 2014. Even so, the Sam’s turnaround remains a “work-in-progress,” Mr. Ostale said.” Read more

 

Walgreens Brings Well Beyond HIV Campaign to San Francisco  Read the release

 

Amazon quietly launches all-new travel site by Tricia Duryee at GeekWire. “Amazon is now allowing you to add a hotel room to your shopping cart. The new travel site called Amazon Destinations is emphasizing local getaways that are within a short drive of your home, with the tagline “Hit the road: Book local getaways.” Read more

 

IRI Announces Most Successful Consumer Packaged Goods Brands of 2014  See the Top 10 new product launches

 

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