Target, Inc.

With many retailers such as Walmart and Target focused on opening smaller stores, Midwest supermarket operator Roundy’s is thinking big in Chicago with its newest Mariano’s location.

A former Target executive who led new format, new store and remodeling programs while also overseeing pharmacies and clinics is joining Rite Aid as executive vice president of store operations.

Bryan Everett will be responsible for all operations at the company’s nearly 4,600 chainwide stores and will report to Rite Aid’s president and COO Ken Martindale. Everett will succeed Bob Thompson, who has announced his retirement from the company, effective January.

Market forces have driven consolation throughout all of retail and especially health care where Target recently sold its pharmacy business to CVS Health. How is it that 20,000 independent pharmacies continue to thrive in an increasingly complex health care world and what can other retailers learn from their experience.

Minneapolis -- The transformation of Target Corp. under the leadership of new CEO Brian Cornell continues with the departure of one of its top-ranking executives.

The company announced that Kathryn A. Tesija, executive VP, chief merchandising and supply chain officer will move into an “advisory role” effective July 6.

The woman who put the “T” in Tarjay is stepping down from her role as chief merchandising officer and adding some uncertainty about the retailer’s direction under the leadership of chairman and CEO Brian Cornell.

New York -- Walmart’s Neighborhood Markets format offers a compelling source of new sales growth for the nation’s largest retailer, according to a report by Moody’s.

Despite strategic shifts to compete more successfully with the company, traditional supermarkets will feel the pressure as Walmart moves to increase its already dominant share of the US grocery segment.

Walmart Neighborhood Markets offer a compelling source of new sales growth for the company, Moody’s says in a new report. 

Despite strategic shifts to compete more successfully with the company, traditional supermarkets will feel the pressure as Walmart moves to increase its already dominant share of the U.S. grocery segment.

All good things must come to end — including, after nearly four years, my contributions to this column. “Retail Rap” will soon be forging on without me. This is the first of two final columns I’ll be contributing, and I’ll beg your indulgence if I wax nostalgic at times in this, column number 99, and in my last submission two weeks from now, Retail Rap number 100.

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will no longer sell merchandise featuring the Confederate flag in its stores or online. The retailer is removing the flag, long a source of controversy due to its connections to slavery and use as a symbol by white supremacists, in the wake of a racially-motivated mass shooting at a historically black Charleston, South Carolina church.

San Francisco – In its latest step toward becoming more of a commerce platform, Twitter is testing two new ways to make finding content about products easier. The first pilot is of a new way to surface and organize relevant Tweets about products and places on dedicated pages.

These pages will feature images and video about the product alongside information such as a description, price, and an option to buy, book, or visit the website for more information. Twitter is starting to experiment with a small number of products and places.