News

Walmart to make a big move—literally—in about five years
Even headquarters have shelf life. Walmart is planning to build a new, central headquarters — one better suited to a "digitally native" workforce — in its hometown of Bentonville, Arkansas. The discount giant revealed the news in a note by CEO Doug McMillion on the company's website.
Fair Scheduling Laws: Implications for retail, and navigating the changes
Oregon passed Senate Bill 828, known as the “Fair Work Week” law, last month. This law requires foodservice, retail and hospitality employers to give hourly workers reliable work week schedules upon hire, maintain a voluntary list of standby employees to address unanticipated customer needs or unexpected employee absences, and provide their workers with advance notice of schedule changes.

Gap CEO draws ‘line in the sand’

Gap Inc. CEO Art Peck is refocusing the 3,000-store company on the areas with the biggest potential for driving growth — and they do not include its oldest divisions. “We’re certainly not giving up on Gap or Banana [Republic], but we’re acknowledging the world continues to change,” Peck said in an interview with Bloomberg. “And those are the two most mature brands in the portfolio.”
Department store giant scales back holiday hiring

Fewer stores translates into reduced holiday hiring for Macy's this year. Macy's plans to hire a total of 80,000 workers for the holiday rush, down from about 83,000 last year. The company has been closing underperforming stores and currently operates some 70 fewer stores than it did last year.
Study: Amazon cashes in on sweet and salty snacks

Amazon has evolved into a destination for a variety of categories, and now it’s adding sweets and snacks to this portfolio. Out of $49 billion in total sales across sweets and snacks in 2016, Amazon rang up $240 million in 2016. And between January-August 2017, the online giant has already grabbed $215 million — a year-over-year (YoY) growth of 42%, according to “Sweets & Snacks: The Amazon Effect,” a report from One Click Retail.
Specialty boating supplies retailer acquired

West Marine has gone private. Monomoy Capital Partners announced Thursday that it has successfully completed the acquisition of West Marine for approximately $337 million, or $12.97 per share. The transaction was originally announced at the end of June.
Report: Amazon’s 1-Click patent runs its course

A patent that changed how customers make purchases online has expired — and opened up new opportunities for competitors. The “1-Click” patent filed by Amazon in 1997, expired Tuesday. As a result, any brand can now feature this functionality on their own e-commerce site, according to C-Net.
Shoptalk 2018 reveals initial speaker lineup

The president and CEO of Macy's, Jeff Gennette, and Google's president of global partnerships, Daniel Alegre, will be among the headliners at Shoptalk 2018, the nex-gen retail and e-commerce event. Also on the bill: Alon Cohen, president and co-founder of Houzz, the home furnishings and design site. Shoptalk's final agenda will feature more than 400 speakers, an increase of 25% over 2017’s event.
Study: Hispanic customers going online for holiday shopping

With access to more disposable income, Hispanic consumers will up their holiday spending this year — especially through e-commerce.
Supermarket giant to open its first restaurant

The Kroger Co. is looking to extend its share of consumers' food dollars — this time, however, it’s aiming for the dollars spent on meals outside the home. The supermarket retailer is opening its first-ever full-service restaurant, which will be located next to Kroger's new Marketplace store in Union, Kentucky. In a nod to the year Kroger was founded, the restaurant will be called Kitchen 1883. It will open in late October.