Retail Intel Weekly: Target, 7-Eleven, Rite Aid and More

AMAZONAmazon will open 10 Amazon 4-star stores in 2020 to add to the nine locations it has opened to date.Amazon had a blowout fourth quarter (ended Dec. 31, 2019), with earnings that far exceeded all expectations as well as its own. Amazon’s net income increased to $3.3 billion in the quarter, compared with net income of $3.0 billion in the year-ago period. Amazon is unveiling design details of the electric vans it says will enhance the safety and comfort of drivers while making deliveries more efficient and eliminating 4 million metric tons of carbon per year by 2030.WALMARTWalmart's executive vice president of central operations and realty, Mark Ibbotson, is leaving the company, according to reports. The retailer is also shifting some of its staff and projects from under the central operations division to its product team led by recently hired chief product officer Meng Chee. Senior VP of customer product innovation and a leader of Walmart's online grocery expansion, Tom Ward, is moving to Chee's team, as is SVP John Crecelius who is tasked with improving store processes.Walmart is temporarily limiting all non-business critical travel to, from, and within mainland China, and conducting all planned meetings virtually, to minimize the spread of the coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China. The company is placing no additional restrictions on global travel, but is asking all home office employees who have been in China between Jan. 14-31 to work remotely throughout the 14-day incubation period for the virus. MASSTarget is launching a private label line of premium luggage. Rolling out to stores on Feb. 9 and target.com Feb. 13, Open Story will encompass nearly 40 luggage and accessory items ranging from $19.99 to $179.99 in price, which according to a Feb. 5 "A Bullseye View" blog post is 25-30% lower than comparable luggage brands. Target's delivery service Shipt is getting a new "logo and a cheerful new color palette that guests will see on everything," according to a Feb. 6 "A Bullseye View" blog post. The retailer says the updated look is a natural next step for Shipt, which was acquired by Target in 2017. Since then, the mass merchant has taken Shipt nationwide, offering same-day delivery to millions of Target shoppers in nearly 250 markets in 48 states.CONVENIENCE 7-Eleven is piloting a 700-square-foot cashierless store with employees at its Irving, TX, headquarters. To test the store, employees download an app, sign up, check in at the store, enter the store, shop and exit, according to Institute sister-publication Chain Store Age. A detailed receipt appears in the app automatically after the customer exits. A proprietary mixture of algorithms and predictive technology enables the store system to separate individual customers and their purchases from others in the store. The concept store offers an assortment of the most popular products sold in regular 7-Eleven stores, including beverages, snacks, food, groceries, over-the-counter drugs, and non-food items. The retailer will continue to refine the product mix.7-Eleven has reached an agreement to add more than 100 independently run 7-Eleven-branded convenience stores in Oklahoma. Under the deal, the retailer will acquire 7-Eleven Stores of Oklahoma, which has been independently operating 7-Eleven-branded locations in central Oklahoma for nearly seven decades. The deal is expected to close within the next two to three months.DRUGRite Aid has named Andre Persaud EVP of retail operations. In his new role, Persaud will oversee the company’s retail operations, supply chain asset protection and store facilities. Persaud has experience in grocery, pharmacy, apparel and beauty services; but most recently was an executive consultant for Wakefern Food, and before that, an EVP of retail for Shopko.Walgreens Boots Alliance has promoted longtime Walgreens executive Richard Ashworth to president of Walgreens. Ashworth will now oversee strategy development for the chain, as well as full responsibility for its leadership, development and management. GROCERYAfter teasing it in some recent chain circulars and Big Book of Savings catalogs, Albertsons Cos. officially kicked off its annual Monopoly collect-and-win game on Feb. 5 and will run it for the next 13 weeks.After a turbulent two years, Albertsons has relaunched its meal kit brand Plated, following a reassessment of the brand and its delivery method. First reported by BoiseDev, the new meal kits sport a reworked brand but remain largely the same, though ingredients now come pre-chopped, unlike before. The state of Plated has been all over the place the past two years. Albertsons acquired the company in 2017, then rolled out the kits across banners in 2018 before abruptly pulling the kits from most stores in March 2019, shortly after Plated co-founder Josh Hix left the company. A month later, the company laid off about 10% of its New York City staff.H-E-B is suing The Home Depot and other companies for patent infringement on the Texas grocer's private cooler brand Kodi. H-E-B is seeking a court-order demanding the companies involved recall the coolers and destroy advertising materials and all other materials used to make the coolers including plates and molds. (Read more on this from Institute sister-brand Progressive Grocer.)

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