The Role of a Corporate Spouse - Marvin & Sharyn Ellison - CEO Lowe's
Sounding board or more? At Lowe's, the Ellisons walk a fine line
Starting His Career in Retail LP This Exec. Reached the Pinnacle
Soon after Marvin Ellison took over as chief executive of Lowe's Cos., his wife, Sharyn, peppered him with questions on why the home-improvement retailer didn't carry certain types of tiles or doors that she wanted for their new Charlotte, N.C., home.

It's a familiar pattern for the couple, who have been married for 26 years and have worked closely together as Mr. Ellison has risen to the top of corporate America.

At J.C. Penney Co. , where he served as CEO until he left in May to join Lowe's, Mrs. Ellison gave him her opinion on store layouts and provided a sounding board for ideas. She was the guest of honor at an employee event and redecorated the CEO's office, leading some staffers to call her the "First Lady."

In recent interviews, Mr. Ellison, 53 years old, said he leans on his wife's judgment, adding that his career "really is both our careers." "There is no one that I count on more for candid, blunt advice and opinions," he said.

The Ellisons are walking a fine line. On the one hand there is a desire for CEOs to display a softer side, and for society at large to acknowledge the behind-the-scenes role of spouses in the success of business leaders. But problems can arise when executives fail to maintain clear boundaries between their personal and professional lives or appear to prioritize the advice of family members over professional managers. wsj.com


This Could Be The Breach That Brings Privacy Laws
Senators call for data breach penalties, tougher privacy laws after Marriott hack
A slew of Democratic senators are calling for tougher privacy laws - and even steep fines for companies that fail to protect their customers' data from data breaches - in the wake of Marriott's admission that hackers compromised the personal information of up to 500 million of its customers.

"We must set clear customer data protection standards for all companies - whether they're hotel chains, online retailers, or big tech - and severe penalties for those who fall short," Sen. Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) tweeted.

Sens. Mark Warner (Va.) and Ed Markey (Mass.) also pressed for tougher data security laws, and said Congress needs to set limits on how much customer data U.S. companies are allowed to store. Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.) went even further - he said senior executives who ignore customer data privacy should face jail time.

After potentially one of the largest breaches of consumer data in history, lawmakers appear ready to take a page out of Europe's playbook to ensure it does not happen again: Their calls for aggressive penalties for companies that have poor data security are reminiscent of the General Data Protection

Wyden outlined on Twitter specific legislation that would impose "harsh fines and prison terms" for companies that misuse consumer data. The bill, which a spokesman said he is preparing to introduce early next year, would set up a new office with the Federal Trade Commission called the Bureau of Technology, give it sweeping powers to punish businesses for lax data security practices, and require it to hire 175 staffers to "police the largely unregulated market for private data."

The bill would also introduce a new set of data security requirements, set up a "do not track" list for individual consumers to opt out of data collection online, and outlines "steep fines (up to 4 percent of annual revenue), on the first offense for companies and 10-20 year criminal penalties for senior executives," according to a release from Wyden's office.

Marriott, for its part, seemed to admit a degree of culpability for the breach of its Starwood reservation system containing addresses, travel locations, credit card numbers, phone numbers, passport numbers. The breach could possibly leave droves of customers vulnerable to espionage or identity theft. washingtonpost.com

Law Enforcement's View of Cyber Crime
Should LP Take the Same Position?
Cyber crime most significant harm in UK, says top cyber cop
Cyber crime is the biggest evolving crime type in the UK and beyond in terms of volume and complexity, according to detective chief superintendent Pete O'Doherty, lead of cyber and head of economic crime at the City of London Police.

"But it is difficult to police, because unlike other crimes where there is an offender, victim and location, cyber crime tends to be multi-national. If you look at the globalisation of goods, people and services, and an epic evolution in technology, it is without doubt the most significant harm in the UK," he told the information security track of the International Security Expo 2018 in London.

"I have been a detective my whole career and the training I have been given has not equipped me with the skills and techniques that I need to investigate cyber crimes involving multiple actors in multiple countries," said O' Doherty

Capability to investigate cyber crime is one of the top challenges, he said, particularly when it comes to cyber dependent crime involving botnets, distributed denial of service (DDoS) and malware, as opposed to the more traditional types of crime that are cyber enabled.

The third major challenge, said O'Doherty, is that while law enforcement and locking people up is important, it is not going to solve the problem of cyber crime.

"There needs to be a massive focus on intervention, disruption, security by design and intelligence sharing if we are ever going to make a difference, and we need to start looking for digital skills in our recruitment and selection processes," he said.

Another necessary change, said O'Doherty, is to increase the use intelligence to find links between cyber criminals and more traditional crimes "to leverage the politics" to get local policing to treat it as a priority. "Al Capone was not put in prison for homicide, but for fraud," he said. computerweekly.com

Editor's Note: The convergence of the two fields is already happening in the public arena. How long will it be before the private industry converges? The inevitable need to monitor, identify and respond in real-time both online and in the store merged together as one will lead to this ultimate convergence. Regardless of the forces working against it. Just a thought. -Gus Downing

Hollywood, CA: Suspected Shoplifter shot to death at Hollywood Walgreens
A suspected shoplifter was shot to death by a security guard at a Hollywood Walgreens drug store, authorities said Monday. The shooting was reported about 8:10 p.m. Sunday at the Walgreens at Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street, Officer D. Orris of the LAPD Operations Center said.

The man became involved in a fight with the security guard, who fired on him, Orris said. The man was believed to have been shoplifting when he encountered the security guard, police told reporters at the scene. He was shot in the upper body, police said.  ktla.com

Washington Trying to Pass New Concealment Bill
Seattle, Wash. - Shoplifting & ORC Cost Washington Families $400 a Year
Great TV Coverage on ORC - Supported By Washington Retail Association
News coverage like this is pretty typical especially around the holidays and it certainly increases public awareness and helps hopefully with public support of legislation.

Prices are raised to cover the losses, costing the average family in Washington State an additional $400 a year, according to Mark Johnson with the Washington Retail Association.

"We're seeing a big increase" in organized retail theft, Johnson told KIRO 7 on Friday. "The groups are becoming more and more sophisticated." In Washington state alone, he said $940 million in merchandise was shoplifted last year, leading to $80 million in lost tax revenue.

Seth Tyler of the Bellevue Police Department told KIRO 7 "they hit multiple cities. They don't discriminate. Bellevue, Seattle, Northgate, they will hit retail centers, often several in a day."

The Washington Retail Association is also hoping state lawmakers will pass a concealment bill during the next legislative session.

As Washington State law now stands, store employees and security guards are not allowed to ask patrons whether they've hidden merchandise while in the store. Store visitors can only be asked that question once they leave, which would indicate a possible intent to shoplift. Johnson said, by that time it's too late.

Meanwhile, criminals are becoming so sophisticated, ring leaders send shoplifters into the stores with lists of merchandise to steal and strict instructions to keep the loss below $750-dollars to avoid felony charges if caught. kiro7.com

Apple Investigated Possible Business Misconduct in Its Supply Chain
Company says it found no evidence of bribery or kickbacks
Apple conducted an investigation earlier this year into possible business misconduct within its supply chain-including possible kickbacks and bribes-rattling some of the tech giant's suppliers and staff in China.

The company in May inquired with at least one supplier about possible kickbacks to Apple employees, according to people familiar with the probe.

The probe has been a source of concern for some Apple staff and suppliers amid this year's iPhone cycle, primarily in the segment tied to nonelectrical components, the people said. wsj.com

Was it a Cannibal, a Scam Victim or Both That Forced Mattress Firm into Ch. 11
Real Estate Bribery, Kickback & Fraud Scheme
If True - Probably the Biggest Such Scheme in Retail History
Mattress Firm has three stores in Austin, Texas, within half a mile of one another. In Winston-Salem, North Carolina, it has two stores with identical hours at about the same distance. Schererville, Indiana (population 28,701), once had five shops less than a block apart.

While retailers across the U.S. were shuttering outlets and more commerce was moving online, the mattress company was bucking the trend, going from about 700 locations to 3,500 in five years before filing for protection from creditors last month.

Was it the breakneck growth alone that landed Mattress Firm Inc. in bankruptcy court? Or, as the company claims in a lawsuit filed last year, did a pair of greedy executives -- taking advantage of the strategy to skim money off its real estate deals and enrich an outside accomplice -- help it get there?

But the company says in its suit it isn't entirely to blame: Two executives allegedly conspired with a real estate broker in a "bribery, kickback and fraud scheme" to push the Houston-based retailer into expensive locations -- it declined to say how many -- based on phony sales forecasts.

According to the suit, Bruce Levy, the former head of real estate, and Ryan Vinson, a former vice president, let the broker, Alexander Deitch, oversee deals in a half-dozen states and "front-run" some of them, tipping him off to the next outlet's location so he could secretly buy it himself while reaping millions in fees.

In return, Mattress Firm claims, Levy and Vinson got diamonds, a Roger Dubuis watch, European vacations and stakes in other real estate deals. One Florida property allegedly came complete with a yacht.

The lawsuit also names Colliers International, where Deitch was a broker. Colliers denies the allegations and is "vigorously defending" itself against the suit, spokesman Matthew Hawkins said. bloomberg.com

What's In Your Cellar? Counterfeit Wines Are A Multi-Billion Dollar Problem
From Maureen Downey- World's Foremost Expert - "The Sherlock Holmes of Wines"
If we only consider the amount of wine that's in professional wine storage all over the world, we can account for billions of dollars. Add in all the wines in private collections, and currently in sales channels in vendor warehouses, and you have billions more.

Selling empty bottles of expensive wine is a huge business on eBay. Sadly, many restaurants and hotels that sell very high-end wine do not ensure the bottles are physically destroyed once consumed. Without this happening, disreputable staff can make a considerable side income selling the empties.

Bigger Amazon Go stores would represent another threat to traditional grocers disrupted by the online retail giant's rapid advance into food retail. forbes.com

Talk About Grocery Disruption
Amazon Tests Its Cashierless Technology for Bigger Stores - Think Whole Foods
Online giant tries to overcome challenges caused by retail spaces with higher ceilings, more products

If successful, the strategy would further challenge brick-and-mortar retailers racing to make their businesses more convenient.

It is unclear whether Amazon intends to use the technology for Whole Foods, although that is the most likely application if executives can make it work, according to the people. Amazon has previously said it has no plans to add the technology to Whole Foods. wsj.com

Seven-Eleven Japan to Open "Cashierless" C-Store With Facial Recognition
Amid a deepening labor shortage, Nikkei Asian Review reports. The store will serve preregistered NEC employees.

The pilot store is expected to open in December in a Tokyo building containing NEC group offices, with just over 10 percent of the floor space of a typical Seven-Eleven location. Registered NEC employees will by authenticated by scanning company ID cards or facial recognition to enter the store, and then again after scanning item barcodes for purchase. Payments are automatically deducted from the employee's salary, according to the report.

The Nikkei Asian Review reports that there are 1,000 unstaffed stores already operating in China, run by about 70 companies, including some online retailers. biometricupdate.com

Major News Outlets Picking Up This Story
And It Isn't Going Away Till Lambert Does Something & This Guy May Not
WSJ Friday: Sears Workers Copy Toys 'R' Us Severance Playbook
Sears Holdings Corp. employees urged Chairman Edward Lampert and other creditors to pay severance and save as many jobs as possible as the retailer goes through bankruptcy, echoing laid-off Toys "R" Us Inc. workers who persuaded its former owners to establish a $20 million hardship fund.

Dozens of current and former Sears employees asked Mr. Lampert in a letter on Thursday to commit to protecting jobs, keeping stores open and guaranteeing severance pay and other benefits.

Ms. Brewer said she hoped Sears and Kmart workers could receive severance payments similar to those that Toys "R" Us workers collected out of a $20 million severance fund set up by the toy retailer's former owners, Bain Capital and KKR & Co. wsj.com

Editor's Note: There's a few more retailers out there struggling because of huge debt left over from all the leverage buy outs over the last ten to fifteen years sitting in similar positions. So, does the self-funded hardship funds become the norm and does it prevent class-action lawsuits long term? Now that KKR and Bain have set the standard they just might end up being a new expense line for those groups. Just a thought. -Gus Downing

Possible Positive Note For Solution Providers?
CFOs Face a Tough Task: Freeing Cash Trapped on Their Balance Sheets
Do They Spend More Capital in 2019?
Businesses struggle to reduce working capital, resulting in about $1.5 trillion stuck on corporate balance sheets world-wide

Finance executives are struggling to reduce the amount of excess working capital at companies around the world, resulting in about $1.5 trillion trapped on balance sheets-funds that could be spent on expanding these businesses.

The current scenario comes as capital spending by companies dropped last year and central banks are tightening policies, resulting in higher financing costs for businesses. As a result, some companies may need more cash on hand to fund or finance certain transactions. wsj.com

In every state, the minimum wage is lower than what residents want, study says
The United States has one of the lowest minimum wages of the world's wealthy nations. It may come as no surprise, then, that minimum wage increases are popular with voters.

"On average, state minimum wages are set at a level approximately two dollars per hour lower than the wage state residents would prefer," the researchers found. In 2018 alone, minimum wage increases went into effect in at least 18 states. washingtonpost.com

Robots to Clean 360 Walmart Floors By 1/30 - Night crews just got smaller

Consumer Spending Hits Largest Gain in 7 Months in October - Does it translate into Strong Q4

Canadian Retailer "Showcase" Plans 1,000 U.S. Stores Over 5 to 7 Yrs.

McDonald's Accepts RFID Payments in Brazil

Securing High-End Retail Stores


Quarterly Results
Game Stop Q3 comp's up 2.1%, sales up 4.8%
Citi Trends Q3 comp's up 0.6%, sales down 0.9%

Last week's #1 article --

GNC Wipes Out Vice President of Loss Prevention
Plans to close 700 to 900 stores over next three years of its 4,300 store base in North America. post-gazette.com