The Home Depot® acquires leading online retailer of textiles and home décor products The Company Store

ATLANTA, 2017-Dec-28 — /EPR Retail News/ — The Home Depot® announced today (Dec 21, 2017) that it has acquired The Company Store, a leading online retailer of textiles and home décor products, from Hanover Direct. The deal closed on December 19 and terms were not disclosed.

In addition to its success as an online retailer, The Company Store has strong relationships and industry leading capabilities in the development and sourcing of high quality textiles across bedding, bath, and related categories.  Founded in 1911, The Company Store has a rich history of providing products that are highly sought after by customers as they put the finishing touches on a room.

“The acquisition of The Company Store provides product development and sourcing capabilities to help us expand our online décor business into broader categories across the entire home,” said Craig Menear, chairman, CEO and president of The Home Depot.  “On behalf of our 400,000-plus associates, I want to welcome The Company Store’s talented associates into The Home Depot family.”

The acquisition does not include The Company Store’s five retail locations.

The Home Depot is the world’s largest home improvement specialty retailer, with 2,284 retail stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, 10 Canadian provinces and Mexico. In fiscal 2016, The Home Depot had sales of $94.6 billion and earnings of $8.0 billion. The Company employs more than 400,000 associates. The Home Depot’s stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: HD) and is included in the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor’s 500 index.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained herein constitute “forward-looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may relate to, among other things, the demand for our products and services; effects of competition; state of the residential construction, housing and home improvement markets; capital allocation and expenditures; financial outlook; and integration of The Company Store into our organization and the ability to recognize the anticipated synergies and benefits of the acquisition. Forward-looking statements are based on currently available information and our current assumptions, expectations and projections about future events. You should not rely on our forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to future events, risks and uncertainties – many of which are beyond our control or are currently unknown to us – as well as potentially inaccurate assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations and projections. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to those described in Item 1A, “Risk Factors,” and elsewhere in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for our fiscal year ended January 29, 2017 and in our subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.

Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and we do not undertake to update these statements other than as required by law. You are advised, however, to review any further disclosures we make on related subjects in our periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SOURCE: The Home Depot

Carrefour launches The Boucles du Cœur 2018 edition; continues its support to children in need

Carrefour launches The Boucles du Cœur 2018 edition; continues its support to children in need

 

Boulogne-Billancourt, France, 2017-Dec-28 — /EPR Retail News/ — The Boucles du Cœur – the event created by Carrefour – has just launched a call for charity projects to decide which association is to be the beneficiary, at national level, of the donations given during the 2018 edition. The general public will vote for the best project on the Internet.

The Boucles du Cœur
In 2011, Carrefour created the Boucles du Cœur, a charity event held in the group’s stores for one month every year. The Boucles du Cœur is a means to collect donations and so finance research projects or initiatives designed to help children in difficulty. Every year, one particular national charity and more than 300 local organisations benefit from the generosity of Carrefour’s customers and the commitment of its employees. In 2017, €2.6 million were donated, €375,000 of which went to the Grégory Lemarchal association. Since they were set up, the Boucles du Cœur has raised €8 million.

The call for projects
New for 2018: the charity supported at national level will be chosen by people over the Internet. They will get to vote for one of the 12 finalist charities short-listed by a Carrefour panel. Applicants spearheading a project to help children in difficulty in France should submit their application online by 6 January 2018 at http://www.carrefour.fr/engagements/boucles-du-coeur/inscription

People will then have from 22 January until 18 February to vote on www.carrefour.fr. The winning beneficiary charity will then be revealed on 1 March. The 11 other charities will each get an award of €1000.

Eligibility criteria: The project must have something to do with supporting children and must be originated by a general-interest, non-profit making organisation, or one that is recognised as being in the public interest. It should relate to the day-to-day lives and environments of ill children, preventive healthcare, nutrition, education or protecting children in France. It must be delivered by the charity within 2 years of the 2018 Boucles du Cœur, and it must be possible to identify its impact.

Spotlight on seven years of initiatives to help children in need
The 7 previous editions have supported projects managed by the Laurette Fugain association (in 2016), the Etoile de Martin (in 2015), SOS Children’s Village, ELA (the European Leukodystrophy Association), the Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque (set up to enable children with heart malformations to undergo surgery in France) and the Fêtes le Mur (which fosters community involvement among disadvantaged children). Thanks to the Boucles du Cœur, the Laurette Fugain association, for example, has been able to get its “LEA” project off the ground – a large-scale study designed to further our understanding of post-illness recovery. The Etoile de Martin was able to fund a research project into rare tumours in children. The Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque association brought 30 children suffering from heart malformations to France so they could be operated on – children who could not receive treatment in their home countries. The Grégory Lemarchal association is funding a wide research programme into infections, and is increasing life expectancy for cystic fibrosis sufferers.

For all request about the Carrefour Group (sales, financial results, governance, international,…), please contact the Carrefour Group media relations office:

. By phone:

Switchboard: +33 (0)1 41 04 26 00

For journalists: +33 (0)1 41 04 26 17

. By e-mail: presse_groupe@carrefour.com

Source: Carrefour Group

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Carrefour opens a new hypermarket in Warsaw with brand-new, completely original digital solutions

Carrefour opens a new hypermarket in Warsaw with brand-new, completely original digital solutions

 

Boulogne-Billancourt, France, 2017-Dec-28 — /EPR Retail News/ — A new hypermarket opened on 13 December in Warsaw. Its customers will be able to take advantage of its brand-new, completely original digital solutions, as well as range of new commercial concepts, including m-commerce type services, a restaurant right in the heart of the store and a line of checkouts that is not quite what they’ll be expecting.

It features nearly 13,000 food products over a sales area of around 2000 m². Customers looking for organic or gluten-free items – or products for diabetics – will be able to choose from around 800 products. The healthy food product assortment also includes the “Fresh produce market”, where customers can choose from a wide selection of fruit and vegetables. The hypermarket also stocks a wide selection of cooked meat products, cheeses, fish, bread and World Cuisine products. And for beer lovers, Carrefour sells a wide selection – a few hundred regional beers – in the alcoholic beverages section.

Customers can order any food products that are unavailable in the store via one of the 19 interactive screens – a new concept developed by Carrefour. Customers will need the Mon Carrefour app on their phones to place an order. Their shopping is then delivered to whatever address they specify anywhere in Warsaw, or it is prepared so they can pick it up from a Coolomat outside the shopping centre (parcel deposit system specifically designed for food products). With this new service, customers can now access any of the 16,500 food products available online at eCarrefour.pl, and around 6000 non-food products available at Carrefour.pl.

The other new feature which is not available in other Carrefour stores is the dedicated restaurant area. This is right in the centre of the Carrefour PRO store, next to the “Fresh produce market” section.  Aside from the ready-made dishes on sale (salads, sushi, tapas, pastries and fresh fruit juices), customers will be able to choose from a selection of meat-based, fish-based or vegetarian dishes prepared on site for lunch.

The line of 5 traditional checkouts and seven self-service checkouts has been designed in a somewhat different way. Instead of being at the store’s entrance, it is right in the middle – like in duty-free or clothes shops. This makes the store more open to customers. And like other hypermarkets in Poland, the store features checkouts for use with the Scan&Go service. Customers can use this service to scan their articles. They can then pay with their mobile phones and an electronic Masterpass-MasterCard wallet. And next to the Customer service point, a “Facturomat” machine has been installed. Customers will be able to use it to generate receipts for their purchases themselves.

For all request about the Carrefour Group (sales, financial results, governance, international,…), please contact the Carrefour Group media relations office:

. By phone:

Switchboard: +33 (0)1 41 04 26 00

For journalists: +33 (0)1 41 04 26 17

. By e-mail: presse_groupe@carrefour.com

Source: Carrefour Group

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Amazon marks its biggest holiday season with customers shopping at record levels worldwide

  • Echo Dot and Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote were the #1 and #2 top-selling products across all categories on Amazon
  • Items shipped with FREE One-Day Shipping or FREE Same-Day Delivery or Ultra-Fast Delivery with Prime Now more than doubled this holiday season
  • Small businesses and entrepreneurs had a record-breaking season with more than one billion items ordered worldwide

SEATTLE, 2017-Dec-28 — /EPR Retail News/ — Amazon celebrated its biggest holiday season with customers all around the world shopping at record levels. Prime membership continued to grow this holiday – in fact, in one week alone, more than four million people started Prime free trials or began paid memberships, to benefit from free two-day, one-day or same-day shipping, in addition to ultra-fast one and two hour delivery with Prime Now.

Customers shopped from hundreds of millions of products, including a vast selection from small businesses and entrepreneurs. More than one billion items were ordered from small businesses and entrepreneurs worldwide this season – and over just five days, from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, nearly 140 million items were ordered from small businesses and entrepreneurs. Amazon Devices also had its best holiday yet, with tens of millions of Alexa-enabled devices sold worldwide. Echo Dot and Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote were not only the top-selling Amazon devices this holiday season, but they were also the best-selling products from any manufacturer in any category across all of Amazon.

“Since Day One we have obsessed over what we believe our customers care about – incredible deals and low prices, fast and free shipping, and a wide selection of top products – and we continue to provide all three, all the time. We’re excited that people continued to join Prime this holiday, to take advantage of more fast and free shipping options plus new convenient delivery like Amazon Key, as well as early access to Lightning Deals and unlimited streaming of TV shows and movies, including Prime Originals and more,” stated Jeff Wilke, CEO Worldwide Consumer. “Thank you to the millions of customers and hundreds of thousands of Amazon employees all around the world who made this holiday better than ever before. We look forward to another great year ahead.”

Amazon Devices and Alexa

  • It was a record holiday shopping season for Amazon Devices, with millions more devices purchased worldwide this year than last year’s holiday season.
  • This holiday season was better than ever for the family of Echo products. The Echo Dot was the #1 selling Amazon Device this holiday season, and the best-selling product from any manufacturer in any category across all of Amazon, with millions sold.
  • Customers purchased more than twice as many Amazon Fire TV Sticks compared to last year’s holiday season. Fire TV continues to be the #1 streaming media player family in the U.S., U.K., Germany, and Japan, across all retailers.
  • It was the best holiday season ever for Fire Kids Edition Tablets with 2.4x as many devices purchased from Amazon.com compared to the same time period last year.
  • Echo devices have been an extremely popular gift this year, with Echo Spot, Echo Dot and Echo Buttons selling out this holiday season; customers can still pre-order to reserve their place in line and orders will be filled on a first come, first served basis.
  • This year, Kindle celebrated its 10th holiday season.
  • This holiday, millions of Prime members voice shopped with Alexa for gifts, Amazon devices and everyday household essentials. The most popular items purchased by voice were the Echo Dot, Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote and TP-Link Smart Plug Mini.
  • Alexa helped mix tens of thousands of cocktails this holiday season with Martini and Manhattan being the most requested drinks.
  • The recipe for chocolate chip cookies was the most requested recipe this holiday season.
  • The most requested song from Alexa customers this holiday season was “Jingle Bells.”
  • The East Coast was more in the holiday spirit this season, asking Alexa to play holiday music 2.5x as many times as the West Coast.
  • Alexa customers turned on their holiday lights more than a million times via Alexa this holiday season.
  • Alexa customers asked for tens of millions of jokes this holiday season.
  • The most common person people called this holiday season was ‘Mom’ in the U.S. and Germany, and ‘Dad’ in the U.K.
  • Music listening time on Alexa was 3x as much this holiday season compared to last holiday season.
  • Customers wished Alexa a Merry Christmas, Happy holidays and Happy Hanukkah 3.5x more this year when compared to last year’s holiday season.
  • People asked about Santa 4x as much this holiday season compared to last holiday season.
  • Customers asked Alexa for cooking related advice more than 9x as much this year compared to last holiday season.
  • The most requested movies this holiday season via Alexa were Trolls and Elf.
  • Alexa on Fire TV is more popular than ever before, with usage in the United States up 889% over the same time period last year.
  • Alexa customers set 3x as many timers this year compared to last holiday season.

Amazon Delivered this Holiday

  • Across North America and the Europe, associates at 10 fulfillment centers picked, packed, and shipped more than one million customer packages in a single day.
  • Amazon’s peak day of customer fulfillment in 2017 was December 19, 2017.
  • In 2017, we increased the size of our fulfillment and shipping network by more than 30% in square footage worldwide.
  • In the U.S., more than 6,000 trailers and 32 Amazon Air planes helped get holiday orders to customers this season.
  • Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Amazon Air carried enough packages to equal over a billion Echo Dots.
  • An Amazon Air cargo plane can hold more than 10,000 Instant Pots.
  • The last Prime Now order in time for Christmas was delivered in 58 minutes at 11:58 p.m. on Christmas Eve in Baltimore, MD. The order included the Kid Galaxy Amphibious RC Car Morphibians Shark Remote Control Toy, the Crayola Oil Pastels Art Tools, 28 ct., and the VTechClick and Count Remote.

Mobile Shopping

  • The top five items ordered on a mobile device were the Echo Dot, Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote and the TP-Link Smart Plug.
  • Customers worldwide shopping on the Amazon App increased nearly 70% this holiday season.
  • More than 1,400 electronics products were ordered per second on a mobile device this holiday season.
  • AR view saw the most usage on Cyber Monday. The most popular item viewed with AR view throughout this holiday season was a black chair with ottoman. Top categories viewed with AR view are furniture, toys, Amazon devices, kitchen items and consumer electronics.

Community Giving

  • Amazon’s Treasure Truck fleet and festively wrapped Amazon semi-trucks made special deliveries as part of Amazon’s “Delivering Smiles” holiday tour. Together, the trucks stopped in over 30 communities where Amazon employees live and work, donating thousands of items including STEM toys, books, devices, and household essentials to women, children, and families in immediate need. At the end of the tour, Amazon donated $1 for every mile the trucks traveled to the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
  • The “Delivering Smiles” holiday tour expanded Amazon’s growing support of children and families in immediate need. To learn more about each nonprofit Amazon visited throughout their “Delivering Smiles” tour in the US and Canada, visit https://blog.aboutamazon.com/delivering-smiles.

Digital Entertainment

  • This year, 4x more music from Amazon Music was streamed over Alexa compared to last holiday season.
  • Amazon Music listeners loved using the lyrics feature to ask for songs on Alexa over the holidays, requesting “Jingle Bells” more than any other festive track just by saying a few words from the song.
  • Listeners wanted to slow down and unwind this season, asking Alexa to play “relaxing” music more than any other mood through Amazon Music.
  • Listeners in New York, Seattle, Chicago, Houston and San Diego streamed more holiday songs on Amazon Music via Alexa, than any other cities in the U.S.
  • Christmas by Michael Bublé was once again the most played album on Amazon Music during the holiday season.
  • “All I want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey held the top spot for the most streamed holiday song on Amazon Music for the second year in a row.
  • The most watched season over the holidays was the Golden Globe-nominated Prime Original The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
  • The most watched series this holiday was The Grand Tour.
  • The most watched Amazon Original movie this holiday season was The Big Sick.
  • The most watched Kids Prime Original over the holidays was If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.
  • The most purchased movie over the holidays was Elf.
  • The most purchased series over the holidays was The Walking Dead.
  • The most watched Amazon Channel subscriptions this holiday season were HBO, Showtime and STARZ, and the current seasons of Game of Thrones, Shameless and Power were the top watched shows on each channel, respectively.
  • The top match-up of Prime Video’s 10-game Thursday Night Football schedule this season was on Dec. 7, when two million worldwide viewers watched the Atlanta Falcons beat the New Orleans Saints 20-17
  • The most-read Kindle book in Amazon First Reads in 2017 was, Beneath A Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan.
  • The best-selling and most-listened-to audiobook of 2017 was The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson, narrated by Roger Wayne.
  • The most-listened-to fiction audiobook of 2017 was Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling, narrated by Jim Dale.
  • The most-commented-on audiobook of 2017 was Born a Crime by Trevor Noah, narrated by the author.
  • According to Amazon Charts, the most read and most gifted Kindle book in the U.S. this holiday season was Origin: A Novel by Dan Brown.
  • According to Amazon Charts, the top book Kindle readers in the U.S. found ‘Unputdownable’ this holiday season was Year One: Chronicles of the One, Book 1 by Nora Roberts, reading it cover-to-cover faster than other books.
  • According to Amazon Charts, the Most Wished For books of 2017 in the U.S. were: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson, Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil Degrasse Tyson, and Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari.
  • Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale was the most borrowed book from Prime Reading, worldwide, in 2017.
  • Instant Pot Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook by Laurel Randolph, independently published through Kindle Direct Publishing, has been topping Amazon Charts throughout the holiday season – reaching #1 on the most sold non-fiction list the week of Cyber Monday.

Holiday Bestsellers

  • Prime members shopped more than 100,000 Lightning Deals on Amazon.com with Prime Early Access.
  • Customers shopped hundreds of Deals of the Day on Amazon.com throughout the holiday season.
  • Millions of customers in the U.S. watched deals with Watch a Deal.
  • This holiday season, Whole Foods Market sold over 500,000 pounds of sweet treats at the cookie bars featured in stores across the U.S. – that’s enough to feed Santa more than 6 million cookies throughout his trip around the world on Christmas Eve.
  • Across Amazon Books’ 13 bookstores, the top selling nonfiction book was Obama: An Intimate Portrait by Pete Souza; the top selling fiction book was Origin by Dan Brown; the top selling kids book was Diary of a Wimpy Kid #12, The Getaway by Jeff Kinney; and, the top selling poetry book was the sun and her flowers by Rumi Kaur.
  • Across Amazon Books’ 13 bookstores, one out of seven customers who purchased a book also donated a children’s book to local charities supporting children in need. The top selling book given to local charities was the classic, Are You My Mother by P.D. Eastman; it was also the top selling book across all 13 stores.
  • The Echo Dot was the top-selling device across Amazon Books’ 13 stores; the Kindle Paperwhite was the best-selling Kindle; the TP-Link Smart Plug was the best-selling accessory; and WowWee Fingerlings were the top selling toy.
  • The best-selling kitchen item in the U.S. and worldwide was the Instant Pot DUO80.
  • The best-selling toy and game item in the U.S. was the Nerf N-Strike Elite Strongarm Blaster, while the best-selling toy and game item worldwide was What Do You Meme? Adult Party Game.
  • The best-selling smart home product in the U.S. and worldwide was the TP-Link Smart Plug.
  • The best-selling beauty and grooming items in the U.S. included the Finishing Touch Flawless Women’s Painless Hair Remover, the Philips Norelco Multigroom All-In-One Series 3000 and the Oral-B Black Pro 1000 Power Rechargeable Electric Toothbrush, while the best-selling item worldwide was the Philips Sonicare Diamond Clean Rechargeable Toothbrush.
  • The best-selling home, health and personal care products in the U.S. this holiday season include Fitbit Charge 2, the 23andMe DNA Test, the AncestryDNA: Genetic Testing – DNA Ancestry Test Kit and Radha Beauty Aromatherapy Top 8 Essential Oils.
  • Robot vacuums were among the best-selling home items on Amazon.com over the holiday season.
  • The best-selling products from Amazon Launchpad businesses included WowWee Fingerlings Interactive Baby Monkey, Exploding Kittens Card Game, and Watch Ya Mouth Throwdown Edition Card Game.
  • The best-selling sports items in the U.S. this season included Titleist Pro V1 Golf Balls, Wilson NFL MVP Junior Football and Spalding NBA Street Basketball.
  • The best-selling fashion items in the U.S. this holiday season include ASICS Men’s GEL Venture 5 Running Shoe, Alex and Ani Initial Expandable Wire Bangle Bracelet, 2.5″, Levi’s Men’s 505 Regular Fit Jean, UGG Women’s Classic Short II Boot.
  • The best-selling products from AmazonFresh in the U.S. this holiday season, were organic bananas, limes, cucumbers, navel oranges, yellow onions.
  • The best-selling furniture products in the U.S. included the Zinus Memory Foam 12 Inch Green Tea Mattress, the LinenSpa 8″ Memory Foam and Innerspring Hybrid Mattress and the LINENSPA 6 Inch Innerspring Mattress.
  • The best-selling automotive products in the U.S. included the Dark Seasonal Snow & Ice Car Scraper, the NOCO Genius Boost Plus GB40 1000 Amp 12V UltraSafe Lithium Jump Starter and the STANLEY J5C09 Jump Starter.
  • The best-selling pet products in the U.S. included the PEDIGREE DENTASTIX Holiday Treats for Dogs, the KONG Wild Knots Bears Durable Dog Toys and the Taste of the Wild, Canine Formula.
  • The best-selling baby products in the U.S. include the Nuby Ice Gel Teether Keys, Baby Einstein Take Along Tunes Musical Toy and the Nuby Bundle of 3 Toys, which was also the best-selling baby product worldwide.
  • The best-selling luxury beauty item in the U.S. was the Mario Badescu Facial Spray with Aloe Herbs and Rosewater, stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner and Bioderma Sensibio H2O Micellar Water, Cleansing and Make-Up Removing Solution.
  • The best-selling grocery item in the U.S. was Green Mountain Coffee Keurig Coffee Lover’s Variety Pack Single-Serve K-Cup Sampler, 40 Count, the Glaceau Smartwater Vapor Distilled Water, and Viva Naturals Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil.
  • The best-selling tools include the Black + Decker LDX 120C 20-Volt MAX Lithium-Ion Cordless Drill/Driver and the MagnoGrip 311-090 Magnetic Wristband.
  • The best-selling wireless products in the U.S. include Tile Mate – Key Finder. Phone Finder, PopSockets: Expanding Stand and Grip for Smartphones and Tablets and Wemo Mini Smart Plug.
  • The best-selling major appliances in the U.S. include Samsung MS11K3000AS 1.1 cu. ft. Countertop Microwave Oven, the Danby 120 Can Beverage Center and the NewAir AB-1200 126-Can Beverage Cooler.
  • The best-selling musical instruments on Amazon.com were the Snark SN5X Clip-On Tuner for Guitar, Singing Machine SML385BTW Top Loading CDG Karaoke System with Bluetooth, Sound and Disco Light Show, and the Singing Machine SMM-205 Unidirectional Dynamic Microphone.
  • The best-selling outdoor items in the U.S. were Intex Comfort Plush Elevated Dura-Beam Airbed with Built-in Electric Pump, the Stanley Classic Vacuum Bottle and the BV Bicycle Light Set Super Bright 5 LED Headlight.
  • The best-selling home improvement products on Amazon.com were the Philips Hue White A19 Single LED Bulb (Works with Amazon Alexa), Philips Hue White and Color Ambiance 3rd Generation A19 10W Equivalent Dimmable LED Smart Bulb (Works with Amazon Alexa) and Himalayan Glow Pink Salt Lamp.
  • The best-selling lawn and garden products in the U.S. this holiday season included the Weber 6492 Original Instant-Read Thermometer, Snow Joe SJBLZD Telescoping Snow Broom with Ice Scraper and Bounty Hunter TK4 Tracker IV Metal Detector.
  • The best-selling office products in the U.S. were Elmer’s Liquid School Glue (1 Gallon) – Great For Making Slime, Georgia-Pacific Spectrum Standard 92 Multipurpose Paper (8.5 x 11 Inches) and Paper Mate Flair Felt Tip Pens (Assorted Colors, 12-Count).
  • The best-selling business, industrial and scientific supplies in the U.S. included the First Aid Only All-Purpose First Aid Essentials Kit, Rubbermaid Commercial Stainless Steel Oven Monitoring Thermometer and TOPGREENER TU2154A High Speed USB Charger Outlet.
  • The best-selling TVs in the U.S. this holiday season were the TCL 32-Inch 720p Roku Smart LED TV (2017 Model), Samsung Electronics 40-Inch 1080p Smart LED TV (2017 Model), TCL 49-Inch 4K Ultra HD Roku Smart LED TV (2017 Model) and Samsung Electronics 55-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV (2017 Model).

Holiday Fun Facts

  • This season, Amazon customers purchased enough WowWee Fingerlings Interactive Baby Monkey toys on Amazon.com to hang end-to-end down the Empire State Building more than 100 times.
  • Amazon.com customers purchased enough TVs to create nearly 2,500 towers the size of the Space Needle.
  • Amazon customers purchased enough littlebits Star Wars Droid Inventor Kits on Amazon.com to man an Imperial-II class Star Destroyer.
  • Amazon customers purchased enough Calvin Klein products on Amazon.com during the holiday to give five items to every attendee at Coachella 2017.
  • Amazon customers purchased enough shoes on Amazon.com during the holiday season were lined up end-to-end, they would stretch fromAlaska to Miami.
  • This holiday season, Amazon.com customers purchased enough Wickedly Prime Truffle Spreads to make over half a million dipped strawberries.
  • Treasure Truck customers purchased enough holiday wreaths that when stacked, one on top of the other, would reach the top of the Empire State Building nearly five and a half times.
  • Amazon.com customers purchased enough Instant Pot pressure cookers this holiday to make more than nine million bowls of chili at once.
  • Amazon.com customers purchased enough AmazonBasics hangers to hold an outfit for each person in the city of Houston, TX – the fourth most populated city in the U.S.
  • If you lined up all the copies of Jeff Kinney’s, The Getaway that Amazon sold during the holiday season, you would reach the height of 444 Saturn V rockets.
  • If you collected all of the copies of Walter Isaacson’s, Leonardo Da Vinci that Amazon sold over the holidays, they would weigh the equivalent of 25,417 gallons of paint – enough paint to cover over Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling 1,592 and a half times.

About Amazon

Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.

Media Hotline:
Amazon-pr@amazon.com
www.amazon.com/pr

Source: Amazon.com, Inc.

Walgreens Boots Alliance to sell 30% interest in Guangzhou Pharmaceuticals Corporation to Guangzhou Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical Holdings

DEERFIELD, Ill., 2017-Dec-28 — /EPR Retail News/ — Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (Nasdaq: WBA) today (December 22, 2017) announces that it has entered into an agreement to reduce its stake in Guangzhou Pharmaceuticals Corporation, a pharmaceutical wholesaling joint venture in China, following an offer from its joint venture partner Guangzhou Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical Holdings Co. Ltd.

Subject to regulatory review and approval and other customary closing conditions, Walgreens Boots Alliance will sell a 30% interest in Guangzhou Pharmaceuticals Corporation to Guangzhou Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical Holdings that, following the proposed sale, would own 80%. Upon completion, Walgreens Boots Alliance will own a 20% interest in Guangzhou Pharmaceuticals Corporation and will continue to account for its remaining stake as an equity method investment.

About Walgreens Boots Alliance

Walgreens Boots Alliance (Nasdaq: WBA) is the first global pharmacy-led, health and wellbeing enterprise. The company’s heritage of trusted health care services through community pharmacy care and pharmaceutical wholesaling dates back more than 100 years.

Walgreens Boots Alliance is the largest retail pharmacy, health and daily living destination across the U.S. and Europe. Walgreens Boots Alliance and the companies in which it has equity method investments together have a presence in more than 25* countries and employ more than 385,000* people. The company is a global leader in pharmacy-led, health and wellbeing retail and, together with the companies in which it has equity method investments, has more than 13,200* stores in 11* countries as well as one of the largest global pharmaceutical wholesale and distribution networks, with more than 390* distribution centers delivering to more than 230,000** pharmacies, doctors, health centers and hospitals each year in more than 20* countries. In addition, Walgreens Boots Alliance is one of the world’s largest purchasers of prescription drugs and many other health and wellbeing products.

The company’s portfolio of retail and business brands includes Walgreens, Duane Reade, Boots and Alliance Healthcare, as well as increasingly global health and beauty product brands, such as No7, Soap & Glory, Liz Earle, Sleek MakeUP and Botanics.

The company ranks No. 1 in the Food and Drug Stores industry of Fortune magazine’s 2017 list of the World’s Most Admired Companies.

More company information is available at www.walgreensbootsalliance.com.

* As of 31 August 2017, using publicly available information for AmerisourceBergen.

** For 12 months ending 31 August 2017, using publicly available information for AmerisourceBergen.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

All statements in this release that are not historical statements are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the agreement to sell a portion of Walgreens Boots Alliance’s stake in Guangzhou Pharmaceuticals Corporation to Guangzhou Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical Holdings Co. Ltd, the transaction contemplated thereby and the possible timing and effects thereof, and the ability of the parties to complete the transaction considering the various closing conditions. Words such as “expect,” “pending,” “potential”, “likely,” “preliminary,” “would,” “could,” “should,” “can,” “will,” “project,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “seek,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “may,” “possible,” “assume,” and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions, known or unknown, which could cause actual results to vary materially from those indicated or anticipated. Such risks include, but are not limited to, risks related to the proposed transactions and acquisitions generally, including the risk that the transactions may not close due to one or more closing conditions to the transactions not being satisfied or waived, risks related to the ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the proposed transaction, the outcome of legal and regulatory matters, the risk of unexpected costs, liabilities or delays, changes in management’s assumptions, and risks associated with changes in laws, regulations or interpretations thereof. These and other risks, assumptions and uncertainties are described in Item 1A (Risk Factors) of Walgreens Boots Alliance’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2017, which is incorporated herein by reference, and in other documents that Walgreens Boots Alliance files or furnishes with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those indicated or anticipated by such forward-looking statements. Accordingly, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. Except to the extent required by law, Walgreens Boots Alliance does not undertake, and expressly disclaims, any duty or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statement after the date of this release, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions or otherwise.

Contact(s):

Media Relations:
USA / Michael Polzin
+1 847 315 2935

International / Laura Vergani
+44 (0)207 980 8585

Investor Relations:
Gerald Gradwell and Ashish Kohli
+1 847 315 2922

Source: Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc.