Executive Summary

• This week’s note “From the Desk of Deborah Weinswig” discusses how Amazon is positioning its expanding line of private-label products to capitalize on this year’s Prime Day shopping event, which is taking place July 16–17.
• Toys“R”Us will leave 700 empty stores in the US, but many of those will soon be occupied. Despite the flood of store closings in recent years, many retailers are looking to add brick-and-mortar locations.
• French retailer Carrefour has announced a strategic alliance with British grocery retailer Tesco. The alliance will be aimed at improving price competitiveness and product quality.
• Chinese e-commerce service provider Pinduoduo (PDD) is planning to raise at least $1 billion in a US IPO. PDD has become one of the fastest-growing startups in China by creating a sort of Facebook-Groupon mash-up, where people spot deals and then recruit friends to buy the items at a discount.