• H-E-B announced that it has has opened a new e-commerce fulfillment center in Leander, Texas, describing it as "a project that expands the retailer’s commitment to integrate innovative technologies that drive omnichannel growth and provide a more convenient and better shopping experience for Texans.
"The 50,000-square-foot facility, which is located at 651 North U.S. Highway 183 in Leander, will support H-E-B Curbside and Home Delivery orders throughout Leander and surrounding cities in Central Texas. Building on H-E-B’s longstanding presence in the area, the move reinforces the retailer’s commitment to serve more customers in this rapidly growing part of the state."
• From The Information:
"The departure of Jay Carney, Amazon’s top public relations and public policy executive, has set off an executive reshuffling that could recalibrate Amazon’s policy priorities at a time when the company faces the most serious regulatory challenges in its 28-year history.
"CEO Andy Jassy is on the hunt for a new senior policy executive, he wrote to staff in an email reviewed by The Information. The search will focus on external candidates, according to two former employees in Amazon’s corporate affairs group familiar with the senior leadership team’s thinking. The new executive would set Amazon’s objectives on antitrust, labor and transportation issues following a string of high-profile public policy setbacks, such as the collapse of Amazon’s plans for a second headquarters in New York and a successful unionization drive at an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island. The new executive will not also oversee Amazon’s communications team, as Carney did, the people said."
Carney is going to Airbnb, after seven years at Amazon (following a stint as press secretary in the Obama White House), as its new global head of policy and communications.
• FreightWaves reports that FedEx Ground said last week that "it would halt Sunday residential delivery services as of mid-August in what it described as 'lower-population' markets where shippers would not be greatly affected. The unit did not specify which markets it would target. However, it is apparent the move will focus on rural and less-populated suburban areas. About 80% of the U.S. market will retain access to Sunday deliveries after the downsizing, according to FedEx Ground."
