Good Week: Target – In a race to challenge Amazon’s supremacy, the “everything” retail chain just acquired same-day delivery company Shipt for $550M. Relying on Shipt’s vast national network of 20,000-plus personal shoppers, Target estimates it will begin offering same-day delivery from all of its stores by this time next year.
Mixed Week: Spirit Airlines – The good news: the carrier rose to third place in the Dept. of Transportation’s October report on U.S. airlines’ on-time performance (Hawaiian Airlines and Delta were Nos. 1 and 2, respectively). The bad news: that same report showed that Spirit leads the industry in customer complaints. Its ratio of 3.84 complaints per 100,000 passengers is nearly four times the industry average of 1 complaint per 100,000 flyers. New tagline: “Arrive Earlier & Angrier.”
Bad Week: Kia and Hyundai – The automotive manufacturers recalled more than a half-million cars due to fault brake lights that may stay lit even after the brake pedal is released. And all this time, you thought those were senior citizens in front of you.
