Street Fight Daily: Starbucks to Test Mobile Order-Only Store, Amazon and Walmart Wage Price War

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…

Starbucks to Test Mobile Order and Pay-Only Store at Headquarters (Reuters)
Starbucks Corp will open a dedicated mobile order and pay store next week in its Seattle headquarters building as it tests how to best serve convenience-oriented customers, the company said in a letter to employees on Thursday.

Street Culture: A Changing Culture of Inclusion and Conversation at Dispatch (Street Fight)
“I think it’s important to have marketing leadership from a cultural standpoint,” the company’s VP of marketing, Corey O’Donnell says. “Marketing isn’t just what you tell the world about your business, it’s also what you tell your employees.”

Amazon and Walmart Are in an All-Out Price War that Is Terrifying Big Brands (Recode)
Last month, Walmart gathered some of America’s biggest household brands near its Arkansas headquarters for a tough talk. For years, Walmart had dominated the retail landscape on the back of its “Everyday Low Price” guarantee. But now, Walmart was too often getting beaten on price.

Openings and New Hires at The Weather Company, Mono Solutions, Criteo (Street Fight)
Every two weeks, Geoff Michener covers some of the latest job changes taking place in this dynamic industry.  This week’s edition includes moves and new openings at Cint, Samba TV, CWR Digital, Nexstar and Digital Maas.

How The New York Times, The Huffington Post, and CNN Approach Platforms (Nieman Lab)
As platforms — from Facebook and Snapchat to messaging platforms such as Kik and Line — become more ubiquitous, news organizations now have to decide where they want to publish and how they want to present their coverage on these platforms.

Ford Hires BlackBerry Employees to Work on Connected Cars (WSJ)
Ford Motor Co. is hiring 400 engineers from BlackBerry Ltd.’s mobility solutions unit to help develop internet-connected vehicles, giving a boost to the auto maker’s software development efforts as it races to keep up with traditional rivals and tech companies.

Blue Apron Could Deliver an IPO in 2017, But Should It? (TechCrunch)
Jordan Crook: The company is facing lots of competition, but it’s an early mover with great brand recognition. The range of M&A suitors one can imagine is broad and varied. While Blue Apron is not reported to be profitable — yet — it’s been investing in marketing and expanding its operations, making quite a land grab.

Betting on Local Wi-Fi: A Look at ZenReach and LinkNYC (LocalOnliner)
Peter Krasilovsky: Is there a good ad/subscription model to take Wi-Fi to every business location, and even city-wide? That’s the challenge that several new providers are taking up, Among them:ZenReach, and Intersection (LinkNYC). Wavespot is another contender.

Entrepreneurs Create Alexa Skill to Connect Users with Local Events (Lohud)
Burbio grew from having calendar information for four municipalities to more than 200 in 18 months. Today, they have 150,000 subscribers using the service in suburban communities in five states, including New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Get Street Fight Daily in your inbox! Subscribe to our newsletter.