With brief, occasional, italicized and sometimes gratuitous commentary…
• The Los Angeles Times reports that a company called GoPuff has acquired the 161-store BevMo beverage chain for $350 million.
Never heard of GoPuff? Here's how the Times describes it:
"Although it is little-known in Los Angeles, GoPuff operates more than 200 micro-fulfillment centers serving more than 500 cities around the country. It specializes in quick-turnaround delivery: For a flat rate of $1.95 (there’s also a subscription option), customers can get thousands of items — cleaning supplies, food and electronics among them — delivered in 30 minutes or less. In several markets, GoPuff deliveries are available 24/7.
"GoPuff is still figuring out how to best combine the two companies, with a target completion date of sometime next year. When that happens, GoPuff customers will be able to add BevMo products to their delivery orders."
The story says that GoPuff "hasn’t yet decided whether to open fulfillment centers in California, or use some of the real estate in BevMo’s stores to house GoPuff products."
I'd never heard of GoPuff before this story was posted. But clearly what they're creating is something like a 21st century retail model - not necessarily workable everywhere or for everyone, but keyed to consumer trends that have been accelerated by the pandemic.
• From Axios:
"The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday sued to block Visa's proposed $5.3 billion purchase of Plaid, a San Francisco-based provider of analytics software for accessing transaction data … Plaid lets fintech startups connect to users' bank accounts, but the DOJ argues that the merger would eliminate Plaid's potential ability to compete in the online debit market, thus giving Visa a monopoly."
Visa reportedly plans to defend its plans for the acquisition.
• Reuters reports that "the husband of a former Amazon.com Inc finance manager who leaked confidential information about the online retailer's financial performance pleaded guilty on Thursday to an insider trading charge, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
"Prosecutors said Viky Bohra, 36, of Bothell, Washington, pleaded guilty to securities fraud, admitting that from 2015 to 2018 he used tips provided by his wife Laksha to make $1.43 million of illegal profit trading Amazon stock.
"Authorities said Laksha Bohra had taken advantage of her job as a senior manager in Amazon's tax department to provide the tips, despite repeated warnings against leaking confidential information.
"Viky Bohra then used the tips to make successful trades ahead of Amazon earnings announcements, through accounts tied to him and his father Gotham Bohra, authorities said."
