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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
IT Spending Up Even as Cuts Made Elsewhere
Retailers are continuing to invest in information technology despite all the various economic factors that are causing chains to cut back in many other operational areas. This development, according to…
CPGmatters: Focus on Shopper Engagement Paying Off for Kimberly-Clark
Befitting its status as a leader in the CPG business, Kimberly-Clark is helping its retailer partners do a better job of hooking shoppers in their aisles. But that doesn’t mean…
Boscov’s Files for Chapter 11
Boscov’s, a regional department store chain headquartered in Exeter Township, Penn., has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. As part of its reorganization the company is closing 10 of its…
TJX Hackers Indicted
Eleven members of an international ring behind the theft of over 41 million credit and debit card numbers from TJX Cos. and other retailers have been charged in what Attorney…
Retail TouchPoints: Subtle Shifts in Customer Segmentation Strategies May Provide Shelter from the Economic Storm
As the economy continues to show lower growth rates, a strong argument could be made that some customer segments are changing. Are the most frequent customers maintaining an income level…
Stores Diversify into New Categories
Retailers faced with the knowledge that only so many consumers are going to walk through the door to buy the products in their stores are now adding new items with…
GHQ: Health Assurance
The woes caused by high premiums and rising deductibles have hit the supermarket industry particularly hard. Operating on razor thin margins, grocery retailers are faced with numerous financial hurdles that…
Rising Fuel Prices Put Crimp in Global Trade
The current rule of thumb is that companies look overseas for cheap labor to produce goods that, even after shipping halfway around the world, cost less than if they were…
Monitoring Those Thieving Employees
With billions of dollars being stolen from grocery stores by employees, retailers are increasingly having their security cameras aimed directly at cash registers to ward against employees using a scheme…
SCDigest: Is “Lean Six Sigma” the Winning Approach to Manufacturing and Supply Chain Improvement?
Traditionally, many companies have adopted “Lean” and “Six Sigma” as their primary approach to operational improvement in their supply chains, or in some cases used both but as fairly independent…
RSR Research: Mervyns – Don’t Blame This One On the Economy!
As has become de rigueur in these times, the housing crisis was largely blamed for Mervyns’ bankruptcy last week. Don’t believe it. Mervyns’ problems began long before Northern California’s foreclosure…
Real Women Not as Good as Skinny Women in Ads
The move by marketers to use “real” looking women has brought them positive publicity and, along with it, sales. A new study by professors at the College of New Jersey…
Ralcorp’s Post Deal Gives Company Dual Identity
Next week Ralcorp Holdings is expected to close its deal to acquire Post cereals from Kraft Foods. When it does, the company that has been built on creating store-brands will…
CSD: Shell Games
Maybe there’s still a bit of debate on the medical merits of catharsis, but Bobak Bakhtiari could be the man to put the issue to rest. “Does it further ignite…
Rumor Mill: Costco Ready to Take Manhattan
Is Costco looking to “make a brand new start of it in old New York”? A developer on the Upper West Side is reportedly in talks with Costco to open…
Crowdsourcing: Power to the People
Although consumers have long been involved in helping companies develop products and services through focus groups, some companies are looking to the internet to tap into consumer input on a…
San Francisco Bans Tobacco Sales in Drugstores
With a vote of eight to three, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors has put the city on the path to becoming the first in the U.S. to ban the sale…
Walmart Gains Ground on Walgreens and CVS
Walgreens and CVS still lead the pack when it comes to where adults go most often to get prescriptions filled. Both, however, must be hearing Walmart’s footsteps based on a…
Court Overturns Whole Foods/Wild Oats Decision
A federal appeals court yesterday reversed a decision by a lower court that allowed Whole Foods to acquire Wild Oats last year. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of…
BrainTrust Query: Do African Americans require a targeted marketing approach?
Pepper Miller, expert on marketing to African Americans and author of “What’s Black About It?” recently presented the results of the largest African American marketing study conducted to date. The…
Survey Says Fewer Brand Decisions Made at the Shelf
As an AdAge.com article points out, it has become common for those in consumer products to state that 70 percent of all decisions on what brand to buy are made…
