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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Kraft Goes Wall-to-Wall to Drive Sales
Kraft Foods’ sales reps are rolling up their sleeves and helping to drive the company’s sales with a hands-on presence in 15,000 stores across the U.S. The initiative known as…
eBay Fined for Not Spotting Fakes
LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy), the French holding company specializing in luxury goods, has successfully sued eBay for not taking sufficient steps to prevent fakes being sold through its auction…
Upscale Jeans Focused on Market Share Gains
Upscale jeans brands are taking different approaches to try and gain market share now with an eye to the future when affluent consumers will feel better about spending $100, $200…
Retailers Look for Edge Going Back to School
By some estimates, the back-to-school selling season will be lackluster this year as the combination of a shaky economy and a dearth of “must-have” items keep consumer purchases down. What…
Checkout Time Limit Around Four Minutes
A survey from M/A/R/C Research found that four out of five shoppers are satisfied with wait times–of about four minutes or less–at stores in most cases. But it also found…
GHQ: Order in the backroom
The focus in the backroom is to do more with less, and retailers are looking to logical layouts and space-saving strategies and equipment to help accomplish that goal. What…
Steve & Barry’s Sweet Lease Deals Expire
The most popular retailers commonly get the most advantageous lease terms from real estate landlords. But one fast-expanding retailer, Steve & Barry’s, is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy after…
BrainTrust Query: What is Amazon.com?
A couple weeks ago, RetailWire ran a question regarding Amazon’s spread into the office supplies segment. Bill Bittner did a little reading in the “investors section” of Amazon’s website and…
Starbucks Takes Step Back to Move Forward
Starbucks had previously announced it would slow the pace of new store openings in the U.S. and now the coffee giant has announced plans to shutter 600 underperforming stores this…
Cities Rebound as Suburban Living Costs Soar
Most people who live in American suburbs are not seriously thinking of moving to the nearest city, but as articles in Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times and Newsweek point…
Millennial Moms Arrive
So long soccer mom! She’s being replaced by the 20-to-30 year-old Gen Y generation female just starting to have babies. Long described in numerous and often contradictory ways, her traits…
P&G Vet Takes Over as Safeway’s CMO
Safeway announced yesterday that it has hired Diane Dietz, a former executive with Procter & Gamble who has been credited with having reinvigorated the Crest brand, as the supermarket chain’s…
Weight Loss Companies’ Shrinking Customer Base
Consumers who need to shed some pounds are more likely to cut out weight loss programs such as Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, etc. during tough economic periods. How do weight…
Violence at Retail
According to Dr. Larry Barton, a crisis management and workplace violence expert, there were 1.8 million workplace assaults in this country in 2007. Bullying was reported by 67 percent of…
Shoppers Turn to Dollar Stores to Save Big Bucks
It’s been seen before. When the economy gets a bit shaky, more consumers turn to dollar stores in search of bargains. According to Nielsen, there are plenty of consumers making…
FCC Seeks More Disclosure Around Product Placement Ads
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last week voted unanimously to consider stricter rules for letting viewers know when advertisers have paid for products to appear within television programming. Do you…
Wal-Mart’s Logo Change (…er, we mean Walmart)
Walmart has confirmed earlier reports, starting with one in The Wall Street Journal, that it is rolling out a new logo to update its image. Gone will be the use…
PLBuyer: Pizza Products – Rollin’ in the Dough
According to Information Resources Inc. (IRI), frozen and refrigerated pizza crust/dough and pizza sauce saw a 22.1 percent rise in dollar sales through the 52-weeks ending Feb. 24. Growth in…
Ralphs Lowers Prices
Ralphs Grocery Co. has lowered prices on thousands of staples in what it said was a response to rising food and gasoline prices facing its Southern California consumers. But it’s…
Bridal Shops Trying On Charges
Women do undeniably love to try on dresses but stores also, undeniably, have a right not to have their time wasted or their clothes tried on an infinite number of…
Rite Aid Looks for Strong Second Half
Mary Sammons, chairman, president and CEO of Rite Aid, is not about to let a 20 cents per share loss in the first quarter get her down. The year is…
