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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Netflix CEO Talks About Growth Opportunities
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings knows that the business of renting movies through the mail is not long for this world. He’s not sure how long that will be, perhaps 20…
BrainTrust Query: Should manufacturer-dictated pricing be allowed in the internet age?
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court was scheduled to hear oral arguments on the appeal of a historical precedent set in 1911 that automatically outlawed manufacturer-dictated pricing. Manufacturer-dictated pricing has…
Home Depot Going to Extremes for Customers
Home Depot is looking to build stores to suit its customers and that means it is constructing locations that are bigger and smaller than any units the home improvement chain…
Giant Tells Customers to DIY
Customers may want departments such as floral and service seafood but not all stores can support the labor overhead associated with delivering that level of service. Giant Food has found…
Bloomie’s Seeks Success Where Others Failed
Despite the problems faced by others, Bloomingdale’s is also looking to decipher the code that will enable it to capture a greater share of the fashion dollars spent by women…
Publix Pays for Performance
Publix is all about performance and that’s why customers love it. Most of the company’s store-level employees are also quite happy as they were rewarded with raises last month for…
Can Private Label Be a Success in Mass Market Cosmetics?
Private label cosmetics have traditionally been a difficult venture for retailers. But realizing that offering a private label or an exclusive beauty collection is an excellent way to set a…
Arresting Mall Developments
The United Kingdom is considering setting up temporary holding cells for alleged suspects of crime in British stores, supermarkets and shopping centers. What do you think of the idea of…
Grocers Try Clothes On for Sizeable Profits
Grocery stores are not eliminating aisles of other products to make room but there is no question that some operators are cautiously moving beyond pantyhose, white socks, underwear and t-shirts…
Borders Turns the Page
Borders Group, facing sluggish sales and measly margins, unveiled a comprehensive plan to revitalize its U.S. superstore business. The most strategic part of the plan involves severing its arrangement with…
Reaching the Gen Y Worker
They are impatient with long explanations, want immediate rewards and heaps of praise, and expect deeply involved bosses. They are willing to do grunt work if it’s clear what they…
Samsung Store Sells Experience, That’s It
Paco Underhill, the author of Why We Buy and the founder of Envirosell, told The New York Times today that consumers are looking to move past the clutter of the…
Online Shoes Taking Big Steps
Shoes were supposed to be one of those categories that wouldn’t sell on the web. The primarily hurdle was fit–the product had to be tried on and, in most cases,…
Custom Tailored Coupons
Consumers can now walk into one of 115 Price Chopper stores in six states and receive up to eight coupons based on their personal shopping habits by simply inserting the…
The Challenges of Managing Diversity
It is, in part, because of the protections contained in The Bill of Rights that so many have sought the refuge of America from the birth of the nation up…
BrainTrust Query: Will global forces cause the balance of power to shift back to suppliers in food retailing?
A Tuesday Wall Street Journal front-page article said that Navistar International, a company that has been supplying diesel engines to Ford for 30 years, stopped shipments to Ford temporarily in…
Take the Boy and Taylor Ham Out of N.J.
For years, research clearly showed that large numbers of consumers were relocating from the Northeast and the Rust Belt to other markets which all had regional foods that got left…
As the Michigan Grocery Chains Turn
Farmer Jack is continuing to tank and its stores (the current count stands at 66) have been put up for sale by The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. (A&P),…
GHQ: Against the Tide – Supermarkets Battle Alternative Channels
A decade ago, a Costco card hanging from a keychain was not a common sight. Nor were milk cartons at a dollar store or gourmet candy at Home Depot. People…
Does General Merchandise Need a Wellness/Environmental Mantra?
According to IRI’s Times & Trends report, all CPG sales through the three mass-market channels grew by 2.5 percent in dollars last year, but, in contrast, sales of GM products…
Fair Trade is Big Biz in U.K.
At the rate “fair trade” sales are going in the U.K., it may not be long before merchants such as Marks & Spencer and others begin to refer to the…
