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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Long Live the Brands (But Which Ones?)
As the soon to be released book, Private Label Strategy: How to Meet the Store Brand Challenge points out, national brands had their “golden age” in the U.S. around the…
New Products Rolling Out Naturally
New products are the lifeblood of the food business. But along with the value of new items comes the reality that the vast majority will no longer be on store…
Costco Holds to Member Friendly Return Policy
Costco, it is well documented, is not the typical retailer. While all claim to be focused on the customer, it is one retailer that demonstrates that commitment in clear and…
BrainTrust Query: Does ‘problem-solving’ solve problems?
You’d think we’d have figured most everything out by now, wouldn’t you? Here’s the problem: fixing problems isn’t going to fix the problem. Instead, Ian Percy suggests, we need to…
BJ’s Getting Out of Pharmacy Biz
BJ’s Wholesale Club has decided to close all of its pharmacies. The reasons included the company getting into pharmacy at a later stage than its primary competitors and not having…
A Vision of Christmas Future?
Holiday season predictions from the National Retail Federation were for total sales to rise five percent to $457.5 billion in 2006, the lowest increase since 2002. In a number of…
Hand Wipes: The New Differentiator
Consumer products manufacturers have built giant businesses helping Americans to keep the microscopic baddies at bay with hand sanitizers, and now retailers and restaurants are looking to help keep customers…
Chain Store Age: Finding Us Where We Play
Many echo boomers are attracted to the different networking sites available on line, which act as social playgrounds where registered users can interact with friends, share interests and express themselves…
Wal-Mart Wants Vendors to Get in Synch
Wal-Mart wants to use data to move products through the supply chain more quickly than previously achieved. That’s why it strongly urged (i.e. required) manufacturers taking part in its radio…
Home Depot Board/CEO Agree He Should Leave
Bob Nardelli is now the former chairman, president and chief executive officer of Home Depot. Mr. Nardelli and the company’s board of directors mutually agreed he should resign with a…
GHQ Cover Story: Independent Streak
Don’t call them independents. Today’s family-owned grocers prefer a new, more comprehensive description. Now, they’re “lifestyle centers,” as opposed to plain old grocery stores. What do you see as the…
Recreating Bloomingdale’s
Four years ago, Bloomingdale’s was firmly positioned in the great middle of department store retailing. That was a position Michael Gould, chairman and CEO of Bloomingdale’s, found untenable and so…
Omega-3 Inside
The year 2007 may go down as the year omega-3 fatty acids were added to just about everything. The substance has been shown to cut the risk of heart disease…
FDA is Okay with Cloned Meat
The report was long (678 pages) but, in the end, the Food and Drug Administration’s findings were easily summed up in a single sentence: Meat and milk from cloned animals…
Sweetbay Holding Its Own
Shelley Broader, president and CEO of Sweetbay, has a favorite piece of advice she likes to share. “Don’t focus on your competition. Focus on your customers. It’s only by focusing…
Weight Loss Adds Up to Niche for Rite Aid
Last September, Rite Aid announced a deal to open in-store medical clinics run by Lindora Medical Clinics. The twist in this case, however, was that consumers visiting the clinics would…
Retailers Look in Stores for RFID ROI
Chantal Polsonetti, vice president of manufacturing advisory services for Arc Advisory Group, said manufacturers are not looking to reap major benefits from radio frequency identification (RFID) moving product from the…
Online Merchants Graded for Service
It comes as little to no surprise that another study has found that consumers are usually quite happy with their experience doing business online. More surprising is that a number…
Is Product Level Data Accurate Enough to Manage Categories?
Smooth functioning of category management execution depends on accurate, timely information of all types. Without it, the seamless flow of goods onto mass-market retail shelves runs the risk of being…
That’s Eatertainment!
Parents – be aware of what your kids are watching on television. It might turn out that what they see influences them to cook. According to an Associated…
Supermarket to Sell More Expensive Apples
Tesco is looking to produce greater sales with a new Apple (Computer) Zone department in 12 stores, according to The Sunday Times. The initial test site dedicated 120-foot area…
