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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
BrainTrust Query: Black Friday…store traffic, but at what cost?
Although a retail consultant, Don Delzell held himself above the fray and never actually participated in the Black Friday phenomenon. This year, lured by outrageous discounts on large screen plasma…
Guess Who’s Driving the Hybrid?
You know what they say about making assumptions. It’s a practice that rarely turns out well for anyone. A recent study by the automotive web site Autobytel clearly demonstrates the…
Grocers Inch Closer to Wal-Mart
HSBC analyst Mark Husson said in a note to clients that supermarket chains such as Kroger, Safeway, Supervalu and Delhaize America have weathered the worst Wal-Mart dished out and are…
Vitamin/Nutritional Supplement Market Entering a Battle of Strength
After a couple of unhealthy years, sales of vitamins and nutritional supplements are looking rosy again. Supermarkets lead in the category with a 33 percent share, followed by mass at…
PL Buyer Cover Story: Organic Outreach
Having already established roots in the natural and organic market, Wild Oats Markets is broadening its store brand reach. The chain is pushing its private label in its own stores…
CSD: A Culture of Caring
Ask any retailer in the industry what sets them apart – what’s their most valuable asset – and almost everyone will say “our people.” But for Valero Energy Corp., it’s…
College Kids Need Food Education
Catching young people as they start their university lives gives retailers three opportunities to influence the way people eat. The students are starting to shop and feed themselves for the…
Executives School Next Generation of Retailers
A select group of Britain’s top retailers are taking training into their own hands. A new Fashion Retail Academy was recently opened in London with the purpose of training top…
Employees Ready to Walk During Holidays
Most retail workers can handle the customer side of things. What gets them angry enough to quit is the perceived treatment they receive at the hands of their supervisors and…
Chinese Factories Flout Workplace Rules
While inexpensive goods from China are taken for granted by many in the U.S., the basic American sense of fair play has led many to question whether there was an…
Same Talk, Similar Results for Sears Holdings
In a press release to announce its third quarter financial results, Sears Holdings quoted CEO and president Aylwin Lewis as saying: “We continue to manage our costs effectively…We are excited…
The Strong Survive, Then Thrive in Department Store Biz
The long rumored demise of the department store channel appears to have been overblown. There have been casualties along the way, no doubt, but today the channel is not only…
Family Caregivers: Huge potential, tough to reach
With more than one in five households actively engaged in care for a loved one at home, this is a market segment worth paying attention to. Simply put, caregivers provide…
Store Brands Continue Rise in the U.S.
At its annual trade show in Chicago this week, the Private Label Manufacturers Association released a survey revealing that store brands are becoming increasingly popular to American consumers. What…
Supervalu to Spend $1 Billion to Surprise and Delight
At least part of the question as to what Jeff Noddle, chairman and CEO of Supervalu, would do with the stores acquired from Albertsons has now been answered. Yesterday, Supervalu…
Advertising Rules Change
Today, marketers are looking for the right message and medium to get consumers to buy their products and shop at their stores. A new study conducted for the Retail Advertising…
Everybody Works Holidays at Best Buy
Best Buy has found a way to make sure it has experienced and knowledgeable temporary help for the holiday selling season. It is taking employees out of headquarters and moving…
Kids’ Food Ads to Change
Leading food and beverage manufacturers and providers have decided it’s time to change the way they advertise to kids. And after yesterday’s announcement that the group had created new guidelines…
Marketers Failing to Communicate with Latinos
“What we’ve got here is failure to communicate. Some men you just can’t reach…” The men (and women) in this case that can’t be reached are Latinos and the reason…
ESOPs Produce Big Results
Today, according to The ESOP (employee stock ownership plan) Association, there are 11,000 companies owned in part or fully by employees. Of this group, 3,500 companies are majority-owned by employees…
Nordstrom Sings a New Tune
Music at Nordstrom will no longer be confined to a pianist playing in the store. No, the department store chain is looking to broaden its musical horizons and add to…
