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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Try Before You Buy
When (if) life isn’t enough, we can now reinvent ourselves with alter egos called avatars just as upwards of one million people have done on the three-dimensional, virtual world known…
Stores Put On a Facade
Retailers don’t want consumers window-shopping anymore. They want them inside buying merchandise, and so the days of the wide-open plate-glass window storefronts appear as though they may be coming to…
Chain Store Age: The New Customer Service
The irony of today’s consumer mind-set regarding customer service relates to perception — the fact is that for some, good service actually equates to less direct interaction with store associates…
Is Bigger Better?
There’s no stopping the big from getting bigger. Indeed, merger and acquisition activity is more than maintaining its pace this year and the number of transactions itself is robust, to…
CVS Deal for Caremark Addresses Competitive Issues
CVS’ deal to acquire pharmacy benefits manager Caremark Rx comes at a time when competition from retail pharmacies and mail order is at its most intense. What will the…
SoCal Lockout and Strike, Part Two?
Oh no, its déjà vu all over again. Back in late 2003 and 2004, a lockout and strike involving 60,000 grocery workers in Southern California resulted in losses and resentment…
Analyst: Wal-Mart to Roll Out New Format
Wal-Mart recently announced it would reign in its capital expenditures over the next fiscal year with most of the dollars it intends to spend going to remodels and, where new…
Starbucks Outsources IT Functions
Earlier this week, Starbucks joined those going the outsourcing route when it entered into a deal that will have Unisys take over a large number of IT functions for the…
Get Ready, Set, Spend for the Holidays
Whatever consumers (primarily Moms) want this holiday, they can get in one place – the new Ready, Set, Holiday joint web site from Sears, Kmart and Lands’ End. That, at…
Customers Want Their Wal-Mart Back
You can keep your new Wal-Mart with its upgraded merchandise. We want the same stuff we’ve been buying at the low prices Wal-Mart has always charged. That, according to a…
CSD Cover Story: Chevron Gets Fresh
Amateurs work until they get it right. Professionals work until they can’t get it wrong. It’s this philosophy that is driving Chevron to display its professional prowess as it prepares…
What (Gadgets) Women Want
It’s time to dispel some myths about women, according to Nichole Monroe Bell of The Charlotte Observer. For one, she writes, while many girls are very fond of diamonds,…
One Minute Past Thanksgiving
The competition on Black Friday seems to become more intense each year. Some retailers looking for a fast start aren’t even waiting for Friday, with store hours on Thanksgiving Day…
Costco Takes a Different Route Online
If you’re looking for the Scallywag Sloop Pirate Themed Club House, forget about going to your local Costco Warehouse Club to buy it. It just isn’t there. Of course, the…
Circle K Program Features Hispanic Brands
When people from various Latin American countries move to the U.S., they are certainly leaving things they cherish behind. Sometimes that something can be as simple as a favorite food…
BrainTrust Query: What do consumers want from in-store media?
A hot topic in today’s retail media landscape is trust and acceptance. As new and evolving retail media are appearing, the industry is looking to better understand how they will…
New Jersey Sues Rite Aid
Most large retailers have to deal with disgruntled customers and the occasional bad press but Rite Aid is facing a much more serious situation in New Jersey. The state’s…
Odak Out, Industry Vet Takes Helm at Wild Oats
Perry Odak is now the former CEO of Wild Oats and the company’s chairman, Gregory Mays, a long-time supermarket industry veteran, will take over the position on an interim basis…
Online Grocers: Where are they going?
Safeway has just taken 100 percent of online retailer GroceryWorks, Fresh Direct in the metro New York region is growing, and Amazon.com launched its online grocery store in July. It…
BrainTrust Query: Do the use of high tech criminal methods somehow lessen a retailer’s responsibility for trafficking in stolen merchandise?
A man, apparently well known on the internet as a very reliable source of deeply discounted Lego sets, has been found to be using fake barcodes to fool the POS…
Blind Web Surfers Sue Target for Access
Retailers are required by law to make special accommodations for the disabled in their stores. The same, say groups such as the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), should apply…
