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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
IKEA Goes Public, Sorta
Alla and Alexander are on display. The couple is currently living in a 55 square-meter glass box outside an IKEA store in Moscow as part of a promotional campaign for…
CSD Cover Story: All in the Family — Inside Japan’s FamilyMart
With the experience of operating 12,452 convenience stores worldwide, Tokyo-based FamilyMart Co. felt the time was right to take on the complex U.S. market. So while much of the attention…
Are wage caps good or bad for a retailer’s business?
Wal-Mart’s recent announcement that the company would increase its starting wage for all employees was greeted with almost universal praise (albeit grudgingly from the company’s critics). Less well received was…
Aye, Aye Category Captain
Where would retailers be without their category captains? Depending on the person you speak with, the answers would range from the equivalent of “in deep doo-doo” to “we don’t need…
BrainTrust Query: Polo’s e-commerce store windows…innovation or a strategic misfire?
The industry is buzzing with the news that a NYC Polo Ralph Lauren store is now featuring “payment at the glass.” Shoppers can browse and order merchandise 24/7 by touching…
Prepaid Cell Phone Sales Lead to Terrorist Charges
Three men from Texas have been arrested on terrorism related charges after having been found with about 1,000 prepaid cell phones in their minivan. The men were pulled over in…
Yucaipa: If at First You Don’t Succeed, Buy, Buy Again
Most people probably thought the maneuvering was over when Supervalu, CVS and an investment group led by Cerberus Capital Management were chosen as the winning bidders for the Albertsons chain…
BrainTrust Query: Is there a future for food wholesalers?
In general, the food marketing industry has experienced sweeping changes in the last 20 years but, with the exception of food brokers, no segment has experienced more change than the…
Wal-Mart Builds, Waits for Communities to Catch Up
A report by The News & Observer points out that Wal-Mart is now building stores in markets that appear headed for major spikes in population, even if they are not…
Amazon Gathers Info on White, Gay Christians Earning Big Bucks
Amazon.com has filed an application with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office for a system the company is developing that would capture intimate details on customers such as their ethnicity,…
BrainTrust Query: Is retail technology in a rut? Where will the next big advance come from?
Eight years ago, the Nasdaq Composite Index broke 2000 for the first time. And it just broke 2000 again…after soaring to 5000 and plummeting to 1000 in the interim. Given…
Staples Becoming More Mature with B-T-S Marketing
For years, Staples has focused its back-to-school (b-t-s) selling on grade school kids and their parents. The company’s newest initiative is “like so mature” as the office supplies retailer is…
Developing the Next Generation of Coffee Devotees
17 year old Patricia Eggerton says, “If you can’t go to someone’s house for whatever reason, then coffee shops are a good place to sort of meet up. It’s a…
BrainTrust Query: What does it imply for manufacturers when retailers initiate programs to reduce their store-level inventory?
Wal-Mart’s “Inventory Deload” and “Remix” initiatives are by far the most high-profile examples of what we expect will be the focus of a growing number of successful retailers, i.e., decreasing…
NRF to Get Out the Vote
The retail industry has over 23 million people working in it and the National Retail Federation (NRF) wants them all to vote. That’s why the group has launched a voter…
RFID Revolution Not Here Yet
A recent report in The Dallas Morning News said proponents of RFID have made claims that the technology would make many daily activities easier for consumers. For now, however, most…
GHQ Cover Story: Booster Clubs
Organized retail crime (ORC) is taking a bite out of merchants’ profits and supermarkets are no exception, according to the latest Grocery Headquarters’ cover story, Booster Clubs. In fact, many…
Good Vendor Relations Keep the Wheels Turning
Toyota has recently moved up in position to become the second largest automaker in the United States. Much of that success, according to the company, comes down to the relationships…
So You Think You Can Create a Menu
On any given week, millions of Americans can be found tuning in to and voting for their favorite performers on television shows such as American Idol and So You Think…
BrainTrust Query: Are greater sales truly in the loyalty cards?
Reward card program members tend to spend more in 11 key merchandise categories than non-members, says newly-released research. Shopper motivation, however, appears to be a bit harder to quantify. For…
Pediatricians Want Shopping Carts Redesigned
The American Academy of Pediatricians (AAP) says in a new policy report that shopping carts need to be redesigned to protect small children from accidents. It also wants stricter government…
