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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
The ‘Made In America’ Niche
Take a look at the label inside most of the apparel sold in U.S. retail outlets today and you’ll quickly discover that almost nothing is made in America. Perhaps…
Kroger Bringing Marketplace to Home Town
Kroger plans to introduce its Marketplace concept to the Cincinnati area by the end of the summer, reports The Enquirer. The larger multi-department concept dedicates up to 40 percent of…
Sunflower Could Grow Big for Supervalu
Sunflower Market, Supervalu’s discount organic food concept, is looking to bloom in Central Ohio by building as many as seven stores in the Columbus area. The decision to open in…
Bananas Without the Bunch
Chiquita has announced that it will begin selling single-serve bananas through convenience store next month. A new packaging system developed by Landec Corp. of Menlo Park, CA extends the shelf…
Wal-Mart Expands Healthcare Benefits
The world’s largest retailer has quickly responded to criticism over its healthcare benefits program and the passage of the so-called Wal-Mart bill in Maryland by reducing the timeframe required for…
The Ivy League Goes Retail
Elizabeth Schweitzer wants Federated Department Stores CEO Terry Lundgren’s job. Maybe not tomorrow, but at some point in the future for sure. Ms. Schweitzer is a 21-year-old graduate of the…
Deal$, Deal$, Deal$
Supervalu is getting out of the standalone dollar store game and Dollar Tree is more committed to it than ever. Yesterday, the wholesaler and retail grocer announced it had reached…
Format No Longer Essential to Sears
The Sears Essentials banner has been rendered obsolete. Sears Holdings Corp. announced yesterday that it was bringing to an end its one-year experiment with the Essentials format and will turn…
Borders’ Borrows from Banks’ Christmas Clubs
Whoever came up with the idea for Borders’ new customer loyalty program must have belonged to a bank Christmas club. For those who may not know, bank Christmas clubs let…
Wal-Mart Emphasizes Convenience in the U.K.
Back in August, Wal-Mart’s Lee Scott said, “A lot of Tesco’s growth has come from the small convenience chain. Andy (Bond, the chief executive of Asda) and his team have…
Disney Goes Online Sans Catalog
The Walt Disney Company, buoyed by the percentage of orders for goods being made on the company’s web site this past holiday season, has decided to can its catalog and…
Loblaws to Launch Private Label Clothing Line
The Canadian supermarket chain, Loblaws, is looking to head-off competition from Wal-Mart Supercenters by rolling out its own private label brand of clothing next month. The line will be marketed…
Women in Search of Deals
According to a study by the Frank About Women market research firm, women today are concerned about the economy and, as a result, are doing more comparison-shopping and bargain hunting…
RetailWire Webinar: Getting Real with RFID
As with any hyped anything, radio frequency identification (RFID) technology has its share of advocates and detractors. The recent RetailWire Webinar on the subject of RFID looked to move past…
Chain Targets Food for Growth
Target plans to expand the amount of space it devotes to food in its discount stores to drive traffic. According to a report in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Target plans…
Retail Organizations: The Problem Within
A new study from Zenith Management Consulting says that retailers can be making money, growing year-over-year sales, outdoing the competition and satisfying consumers — and still be in trouble. …
You’ve Earned Loyalty
According to AOL SVP of Brand Management Russ Natoce, speaking at the Conference Board brand conference, AOL was able to get 40 percent of its customers in the brand rejecter…
Food Cos. Look to Fill Stomachs and Reduce Waistlines
Hunger pangs be gone. Food marketers, many having been “a day late and a dollar short” when it comes to picking up on diet fads in the past, are trying…
Vons Cuts Double Coupon Offer
Vons is no longer doubling coupons in parts of Orange County and all of San Diego County in California after finding that few of its customers were taking advantage of…
Amazon Looks to Take Bite Out of Apple’s Music Biz
Looks like everyone is trying to take a bite out of Apple Computer’s market share in the downloadable music category, and the latest to step up is Amazon.com. The New…
Urban Outfitters Sticks with Youth Movement
You don’t have to like the goods Urban Outfitters sells, says Richard Hayne, the company’s co-founder, chairman and president, only his customers do. The apparel, accessories and housewares chain, which…
