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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Undercover Shoppers
An increasing number of retailers are hiring outside firms to send in undercover shopping agents to assess everything from how good a job a store is doing in clearing shopping…
Retailers Dream of a Black Day-After Christmas
Depending on the locale and the report you were reading, shoppers either turned out in droves at stores yesterday or chose to do something other than return items and cash…
Bed Bath & Free Valet Parking, Too
Bed Bath & Beyond in Pleasant Hill, Ca. wanted to make its customers feel special and keep traffic moving smoothly through its parking lot, as well as in its store…
Wal-Mart Takes $172 Mil Hit In Lunch Break Case
Allegations by retail workers that they’ve had breaks cut short or denied altogether by managers when stores are understaffed and/or simply very busy may be as old as retailing itself…
Albertsons Says ‘No Sale’ for Entire Company
Albertsons announced that it is ending talks to sell the entire company after its Board of Directors decided it was not going to get the type of bid it was…
Retailer Told Waste Not When So Many are in Need
A column by Jim Kenyon in The Valley News of West Lebanon, N.H., takes Home Depot to task for destroying and throwing out the various building materials and other goods…
Traffic Picks Up on the E-tail Superhighway
As stores in New York look for ways to cope with the impact of a transit strike that has put thousands in the city on foot, their online extensions and…
Transit Strike Brings Store Traffic to a Halt
According to most reports, retail sales had not been particularly strong in New York City before the transit union went out on strike this week. The last thing retailers in…
Long Lines Gets Shoppers PO’d
Of all the things consumers hate about shopping, waiting in line at the checkout may be just about the worst. Even shoppers who have spent a considerable time in the…
Retailers Starting After-Christmas Sales Now
Merchants in the Pittsburgh, Pa. area concerned with being stuck with excess inventory at the end of the holiday season are beginning to advertise “after-Christmas” sale prices on a wide…
Marshall Field’s Last Christmas
The subject of the Marshall Field’s banner being removed and replaced with Macy’s is a sore one for many Chicagoans. Many of the department stores’ customer understand this will be…
It’s Better to Give Than Receive
According to some retail industry watchers, this year’s holiday season is different as the images of the personal devastation brought by Hurricane Katrina, the tsunami in Asia and other events…
Spartan to Buy D&W Food Centers
Spartan Stores has entered into an agreement to purchase “certain operating assets” of D&W Food Centers. The deal, pending due diligence, will give Spartan control of D&W’s 20 grocery stores…
Marketer to Seed Ad Budget with Healthcare Savings
Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. plans to boost its ad spending from 5.6 percent of company sales to seven percent and it has a unique strategy for funding the increase. The dollars…
Actual Performance May Vary
The National Retail Federation said retailers got off to a strong start over the Black Friday weekend and the group is expecting sales for the season to come in around…
The Way to a Man’s Wallet
Jim Suchy’s idea of a great night out shopping for Christmas presents involves sitting in a comfortable chair watching television while drinking beer and eating pizza. That’s why he decided…
Loyalty Doesn’t Fly
United Airlines recently launched Mileage Plus Auctions, a new program that lets members of its Mileage Plus frequent flyer program use their miles to bid on big-ticket items, such as…
Now Playing: Late Fees at Blockbuster
The experiment with no late fees is over for some Blockbuster franchisees. Stores in Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee have reinstated late fees on movie rentals when the stores found…
Federal Grand Jury Indicts Ralphs
A federal grand jury has handed down an indictment of Ralphs Grocery Co. charging the company illegally rehired nearly 1,000 employees during the grocery workers lockout/strike two years ago. According…
The New Owners of Albertsons Are…
A report in The Wall Street Journal says an investment group of Cerberus Capital Management, Kimco Realty and Supervalu will be announced as the winners of the bidding for Albertsons…
Late Shoppers Find OOS on Hot Toys
Shoppers who wait until Christmas draws closer may find they get better deals on some goods but, as many others are discovering, they may also be faced with the reality…
