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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Sears Pops Up in Manhattan
Temporary or pop-up stores are becoming increasingly popular as a way to create buzz around a retail brand. Now Sears is joining Apple, Target and others that have used this…
LA Law Would Require New Owners to Keep Workers On
A controversial new law tentatively approved by the Los Angeles City Council yesterday would require a company acquiring a supermarket to retain workers who have been on the job for…
Global Diversity Rings in the Cash Registers for Sesame Workshop
International Licensing has contributed substantially to the increase in revenue of Sesame Street Workshop, the non-profit organization based in New York. The global travels of Kermit the Frog, Big…
GTIN Called Obstacle to In-store Promotion
Global Trade Item Numbers are assigned based on the packaging, net weight, and dimensions of the item being sold. The emphasis is on linking all the various physical containers associated…
Loyalty Not in the Cards
Biometric payment provider Pay By Touch isn’t content using its technology to speed payment for shoppers and lower transaction fees for retailers. They have ambitions to use biometric identification to…
Oil Prices Only Going Up From Here
If you held out hope that energy prices would be coming down, it’s time to get over that notion. Guy Caruso, head of the Energy Information Administration, said yesterday that…
New Owner Has Global Plans for Dunkin’ Donuts
It is now official. Pernod Richard has sold its Dunkin’ Brands business (Dunkin’ Donuts, Baskin-Robbins ice cream shops and Togo’s sandwich stores) to an investment group including Bain Capital, Carlyle…
Kiosks Kash In
Those temporary kiosks and carts you see set up in malls are doing a brisk business, with annual sales of around $10 billion. The reasons behind the success are varied,…
No Accounting for Unredeemed Gift Cards
While the exchange of gift cards would appear to be good for retailers, it has a downside. Many gift card recipients never redeem them. In non-accounting terms, getting something for…
Safeway Connects with Lifestyles
By most accounts, Safeway’s lifestyle concept stores have been a hit with consumers from one coast to the other. Some analysts have expressed concern over the costs of remodeling…
Family Dollar Hurts Along with Its Shoppers
Howard Levine, chairman and CEO of Family Dollar Stores, will be the first to tell you that the company’s success is the result of its focus on low-income and value-conscious…
Judge Tries Scarlet Letter Approach to Shoplifting
Some individuals convicted of shoplifting in Rhea Country, Tennessee are being given the option by a judge of standing in front of the stores wearing a sign that says they…
Christian Stores Battle for Narnia Sales
Christian retail stores are looking to today’s release of “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” with great anticipation as the film is expected to be…
Spanish Speakers Find Christmas Place on the Web
The combination of a growing Hispanic population and a study from Internet Retailer that showed many Latinos are going online to buy things was enough to convince management at The…
Walgreens Accused of Religious Discrimination
A group founded by the conservative Christian preacher Pat Robertson has filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charging that Walgreens engaged in religious discrimination by “effectively firing”…
Customers and Employees Top Female CEO Priority Lists
A new study by Babson College’s Center for Women’s Leadership says that, when it comes to business priorities, female CEOs put customers and employees at the top of their list…
Walgreens to Track Displays
A lack of in-store compliance with manufacturer promotional programs may be a thing of the past now that Walgreens, in partnership with 15 package goods companies, is rolling out a…
Certified Grocers Midwest Buying Fresh Brands
The grocery wholesaler and operator of Piggly Wiggly and Dick’s Supermarkets, Fresh Brands, announced yesterday it has agreed to be sold to Certified Grocers Midwest in a deal valued at…
Marketers Get Social with Young Consumers
If you’re a marketer and you’re looking to get some of the $175 billion spent annually by 12- to 17-year-olds or the $200 billion plunked down by college students, then…
Study: Ads Lead to Bad Eating Habits
A new report from the National Academies of Science’s Institute of Medicine says food marketers’ advertising on children’s television has influenced the eating habits of the nation’s youth, contributing to…
Associates Joining Wal-Mart Health Insurance Program
Even Wal-Mart’s critics have something good to say about the company’s announcement that it has enrolled 70,000 employees in its healthcare benefits programs for next year. According to a report…
