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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Starbucks Finds Doing the Right Thing is Hard
Starbucks’ Howard Schultz says even companies such as his that are trying to do the right thing by offering healthcare coverage to employees have come to the conclusion they simply…
Should There Be Multicultural Marketing Response in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina?
Over these past two weeks, the struggle to come to grips with the enormity of the human, social and cultural devastation of Hurricane Katrina has lead to confronting the fact…
Walgreens Addresses Skin Care Needs of Women of Color
Walgreens has launched an exclusive line of skin care products specially developed by Beverly Hills cosmetic surgeon Dr. Jan Adams to meet the needs of women of color. What does…
Sturken and Spartan Target Farmer Jack for Acquisition
Meredith Adler, an analyst with Lehman Bros., thinks Spartan Stores will be the next owner of Farmer Jack. The analyst, who said she expects the deal to be made before…
Wall Street Misses the Customer Centricity Point
Wall Street’s reaction to Best Buy’s latest quarterly results was predictable. What many on the street and elsewhere either missed or chose to discount in the consumer electronics chain’s numbers…
Unsaleables Benchmarked
The 2005 Unsaleables Benchmark Report from GMA and FMI has found that manufacturer costs associated with returned product declined last year to 1.06 percent of gross sales. The progress made…
Obese Workers Weigh on Employers’ Competitiveness
Obese employees, those 30 or more pounds overweight, are weighing down their employers with increased health care costs and associated lack of productivity because of time spent away from the…
Big is Beautiful for the Bottom Line
Retailers have discovered bigger may be better, at least in terms of their customer’s physiques, when it comes to generating sales and profits for their business. According to NPD Group,…
Wholesaler Choices
While it’s the nature of independent grocers to switch wholesale suppliers, the cases of two grocers demonstrate that finding the right trading partner can go a long way in determining…
Cash is No Longer King
It used to be said, “Cash is king.” Those days are quickly disappearing as more consumers pay for goods with their debit, credit or ebt cards. In the U.K., for…
The Rewards of Loyalty
The moral of this story is loyalty costs and pays. Retailers continue to spend huge amounts of money on loyalty programs and, according to Christine Chen, a research analyst at…
Lundgren Wants to Raise Nation’s Macy’s Consciousness
As an article on the Women’s Wear Daily Web site tells it, one of Terry Lundgren’s goals upon taking over the top job at Federated Department Stores was “to bring…
Sainsbury Cells Coupons
Customers at select Sainsbury’s in the U.K. can now download product discount coupons directly from their cell phone, reports The Wise Marketer. The coupon program called “M-Bar-Go” allows shoppers to…
Lampert Takes Over Marketing, Merchandising and More at Sears
Edward Lampert has a few new jobs. The chairman of Sears Holdings Corp. removed Alan Lacy as CEO of Sears and put himself in charge of running Sears Holdings’ marketing,…
The News Is Almost Always Good at Publix
Publix Super Markets’ founder George Jenkins told Forbes in 1985, “There’s no secret to our success. We’re not the only people who treat their people well, we just make a…
Use Calendar Events to Strengthen Loyalty
According to an article in Promo Magazine, many marketers are offering unique back-to-school rewards for their customers. Chase is rewarding United Mileage Plus Visa cardholders with additional miles for back…
Wal-Mart Plans Lower, Low Prices for the Holidays
Lee Scott is serious about slashing prices and driving consumers into Wal-Mart’s stores and onto its Web site this holiday season. In a presentation at Prudential Equity Group’s consumer conference,…
Home Depot Conserves Its Energy
In what it calls a response to “the government’s call to conserve energy,” The Home Depot has announced voluntary measures it plans to take to reduce energy consumption in its…
Supervalu Puts ‘For Sale’ Sign on Shop ‘n Save
Ask Jeff Noddle what he thinks about Supervalu’s prospects and he’ll tell you that the company is “very well positioned for the long term.” It’s dealing with more immediate issues…
Does Target Have an Image Problem?
Could Tar-jay be a liability in Target’s plans for continued growth? A recent report in the Star Tribune of Minneapolis questioned whether the discount chain with the hip advertising and…
Gap Has the Music In It
The promotion was simple. Shoppers walk into a Gap and try on a pair of jeans. Whether they buy the jeans or not they walk out with a card that…
