RECENT discussions
Discussions
Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Mad Cow Mess
The Wall Street Journal reports that an error in diagnosis by government scientists caused a seven-month delay in notifying consumers about the latest case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or…
Not loyal? But they shop here every week.
N. Ramasubraman (Ram), writing in the DM Direct Newsletter, makes the claim that just because you measure high customer retention rates, you may not have high levels of loyalty. Instead…
Packaging Innovations: Part I
Packaging sells. Everyone in product development, marketing and retailing knows it. RetailWire asked BrainTrust member, Michael Richmond, principal, Packaging & Technology Integrated Solutions, to highlight some of the top line…
Legality of Price Checks Questioned
A grocer in Oklahoma, Super H, filed a suit in Osage County District Court alleging Wal-Mart workers were illegally scanning bar codes of items on its shelves. The bar…
The Other Side of Chinese Trade
China’s growing economic might is a prevalent topic in the news with many in the political, labor and even business communities expressing concern about the communist nation’s influence on American…
China’s Largest Oil Company Makes Bid for Unocal
China’s largest offshore oil and gas producer, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) Ltd, has offered $67 in cash per each share of Unocal Corporation in a takeover bid to…
Americans Love to Love or Hate Wal-Mart
In the red state/blue state reality of a polarized America, Wal-Mart was ranked in a survey of 1,133 adults commissioned by Ad Age for being the second most and least…
Twenty-Eight Percent Living Paycheck to Paycheck
No surprise, but many Americans are just making ends meet. According to a recent Online Consumer Confidence Study by ACNielsen (a sponsor of RetailWire), 28 percent of Americans have no…
Six More Lose Jobs in Krispy Kreme Scandal
Six Krispy Kreme executives have lost their jobs in connection with the government’s investigation into accounting fraud at the company. Last week, a special committee of independent directors for the…
MTV Tunes In to Asian Americana and Imports Global Pop
Asian culture is building its unique identity in the United States. But the sheer plurality of cultures across the “Peoples of Asian Heritage” can be dizzying to marketers. Now, instead…
CEO Confident Winn-Dixie Making Right Move
It’s not easy to find positives coming out of an announcement that a company is closing 326 stores, three distribution centers and cutting 22,000 jobs (500 at its headquarters), but…
Will Wal-Mart and Its Customers Pay More?
The cost of energy and other raw material costs has continued to go up but consumers, for the most part, have been immune to inflationary pressures as both manufacturers and…
Restaurant Patrons Determine Menu Prices
A number of restaurants in the U.K. have instituted a new policy that lets patrons decide for themselves how much they will pay for a meal. These “pay-what-you-like” restaurants, such…
Execs Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired
Uninspired and all but retired is how a USA Today report describes many top executives currently running many American businesses. Research conducted by the Gallup Organization to determine how engaged…
The Importance of Being First
Marketing pros don’t like emphasizing it because they think it downplays the importance of the marketing function, but being the first one out with a product in a category can…
Attention Shoppers: Kmart/Sears Experiencing Technical Difficulties
According to a report in the Chicago Sun-Times, an analyst believes Kmart continues to suffer “chronic out-of-stock problems” because of its “unsophisticated replenishment system.” Sears has also had problems with…
Wal-Mart Overruled on Dating Ban
A labor court in Germany has ruled that Wal-Mart can not bar employees from having relationships with co-workers and that a proposed hot line for reporting violations of company code…
Great Leaders Start with the Future
According to author Marcus Buckingham, great leaders and managers are in rare supply in business today. The best ones, Mr. Buckingham told a Wharton Leadership Conference, share the ability…
Subject: TRUST
According to a Gallup Poll cited in the 6-12-05 New York Times Magazine, only eight percent of Americans trust big business a great deal. Could it be that for all…
Retailer Finds Its Niche Online
As the headline on the company’s homepage clearly states, ‘Niche Retail is our name for a reason.’ The online retailer with 40 employees in Michigan and Minnesota operates 14 separate…
Positive Feedback Goes Better With Cash
Twenty-one employees at the Eegee’s fast food chain in the Tuscon, Ariz. area received surprise bonuses from their bosses recently. The company is having a good year, said co-founder Ed…
