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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Update: The Wal-Mart RFID Initiative
In less than three months, the world as retail, wholesale and manufacturing professionals will change dramatically. In January 2005, Wal-Mart’s edict that its top 100 suppliers start shipping cases and…
Toys ‘R’ Us Looking for Some Holiday Magic
Toys ‘R’ Us has a plan for being successful during the upcoming holiday selling season, reports the Associated Press. ‘We are looking at making the shopping experience magical, where consumers…
States Defy FDA on Rx Imports
The states of Illinois and Wisconsin have launched a new program, I-SaveRx, to help residents without insurance buy cheaper prescription medicines from Canada, Ireland and the U.K. In doing so,…
Designing Women
What do Kmart, Sears and Kohl’s have in common? They’ve all hired popular Latina entertainers to design and endorse product lines that bear their names. The goal: win share among…
Stockings To Be Stuffed Lighter This Year
A new study from The NPD Group says there may be less cheer in the air for retailers this upcoming holiday season as 90 percent of consumers plan on spending…
Kmart’s Makeover
Gary Ruffing, a retail consultant for BBK Ltd. in Southfield, Mich. and a former executive at Kmart says the company isn’t willing to be the Rodney Dangerfield of the retailing…
Beyond Brands
Kevin Roberts, CEO Worldwide of Saatchi & Saatchi, told a GMA (Grocery Manufacturers of America) gathering last week that brands are a thing of the past, and “lovemarks” are the…
New Concept Takes Best Buy In Different Direction
Best Buy has announced it is testing a new health and wellness products store targeted to women 45 and up. The new concept, Eq Life, will sell a variety of…
Relevance Revs Up Auto Buyers
Customer retention, a critical metric for automotive dealership AutoNation, has gone from 10.3 percent in early 2004 to 16.7 percent. Inside 1to1 Executive Editor John Gaffney writes that Scott Zientarski,…
Pharmacies Make It Easier To Take Meds
A byproduct of aging is memory loss, and pharmacists such as Richard Brisson are finding that making it easier for consumers to remember what medicine to take is a service…
The Whole Grain and Nothing But
General Mills announced yesterday it would begin producing its cereals with whole grains in response to the need for healthier eating alternatives. In a statement released by the company, Dr…
Lights, Camera, Action, Sales!
WB’s stars are wearing Kmart’s clothes, the Donald’s apprentices are trying to sell Vanilla Mint Crest and the family on NBC’s “American Dreams” will be found sitting down for a…
Childhood Obesity Called Crisis, Food Industry Responds
A report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies, Preventing Childhood Obesity: Health in the Balance, says the health issue has reached crisis proportions and requires a…
Good News, Bad News Day For Kmart HQ Staffers
First: the good news for the survivors at Kmart’s headquarters. The company has decided to increase the amount it contributes to your 401K plan. Second: the bad news for those…
New Return Policy Has Consumer Group Concerned
The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (PRC), a consumer advocacy group in San Diego, Cal., is concerned about the number of complaints it has been receiving from consumers who say stores have…
Let the Debating Begin
Tonight at 9:00 p.m. EST., President George W. Bush and his opponent, Sen. John Kerry of Mass. will seek to make their best case for their candidacy in the first…
Renovation Means Revenues for Home Depot
Home Depot is riding high on a construction boom, reports the Chicago Sun-Times, spurred on, in part, by consumers’ “fascination with upgrading older housing.” How has the phenomena of urban…
May Puts Its Own in Charge of Field’s
Has May Department Stores decided not to let Marshall Field’s be Marshall Field’s after all? Yesterday, May announced that it had named two of its own to the positions…
Building Bridges to the Hispanic Community
When judging whether or not to go the extra mile to connect with your ethnic customers in your stores, consider that what you are doing is creating relationships. What do…
Health Insurance Eating Into Incomes
The average worker in the U.S. with private health insurance has seen the costs for premiums increase 35.9 percent between 2000 and 2004 while the size of their paycheck grew…
Starbucks Serves Up Steeper Prices
Beginning on Oct. 6, Starbucks’ customers can expect to pay an average of 11 cents more for their favorite coffee beverage. Will Starbucks price increase impact its business? At what…
