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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Wal-Mart, Category Killers and Dodo Birds
Bill Virgin, columnist with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer points out that the history of the industry strictly adheres to the Darwinian model: evolve and survive, don’t and die. Not long ago…
Online Shoppers Search and Spend
DoubleClick’s Q2 2004 E-Commerce Site Trend Report says shoppers on e-tail sites are using the search function more often but they’re also abandoning carts in high numbers. Patti Freeman Evans,…
Home Depot Settles Complaints To Avoid Legal Costs
Home Depot has agreed to pay $5.5 million to settle complaints brought against the company by employees in its Colorado stores who accused it of discrimination based on gender, race…
Krispy Kreme Promotion Magnifies Generation Gap
The lines have been drawn. Kids support Krispy Kreme’s efforts to improve the academic performance of the nation’s youth (at least Palm Beach County, Fla.) and parents and educators are…
Still Making Sense: Timeless Ethnic Merchandising Best Practices, Part 3
In Hispanics’ view, how you offer your product assortment is as important as what products you offer. Offered in the third installment of this series are some merchandising and item…
Kids Holding Off On Buying New Clothes
Forget about being fashion-forward. This year’s group of high school students is taking a wait-and-see attitude about buying new clothes, preferring instead to see what everyone else is wearing before…
Study: Ignore Customers At Your Own Peril
A new research study conducted by Customer Relationship Metrics says companies are forgetting one very important component when attempting to improve their level of customer service — the customer. Too…
Execs Say IT Slows Growth
A new study of senior executives at large corporations found 60 percent believe their company’s information technology focus and performance is inhibiting their ability to grow. According to Bain &…
Consumers Satisfied, Just Not Spending
Consumers are generally very pleased with the quality of products they buy but they’re still not spending. That is the takeaway from the latest American Customer Satisfaction Index compiled by…
Sears Seeks New Image With New Format, New Hires
Sears’ management is counting on the new Grand store format generating enough interest to get people to come back to Sears at least once to check it out. If that…
Albertsons Delivers to Salt Lake Consumers
Consumers in a couple dozen communities in the Salt Lake, Utah area will be able to begin ordering groceries online for home delivery or store pickup from Albertsons beginning on…
How Much is Service Worth?
Two-thirds of American consumers are willing to pay more for selected services in exchange for better service, despite lower prices being a primary reason for switching service providers. That paradoxical…
Clueless On Impact Of New OT Rules
The new federally mandated regulations regarding overtime go into effect today. How the new rules will affect retailers remains to be seen. For one thing, organized labor is hopeful that…
For Sale Sign May Go Up On Duckwall-ALCO
Strongbow Capital Ltd., the third largest shareholder in Duckwall-ALCO Stores, is running out of patience and it wants the company to improve its sales performance, cut costs and get a…
Meijer To Pump Biodiesel
Meijer will begin pumping biodiesel at one of its gas stations in Ann Arbor, Mich. before Christmas as part of a partnership with the city and the Michigan Soybean Council…
Angry Consumers Prompt Best Buy Lawsuit
Yesterday, the Ohio attorney general’s office filed a lawsuit against Best Buy for allegedly repackaging used product and reselling it as new, failing to honor extended service contracts and other…
Organic Sales Rise With Safety Concerns
A new study from the market research firm Mintel says sales of organic foods and beverages have grown 81 percent over the past three years, in large part because of…
The Penney Idea
In his book, Celebration of Fools: An inside look at the rise and fall of JCPenney, Bill Hare discusses one significant difference between JCPenney and all other competitors: management’s unerring…
Bridging the Digital Divide?
According to Jupiter Research, only 54% of African American and 57% of Hispanic households are online, compared to 71% of Caucasian households. America Online is hoping to change all that…
What’s Really Going On At Krispy Kreme?
One day after announcing he was leaving his position as chief operating officer of Krispy Kreme, John Tate was publicly named as the new COO and executive vice president of…
Wal-Mart Expands In-Store Pickup Test
Wal-Mart is expanding its test of in-store pickup for products purchased on Walmart.com beyond the five original Dallas-area locations it started off with last month to an additional 23 Supercenters…
