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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Supermarket For Welfare Recipients
An interesting social experiment is taking place in Düsseldorf, Germany where a grocery store, stocked by donations of out-of-date and damaged products from local wholesalers and retailers, has been opened…
Starbucks Is Target of Firebombing
A Starbucks scheduled to open in the Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood of Portland had windows broken and a Molotov cocktail thrown at it last week. The store has been at the center…
Loyalty to Go
According to Matthew Kauffman, writing April 7th for The Hartford Courant, the Happy Meals program was launched in 1977 when, “…a franchisee in St. Louis asked his advertising agency to…
Morning-After Pill Not Going OTC
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has gone against the recommendations of its own scientific advisors by deciding to withhold approval for the over-the-counter (OTC) sale of the so-called morning-after…
NRF: Schumer Amendment Will Backfire
The National Retail Federation (NRF) is lobbying senators to reject a proposed amendment to S. 1637, the Jumpstart Our Business Strength Act, that would add levies to goods made in…
Of Pacesetters and Transformational New Products
Packaged salad…soy milk…restaurant-to-retail food. These, according to Valerie Skala, VP, Analytic Product Management, Information Resources, Inc., are landmark “transformational” products of recent times.With thousands of products competing for retail real…
Retail’s High-End Food Opportunity
Attending the conglomeration of food shows led by the FMI (Food Marketing Institute) convention this week, Al McClain wondered if enough attention is being given to the unique opportunity of…
CVS CEO: Legalize Canadian Rx Imports
Thomas Ryan, chairman and chief executive officer, CVS, said the high cost of prescription medicines here in the U.S. made it inevitable that people would seek to obtain drugs from…
Seeing Opportunity in Hispanic Shopper Behavior
During our presentation on Monday at the FMI Conference, we introduced some of the results from a new research study of 1,650 Hispanic shoppers, co-sponsored by ADVO, FMI and New…
Inspirational Retailing: How to Survive in a Wal-Mart World
The Wal-Mart juggernaut has been a wake-up call for most retailers. In a recent survey of retailers, the New England Consulting Group (NECG) found that most retailers are obsessed with…
Pennsylvania Recruits Supermarkets
An editorial in the Philadelphia Inquirer gives credit to the Pennsylvania Governor’s office and state legislators for the portion of an economic stimulus program that seeks to attract supermarkets to…
Sec. Thompson Calls for Health Leadership at FMI Show
Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson worked clean-up in the batting order for FMI’s Speaks 2004 annual state of the industry report on Sunday morning. Sec. Thompson is…
CVS Takes Beauty Tips From Department Stores
The drugstore chain is following the example of department stores by opening separate cosmetics and beauty care counters within its stores, reports the Miami Herald. What are your thoughts…
Kmart Stronger, Not Yet Strong
Kmart has managed to emerge from bankruptcy protection more quickly and adeptly than many industry observers thought possible. While this is good news, the company still has a long way…
Wal-Mart Helps Improve Neighborhood
Vocal opponents cast Wal-Mart as a soulless goliath that swallows up competitors, destroys jobs, attracts crime and leaves local communities in tatters. Many people living in South Central Los Angeles…
Working Vacations
You might see yourself in these numbers. Forty percent of respondents to a survey by the American Management Association reported doing office related work while on vacation. One in…
Cook It Yourself
Imagine being able to step into the kitchen and find all the ingredients you need to make a meal have been preassembled for you. Then imagine finishing the meal preparation…
Consumers Pinching Grocery Pennies
Given the choice of buying groceries in a traditional supermarket or a discount store, more consumers are opting for the savings at supercenters, warehouse clubs, limited assortment grocery stores, etc…
Your Customers’ Wallets are Being Stolen
And you, not your customers, feel the loss. That’s the warning Vicki James has for retailers in the May 1st issue of Direct magazine. “Those without a strong loyalty strategy…
Food and Gas Prices Climbing
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is at its highest level since 1990 with the annual rate of inflation now at 5.1 percent, reports the Christian Science Monitor. Rising gasoline and…
Understanding the Wal-Mart Shopper
Exactly who is the Wal-Mart shopper? The easy answer might be everybody, but Todd Hale, SVP – Consumer Insights, ACNielsen, gave a more specific profile, largely based on Nielsen…
