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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
The Kids Are Alright
A New York Times article says kids today are more interested in the latest gadget and less in fashion. As proof are numbers from NPD, which show clothing purchases made…
Chains Make List of Stocks to Avoid
According to a column by Michael Brush on MSN’s Money Central site, Albertsons, Kroger and Safeway are three stocks investors want to avoid buying in 2004. What do you see…
A Blockbuster Deal in Offing
Viacom is looking to sell its 82 percent stake in Blockbuster video to focus on its core media business, and that’s just fine with Blockbuster’s chief executive, reports USA Today…
W-M Says No To Signing on the Dotted Line
A report in the Wall Street Journal says Wal-Mart will announce today that it will stop accepting MasterCard debit cards when consumers sign for the transaction rather than using a…
The Future’s So Bright, Grocer Has to Wear Shades
The biggest challenge, says Gene Fulton, president and owner of the nine-store Jensen’s Finest Foods business, is not dealing with Wal-Mart or some other competitor. “The biggest challenge,” he says,…
Safeway CFO Resigns
The chief financial officer (CFO) of the Safeway US grocery chain has resigned making his the second high-level executive departure from the company in the past year, reports the Associated…
Drugstore Focuses on Driving Repeat Purchases
Drugstore.com’s philosophy is that doing business over the Internet “is about privacy and personalization” and the company’s chief executive says it “works hard at exploiting those two attributes.” What are…
Cards Become Gift of Choice for Many
Tracy Mullin, president of the National Retail Federation (NRF) says, “They’re no longer considered the ‘lazy man’s gift’– people love to get them.” To what do you attribute the growing…
Shoppers Shop, Retailers Happy
Shoppers showed up early in search of bargains and spent freely to get the 2003 winter holiday shopping season off to a solid start this past weekend, according to retailer…
Juan Valdez Looks for Starbucks Fight
The Colombian Coffee Federation has decided it can not wait on others to sell its coffee so it’s going to do it on its own. The federation, representing 560,000 coffee…
Wal-Mart Wants It All
The world’s largest retailer also wants to be the biggest thing in the virtual world. What are your thoughts on Wal-Mart’s approach to the Internet?
Ukrop’s Dresses Retail for Business
Ukrop’s is mostly known for being one of the nation’s most innovative grocery store chains but a side venture it started several years back is also beginning to gain notice…
Not Your Mother’s Department Store
Peter Williams, chief executive officer, Selfridges told the New York Times, “Part of the problem with the U.S. department stores is that you can be inside them and you’re not…
Operating Income and GMROI Up, Profits Down for Grocers
The Food Marketing Institute’s (FMI) Annual Financial Review, 2002-2003 released yesterday shows operating income and gross margin return on inventory (GMROI) for supermarkets are at five-year highs but industry profit…
Judge Cuts Off Wells to Nestle Waters
Ice Mountain Spring Water (Nestle Waters North America) is calling a decision by a judge in Minnesota that prevents the company from drawing water from wells in a Michigan county,…
Store Closed For Employees’ Personal Business
Von Maur, unlike the stores it competes with, closes for business on big retailing holidays such as Labor Day and even during special Sunday evening shopping events run at its…
Teamsters Refuse to Deliver to SoCal Chains
The other shoe has dropped in the lockout/strike of grocery workers in southern California as the Teamsters union ordered its drivers to stop making deliveries to the supermarket chains involved…
Shopper Sites Beyond Compare
Consumers are increasingly turning to comparison-shopping Web sites such as Shopping.com, BizRate.com, NexTag, and PriceGrabber to find the best deals on everything from airfare to wireless services. Will comparison-shopping Web…
Sixty Percent of Employees Looking for a Way Out
It will not take a good love gone bad, as in David Allan Coe’s country and western classic, Take This Job and Shove It, to motivate workers to quit their…
Glass Ceiling Joins List of Life’s Certainties
A report from the General Accounting Office (GAO) released last week said that, even when accounting for various factors such as marital status and the number of hours worked, women…
‘Tis the Season to be Marketing
The prospect that consumers may be willing to spend more this holiday season has retailers getting into their marketing budgets earlier and in a bigger way this year than in…
