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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Round 2003: Costco vs. Sam’s
Sam’s has turned to parent company Wal-Mart to help it slash prices on merchandise while doing a better job of marketing to small-businesses, reports Business Week. The warehouse club Sam…
Walgreens Grows Back to Hi-School
The drugstore chain, Walgreens, is known for growing organically, rarely taking the acquisition path to growth. Occasionally, however, a deal comes along that is too good to pass on. Yesterday,…
Wal-Mart Portrayed As Evil Empire, Again
Harold Meyerson of the American Prospect writes in a Washington Post Op-Ed piece today, ‘Just as Ford, GM and the UAW once drove up wages for workers who were nowhere…
Nothing Bearish About Cub Foods’ Growth
The Pioneer Press reports Cub Foods will open six new stores in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area by 2005. The new locations will bring Cub Foods’ total to 50 stores. The…
Is Kroger Looking to Sow Its Wild Oats?
A good rumor can do wonders for a company’s stock, as evidenced by yesterday’s 11 percent climb in the share price of Wild Oats Markets. The natural foods supermarket,…
Retailer Can’t Afford to Change for the Disabled
A report in the Sacramento Bee last week covered a court case brought against Mervyn’s by Californians for Disability Rights alleging the retailer is violating state law by not providing…
Whodunnit – Sorting Through the Fleming Rubble
The Topeka Capital-Journal provides a post mortem report on Fleming that says the wholesaler died because of its reliance on Kmart and suppliers’ demand for upfront payment before goods were…
The Pantry Loads Up On Gold Gallon Stores
The Pantry convenience store chain has signed an agreement to purchase 138 Gold Gallon convenience stores from Ahold USA, reports Reuters. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. According to…
Sears Softer Side Firmed Up By Lands’ End
Sears stores selling Lands’ End clothing posted apparel sales two to four percent higher than those that didn’t, reports the Internet Retailer Web site. The consumer response to Lands’ End…
PublixDirect Goes Offline
Publix Super Markets announced on Friday it was closing its PublixDirect shopping service. Maria Rodamis, a spokesperson for Publix said the decision was made because, “The service did not…
Associates Paid Too Much
Labor costs, particularly those in unionized businesses, have put supermarkets at a competitive disadvantage against non-union competitors such as Wal-Mart, reports Reuters. Mark Husson, a Merrill Lynch supermarket industry analyst…
Rethinking How to Deal with Spam
The more effort and dollars are spent on trying to rid the Internet of spam, the bigger the problem becomes. According to a Wall Street Journal report, “Efforts to…
Retailers Go Up Front with Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi technology is being used for more than just warehouse and backroom tracking inventory by a growing number of retailers and other companies who have discovered these systems can substantially…
Nothing’s Made in America
An Industry Week article asks if the ‘Made in America’ label still matters to consumers. The piece points out that even Wal-Mart, the poster company of American retailing, has…
Zero Calorie Slurpee Debuts
7-Eleven has announced it is rolling out a new Diet Pepsi Slurpee today. The 0-calorie beverage is a first of its kind at 7-Eleven with a target consumer audience of…
Targeting Back-to-School Deals
WPXI 11, a local television station in Pittsburgh, went shopping for back-to-school supplies and found Target had lower prices than Wal-Mart, Staples, OfficeMax and Super Kmart. The items chosen were…
Layoffs Predicted
Optimism in the economy may be evident in recent retail sales figures and the performance of stocks, but the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas is cautioning that unemployment may…
Albertsons-Savon Remodels Complete in El Paso
Albertsons says it has completed remodels to offer a complete food store and a complete drug store shopping experience under one roof at all eight of its El Paso, Tx…
Dude, You’ve Got Savings
Dell has announced price cuts of up to 22 percent on computers, printers and other items it sells. The move is not unusual for the company, according to a Reuters…
Credit Card Thief Caught, Say NC Authorities
Police in North Carolina have arrested a Maryland man on 10 counts of financial identity fraud, according to The Associated Press. Authorities claim the man was in possession of 1,700…
Walgreens Espanol Goes Online
Walgreens has become the first national pharmacy retailer to launch a Spanish language Web site to meet the needs of its Hispanic consumers. The new site will provide consumers with…
