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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Independent Chain Thinks Smaller
Heinen’s Fine Foods is looking to open and test a store format smaller than its traditional stores, according to a report on the Gourmet News Web site. The 15-store chain…
Downtown Prices Move Uptown
Bargains are in these days in the best of circles. Discount retailers such as Stein Mart, covered in a Washington Post report, are finding new homes and greater success in…
Nader Calls Study Meaningless
Ralph Nader called the results of a new study on corporate ethics conducted for the US Chamber of Commerce, “meaningless”. The study asked executives at 515 companies if they believed…
Industry’s Cost for Unsaleables Rises
The cost of unsaleables rose from $2.5 billion to $2.6 billion last year, according to the newly released 2003 Unsaleables Benchmark Report. Manufacturer costs for unsaleables in the drug channel…
Coupons Are Not McDonald’s Own
McDonald’s Premium Salads have been well received by consumers but the fast food chain has experienced an unexpected and unwelcome boost in demand because of fake coupons being distributed over…
Wal-Mart Sues Kmart
Wal-Mart says Kmart has infringed on a patent it was granted for its checkout bag carousel so it is taking its smaller rival to court in Delaware. Wal-Mart has its…
Unhappy Consumers Still Shop Chain Stores
A report from the nonprofit Boston Consumers’ Checkbook says consumers are unhappy with large chain retail stores, even as they continue to shop in them anyway. Stop & Shop’s and…
Small Stores and Big Rewards
In the UK, grocery chains such as Sainsbury are making the move to smaller and, some might say, more personal stores as the availability of suitable construction space shrinks. Sainsbury’s…
Shoes and Salads
Payless ShoeSource is getting into the grocery business, sort of. The footwear chain has opened a 700-square-foot Express Store in an HEB in Laredo, Texas. Payless will own and…
The ‘New’ Consumer
In a presentation at IIR’s Consumer Insights in Action conference on Monday, J. Walker Smith, president of research/consulting company Yankelovich asserted that many business models are built around consumers that…
GM Crops Not Wanted
The chief executives of the UK chains, Tesco, Sainsbury, Safeway and Asda plan to tell ministers that their customers do not want products made from genetically modified (GM) foods and…
Melon Farmers Want Slice of Chain Business
A report on the WLOX News Web site says watermelon farmers in Mississippi are upset about their inability to get large chain stores to purchase from them. Farmer Clarence Lee…
Sears Sells Credit Card Business
Sears has agreed to sell its credit card business to Citigroup in a deal estimated to be $3 billion. With the sale of its credit card business, Sears plans to…
Leaping Salmon Rescued by Threshers
Leaping Salmon (a UK company) was devised to sell meal solutions to people who enjoy cooking but don’t have a lot of time to shop and prepare. All the preparation…
Employers Getting Ripped Off By Their Own
Employee thefts were up 17 percent, according to the Food Marketing Institute’s (FMI) 2003 Security and Loss Prevention Issues Survey in the Supermarket Industry. Employee theft was most pronounced at…
Wonder Bread Sales Less Than Wonderful
Interstate Bakeries, owner of the Wonder Bread and Hostess brands, reported a loss of $4.6 million for its fourth quarter. The company blamed higher ingredient and energy costs along with…
OfficeMax Worth $1.2B on Boise Cascade Paper
Boise Cascade, manufacturer of wood and paper products, has agreed to purchase OfficeMax for $1.2 billion in cash and stock. The deal for OfficeMax will more than double Boise Cascade’s…
Filene’s Kicks Sisters Out of Basement
Two sisters, self-described loyal and longtime shoppers, have been asked by the chain to find somewhere else to buy their clothes. The women received a letter from David Sherer, vice…
Supervalu to Give Dominick’s More Freedom
The current owner of Dominick’s Finer Foods has been criticized for moving control of the chain’s fortunes from the local market to its corporate offices in California. If the rumors…
Save-A-Lot Comes to San Antonio
St. Louis-based food retailer Save-A-Lot is coming to Texas after Ahrens Foods signed a licensing agreement to operate stores under its banner. The new Save-A-Lot stores come into a market…
Sears Looks to Brand Builders for Growth
Sears chairman and chief executive officer, Alan Lacy, has broken tradition by going outside the company’s merchandising ranks to recruit executives with strong CPG marketing backgrounds. Their goal according to…
