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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
High Schoolers Sing Wegmans Praises
No doubt that Wegmans got some buzz when Alec Baldwin discussed his mother’s refusal to move from upstate New York because of her love for the supermarket chain on the…
U.K. Suppliers May Get Protection From Retailers
A new Grocery Code Adjudicator may level the British playing field, ensuring supermarkets can’t “scrap arrangements with suppliers at the drop of a hat,” according to business minister Norman Lamb…
Pizza Promotion Creates Controversy (Controversia)
Saying “please” is understood as a basic courtesy when asking for something in the U.S., but evidently using the Spanish equivalent, “por favor,” is enough to bring condemnation and even…
FD Buyer: Training For Profit
Training is very important for all departments in a grocery store but many efforts fall short. For example, dairy and frozen sales are more than 16 percent of total store…
Walmart Express Turns a Quick Profit
In a poll taken last week on RetailWire, 65 percent thought Walmart’s decision to go slow with its small store formats is a good idea. But it seems curious the…
BrainTrust Query: Is There a Grocer of the Future?
We in the supermarket business always seem to have had a fixation with what our stores will look like in the future. Like all things that require only an opinion,…
Tesco CEO Turns Down Bonus
You would think on the heels of Tesco’s decision to cut performance bonuses for its store managers, there really wasn’t anything else the chain’s CEO could do but turn down…
CPGmatters: Occasion-Based Marketing Triggers Coca-Cola’s Solutions
Shopping occasions and trip missions to the grocery store took on greater meaning for Coca-Cola Co. after the beverages giant uncovered research showing that six of ten trips are occasion-based…
Drive-Throughs Drive Sales in Unusual Places
In the past, if you thought of drive-throughs, you probably envisioned fast-food operators and banks. Now, other drive-through images might arise including those located at drugstores, convenience stores, and fast…
C. Wonder’s Wonderful Dressing Rooms
While C. Wonder, a newer luxury concept, includes many dazzling features, the most surprising to some reviewers is its deluxe take on the dressing room. What do you find most…
Consumers Experiencing Private Label Fatigue
New research suggests that many consumers are buying private label because they feel as though they “have to” rather than “want to” buy store brands. But other studies suggest that…
BrainTrust Query: Clicks to Bricks
E-commerce is clearly still in its infancy as a volume-driving “channel,” but the establishment of digital flagships, often in lieu of physical ones, is driving a host of additional benefits…
Facebook’s Two-Way Conversations
While Facebook certainly found its share of critics on its way to its whopping $104 billion valuation in its IPO last week, Fred Leach, who heads up the social network’s…
American Eagle Getting Out of Kids Business
When American Eagle Outfitters launched its 77kids business in 2008, it was determined to take it slow and test the brand’s appeal online first. By 2010, the first of 22…
Walmart Goes Slow on Small Formats
Does being first or fast count when you’re Walmart? A Wall Street Journal article earlier this week questioned whether the retailer would achieve the results analysts are looking for with…
Tesco Managers Brooding Over Teeny Bonuses
Senior store managers at Tesco are said to be “outraged” after hearing that their annual bonuses had been slashed by more than 80 percent following a rare down year for…
Foodies Go All GoogaMooga Over Festival
Promising to convert Brooklyn’s Prospect Park into “an amusement park of food and drink,” the first-ever GoogaMooga festival takes place this weekend, with food vendors, brewers, winemakers and celebrity chefs…
Fair and Square – Penney’s Stock Plunges
It’s fair to say that when J.C. Penney announced last year that it had hired former Apple and Target wunderkind Ron Johnson as chief executive, the reviews were almost universally…
RSR Research: Jobs vs. Careers in Retail
In a typical RSR “Selling Technology Value to Retailers” (STV) session, we can have 25 technology sales representatives in a room. We’ll start the session with round-the-table introductions and the…
Birth Rates Point to Very Different Future for America
For the first time since the founding of the nation, the majority of babies being born in the U.S. are not of European descent. According to the Census Bureau, 50.4…
Coupons Get Personal with Check-In Service
Foursquare, the popular check-in app service, will soon offer personalized coupons. Starting in July along with an update of the app, Foursquare will let merchants pay for special placement of…
