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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Dollar Stores Move In on Drugstore’s Territory
According to a Sun Sentinel report, dollar store chains are moving into the pharmacy business. Deals, part of Dollar Tree, opened a store that included a pharmacy operated by PharmaGo,…
Calls for Tough Penalties for Pharmacy Thieves
An increase in drug store robberies has led to calls for the Senate to pass the Safe Doses Act. The legislation, if written into law, would impose harsher penalties for…
FD Buyer: Weis Markets Looking for Vendor Insight
When vendors come calling, Weis Markets, based in Sunbury, PA, expects them to come armed with facts and insights, not just opinions. What resources that manufacturers have available could be…
C-Stores Morphing into QSRs
Shifting far from the traditional c-store image as a destination for gas and cigarettes, two leading chains are strongly positioning themselves as eateries in a move to take more share…
BrainTrust Query: Building ‘Braggable’ Stores
Excessive self-importance is a turnoff, but there is no better advertisement, or more effective recruiting method, than a bragging customer and/or employee. What makes a store “braggable” to employees and…
Macy’s Goes Online In Stores
Macy’s is on a hot streak online. According to a Reuters interview with CEO Terry Lundgren, Macy’s saw its e-commerce business grow 40 percent in 2011 and it expects to…
A Penny Saved?
Canada’s move in early April to eliminate its penny led to a few harried statements from staunch Lincoln coin supporters that the U.S. should not follow suit. For consumers, one…
Affluent Consumers Look to Stretch Grocery Budgets
A new research study shows that consumers are focused on getting their grocery dollars to go further and the practice is not relegated to those on the lower rungs of…
BrainTrust Query: Changing Times in Loyalty
As great as Loyalty Expo was this year, too much of the dialogue continued to focus on points, rewards, discounts and deals. There were relatively few exceptions to this theme,…
Google Looks to Revitalize Market Research
Believing quick, micro-surveys are less annoying than online ads, Google has quietly launched a new Google Consumer Surveys tool that it believes both monetizes online content and creates a “fast,…
Sephora Gives Itself a Makeover
Sephora is making changes and, according to reports, they are more than cosmetic, adding iPads to the counters in its stores, equipping sales associates with iPod Touch devices, and adding…
Twenty Somethings Too Antsy to Advertise To
Based on conclusions drawn from a recent study, advertisers shouldn’t believe that consumers have the attention span to watch an entire 30-second commercial. Twenty-somethings could be switching media platforms up…
Best Buy’s CEO Resigns. Who Next?
Best Buy Co.’s Chief Executive Officer Brian Dunn resigned on Tuesday, leading market observers to speculate on what type of executive would best lead the consumer electronics giant. What type…
Paper Nor Plastic
Being compared to laws requiring seat belts and banning smoking in restaurants is a new law being considered in Los Angeles to end the use of both paper and plastic…
The Third Wave of Retailing: The Efficiency of the Shopper
Efficiency and convenience are the flip sides of the same coin that birthed retail at the dawn of history, with vast increases over the past 100 years. There is good…
RSR Research: What is Catalog’s Place in an Omni-Channel World?
There was a time, between 2002 and 2006 or so, when the web seemed to be killing off catalogs. Fast forward to 2012: It sure seems like business is booming…
Does Self-Checkout Cause Theft?
When talking about self-checkout, the discussions tend to revolve around convenience and speed vs. a lack of personalized service. A recent USA Today article points out that many retailers are…
In ‘The Shopper Economy,’ Behavior is the New Currency
Between posting your updates on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and YouTube and checking in via Foursquare and ShopKick, you may get the feeling you’re a texting, walking personal broadcast center…
FD Buyer: Going Solo
Between being ignored by the big vendors and being nitpicked to death by the government, it’s getting much more difficult to survive as an independent retailer. But BrainTrust panelist and…
Has Ron Johnson Forgotten the Other ‘P’ Again?
Back in February, an article on RetailWire discussed how new J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson had forgotten a “P” (people) when planning the reinvention of the department store chain. Now,…
BrainTrust Query: Raising Iconic CPG Brands to Social Relevancy
Remember when retail coffee brands ruled the roost? The best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup. The world cups of Maxwell House. The iconic El Exigente for…
