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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Nice Guys Don’t Finish First
Nice guys may not always finish last, but a new study from researchers at Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business, Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management and the Stanford Graduate School…
Loblaw’s Joe Fresh Sees Big Things Ahead in U.S.
Most of the U.S./Canada retail news recently has been about chains from this side of the border looking northward to expand. But now comes word that Loblaw’s Joe Fresh clothing…
BrainTrust Query: Identifying and Leveraging VIPs
Of course all customers are important to the success of a retail business, but the top customers are even more important. Let’s call them VIPs. To what degree should a…
Walmart Goes All Local with Facebook Deal
Walmart has over 3,500 stores in the U.S., and now each and every one will have its own Facebook page. A new initiative between the retailer and Facebook has resulted…
Companies Accused of ‘Pinkwashing’
It seems like every company under the sun is sporting pink these days to show support for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation in its work to eradicate…
BrainTrust Query: The Future of Retail – The Destination is You
Since the time of the Roman Empire, retail as a concept has been about destinations; retail has always meant going somewhere to get something. This is about to radically change…
Consumers Wait on Promised Savings from Swipe Fee Reform
While Bank of America’s recent $5 a month debit card fee can be criticized, it’s no surprise that many financial institutions will be raising fees to make up for revenues…
Winn-Dixie Tries to Burnish Image
“We had a tarnished image,” Roberto Gonzalez, an area manager for Winn-Dixie, told The Tampa Tribune. “We’re working to change it.” The change Mr. Gonzalez was referring to involves a…
BrainTrust Query: Three Purchase States
In what BrainTrust Panelist Herb Sorensen refers to as his purchase states hypothesis, the trillions of unique events in an in-store shopping experience, for practical purposes, can be boiled down…
No Welcome Mat for Family Dollar
A national chain’s arrival has the locals upset over fears of the potential loss of jobs as well as their community spirit. But it’s not Walmart this time; it’s Family…
Marsh Guarantees Prices Won’t Go Up
Marsh Supermarkets last week announced a new program that guarantees that prices on certain popular grocery items won’t rise for at least three months. What do you think of…
StorefrontBacktalk: Mobile POS Beta Site Fear Keeps Checkout Right By Exit
As mobile payments inch along with advancing efforts from Google, ISIS and Paypal, and with Apple debating its plans, retailers are trying to balance two concepts: the ideals of mobile-payment…
The Customer is Always Wrong
Is the customer always right? Apparently for Gasp, an Australian fashion boutique, she isn’t when she’s the wrong customer. Are the rules guiding customer service at retail different for high-end…
Are Drugstores Priced Too High to Compete in Grocery?
Major drugstore chains have been among the most aggressive retailers pushing into groceries, with Walgreens, for example, pointing to itself as one solution to the food desert problem facing the…
Apple’s Steve Jobs Passes Away
A little over two months since stepping down as CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs has died at the age of 56. What are your thoughts on Steve Jobs’ career? What…
Believe It Or Not – The Claims Manufacturers Make
Claims that Reebok’s EasyTone or RunTone shoes could strengthen hamstrings, calves and buttocks “just by walking” have been ruled “unsubstantiated” by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Do you think health…
Walmart Makes Holiday Toy Pitch
Walmart is looking to get a head start selling toys for the upcoming holiday season. Yesterday, the company announced its top 20 toy list for the holidays with its typical…
BrainTrust Query: Why Facebook’s New ‘Timeline’ Could Change Retail Forever
At last week’s F8 Conference in San Francisco, Facebook announced the advent of what it’s calling “timeline,” in which users will be able to find, share and even purchase digital…
Amazon and Apple Take Fight to the Cloud
Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that the company was rolling out its iCloud service on Oct. 12, bringing it directly up against Amazon.com, which last week introduced its Kindle Fire…
Flash Sale Sites Benefit by Timing Emails Right
Flash sales sites are one of the big things in retail at the moment and, based on new research from Experian CheetahMail, getting bigger may be directly tied to the…
Penney Names Target’s Francis as President
Yesterday, J.C. Penney announced it had hired Michael Francis, former chief marketing officer for Target and the person the company put in charge of entering the Canadian market, as president…
