RECENT discussions
Discussions
Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Toys are Out at Jack in the Box
Jack in the Box is pulling toys from its kids’ meals in Los Angeles, no ordinances required. Will Jack in the Box’s business benefit as a result of it eliminating…
Nike Takes Heat for T-Shirt Phrases
Nike created a line of t-shirts to support the launch of its first-ever “Just Do It” campaign focusing on action-sports stars, with common phrases used by the X game types…
Battle of the Retail Heavyweights: Lowe’s vs. The Home Depot
Since RetailWire is all about discussion, we thought it might be fun to have a good, old-fashioned “retail rumble” – take a pair of notable retailers, and ask our expert…
CPGmatters: Specialty Food Sales in Canada on Track for More Growth
Sales of food from specialty food stores in Canada have been increasing an average of two percent over food purchased from mainstream outlets. Future growth is expected due to an…
Soap.com Wants to Be Customers’ Fave
You would think that a company with a broad product selection that offered convenient online ordering, competitive pricing, free two-day delivery on purchases of $49 or more and a 365-day…
Retail TouchPoints: Communication Drives More Than 20 Percent of Customer Trust
According to a study commissioned by Pitney Bowes Business Insight, customer communication drives more than 20 percent of a customer’s trust in a company. What factors most influence customer “trust”…
Women In Charge
A study by Babson College’s Center for Women’s Leadership a number of years back said that when it came to business priorities, female CEOs differed from their male counterparts by…
Daily Deals and Flash Sales Sites Find Niche
You may have noticed that a growing number of daily deal and flash sales sites are getting more targeted in their approach. Do you think more targeted/niche daily deal and…
Retail Customer Experience: The CXO: Why the Time is Now for Customer Experience Officers
With so many organizations struggling to effectively manage all of the customer touch points and the resulting experiences in today’s multi-channel, multi-device, multi-national world, many category-leading organizations are dedicating a…
Penney Offers Training Program for New CEO
Occasionally, companies go looking outside for a rising star without previous top job experience to come in and shake things up. That, it appears, was the case with J.C. Penney’s…
Supreme Court Tosses Out Walmart Discrimination Case
A Supreme Court ruling may prove the end of class action suits as we have come to know them and businesses, Walmart in particular, couldn’t be happier. In a unanimous…
BrainTrust Query: The A.P.P.L.E. Way
The Wall Street Journal just did an interesting deep-dive on the Apple retail stores. One thing that stands out is that they aren’t really relying on some technology advantage -…
Unions Target Retail Workers
With Macy’s last week avoiding a strike and Target winning an election that would have unionized its first store in the U.S., is the pressure to form unions at retail…
Brands Throw House Parties
Magazines are now joining brands in throwing parties in consumer homes. This past weekend, Redbook partnered with House Party to throw 1,000 “girls-only” parties in readers’ homes. What do you…
Senate Votes to End Ethanol Credit
Yesterday, the Senate voted to end a tax credit for companies that blend ethanol with gasoline. How will the end of ethanol subsidies, if that happens, affect the retail industry…
Will Consumers Dump Banks for Retailers?
American consumers, it seems, have grown increasingly distrustful of banks and many are turning to other sources for financial services. Do retailers pose a competitive threat to banks in the…
Fashion Icon: Lady Gaga
While Lady Gaga tends to create a stir all by herself, the Council of Fashion Designers of America at least helped her create another in fashion circles when it presented…
Location, Location, Location: A Real Estate Catchphrase Moves to Marketing
Location-based marketing is here. And while each location-based service (LBS) is unique, they are all oriented around a core principal: offers and coupons are most effective when restaurants and brands…
Store Brands Essential to Supervalu’s Strategy
With a new focus on the company’s private label program, Supervalu will replace individual brands for each chain with a single label under the Essential Everyday name. Is Supervalu’s approach…
Government Looks for Companies Hiring Illegal Workers
The U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency sent notices to 1,000 companies yesterday informing them of plans to inspect I-9 forms filled out by new employees along with other…
Apple Store Exec to Lead J.C. Penney
J.C. Penney is heading into a new era and the department store chain is turning to Ron Johnson, senior vice president of retail at Apple, to lead it. What will…
