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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Store Brands Grow Faster at Specialty Grocers
Private label sales grew faster in specialty food stores such as Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods than at supermarkets between 2005 and 2009, according to the Private Label Food and…
Retail TouchPoints: JC Penney, Forever 21 ‘Haul’ In User-Generated Videos For Back to School Promos
In an age where consumer-generated content reigns, tech-savvy consumers have found a new way to support their shopping habits — by broadcasting their latest finds on YouTube for the social…
Target Faces Protests over Political Donation
As several “Boycott Target” groups sprang up on Facebook, Target Corp. on Friday defended its $150,000 donation to a group supporting an ultra-conservative Minnesota Republican gubernatorial candidate who openly opposes…
Retailers Taking the Measure of Children’s Sizes
While continuing to fight reality through improving diet, some manufacturers are recognizing children’s larger sizes by making it easier for parents to find clothes that fit them. What’s the retail…
BrainTrust Query: The Post-Crisis Gen Y Consumer
Kit Yarrow, co-author of Gen BuY: How Tweens, Teens and Twenty-Somethings are Revolutionizing Retail, says Gen-Y hasn’t cut back its spending as much as older generations. Do you agree that the…
A Uniform Approach to B-T-S Fashion
There are a lot of reasons given for schools requiring students to wear uniforms, but regardless of those reasons, it is clear that business is on the upswing and retailers…
On Sale at Walgreens: Physicals
Operators of in-store clinics are looking to educate the public to these benefits with sales on student physicals as they get ready to go back to school. Will “sales” of…
A Rebranding Effort Betrayed
A recent editorial in Advertising Age explored ethics around branding, particularly an individual’s responsibility to make sure those messages somewhat ring true. A former copywriter for BP has a guilt…
Tattoo Counting as New Hiring Practice
It wasn’t that long ago that tattoos were viewed as an expression of social deviance. Today, however, large numbers of young adults and teens sport body art and body piercings…
Parents Just Saying ‘No’ to Birthday Gifts
If a lot of people follow the example of Bill Doherty, a researcher in childhood consumer culture at the University of Minnesota and co-founder of BirthdaysWithoutPressure.org, retailers could see a…
Energy Star Ratings Arrive for Soft Goods
A coalition of major apparel and footwear companies is working on an environmental ranking system to help companies benchmark and measure their environmental footprint. What do you think of…
Retailers Face Higher Cargo Costs, Late Deliveries
Retailers that benefited from trimming their inventories during the Great Recession are finding an unexpected side effect from that action has driven up the costs of getting goods shipped from…
Grocery Theatricals Put Under the Spotlight
Enticing smells will increase spend and build loyalty. What you see, however, isn’t always what it appears to be. Do you buy the argument that supermarket theatricals are a means…
Target Finally Lands in Manhattan
After a 13-year wait, Target has opened its first store in Manhattan to packed crowds. The 174,000 square-foot store in East Harlem officially opened on July 25. How significant is…
Trader Joe’s Has Transparency Issues
Writing for The Faster Times, the online investigative website, Amy Westervelt said private label food items have a “transparency” problem. As part of an ongoing “Generic Foods Investigation,” she has…
Kroger’s One-Stop Digital Coupon Center
Kroger last week launched an online digital coupon center that enables customers to load coupons onto their loyalty-card accounts. The discount is then automatically deducted at checkout without a paper…
Compete Blog: Cross Channel Shopping Is a Must
Consumers increasingly do not differentiate between store inventory and online inventory, meaning that retailers need to stop thinking about them as two separate entities. What are the best ways for…
BrainTrust Query: How to Create a Commission Structure for Better Retail Salespeople
Commissioning sales works. Whether that means employees get an hourly rate and a percentage of sales, a bonus at the end of the month or a chance to win a…
A&P’s CEO Merry-Go-Round Continues
On Friday, Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company made another change at the top. Out is Ron Marshall and in is Sam Martin, most recently COO of OfficeMax and, prior…
Wal-Mart to Tag and Track Clothing
Everyone can quit guessing what next step Wal-Mart will take in its plan to test RFID technology. According to a Wall Street Journal report on Friday, the world’s largest retailer…
Ford Pricing to Power Hybrid’s Sales
You may have heard someone say after purchasing a new car that they would have liked to have purchased a hybrid, but it was just too much money. Now, at…
