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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Victoria’s Halloween Secret is Out
Halloween isn’t just for kids anymore and Victoria’s Secret is looking to get in on the fun with a line of costumes for the holiday season. Is it a good…
BrainTrust Query: Living at Wegmans
Wegmans manages to instill strident customer loyalty without loyalty programs. What do you think of Wegmans’ efforts to create customer loyalty through an enterprise approach that values its customers and…
Tesla Looks to Put Charge Into Car Sales
With a $109,000 electric roadster, it’s clear that Tesla is not your typical American car manufacturer. The Tesla difference, however, goes beyond the product line. How critical is the store…
Dyson Tries to Reinvent the Fan
Dyson was successful in getting consumers to think differently about vaccuum cleaners and in the process got them to willingly pay a premium price to clean their floors. Now, the…
FDBuyer: Clubbing The Clubs
For supermarkets getting clubbed by club stores and losing share, experts advise grocers to focus on selection, convenience and quality. And — perhaps most important — be sure to stand…
U.S. ‘Hard-Sell’ Tactics Invades London
According to an article in the Daily Mail, “U.S.-style, hard-sell tactics” have crossed the ocean to British retailers. Although some of those practices mentioned included outright lying to a customer, it…
BrainTrust Query: Legendary Returns
Most people in the retail business have heard the lore of the tire return at Nordstrom. Although there were some odd circumstances, the tale is nevertheless true and serves as…
American Eagle Promotion Connects With Teens
American Eagle Outfitters Inc. is giving away smartphones to customers who try on jeans between July 21 and August 3. No purchase required. What do you think of American Eagle’s…
The Milkman Delivers
If you’re of a certain age and grew up in America, you probably remember hearing the sound of clinking glass outside your house early in the morning as the milkman…
RFID Growth Tagged to Apparel
Much of the hyperbolic speech about radio frequency identification (RFID) in retailing has been muted in recent years, but use of the technology continues to grow. What is your assessment…
Antidote Sought for Recall Fatigue
Persuading the public to act on product recalls has become increasingly fraught as the number of recalls increases, according to a report in The Washington Post. What can be done…
New Approach Links Exec Compensation to Corporate Debt
Risks taken by leaders to build up corporate equity (along with their compensation packages) has been tied to the financial industry’s house of cards that came crashing down in 2008…
Murphy’s Takes a Whrrl with Rewards Program
Murphy’s USA is testing a new rewards program with Whrrl, a location-based service that enables consumers to earn points leading to a wide variety of prizes when they check in…
RSR Research: Where to Start with Mobile?
The clear consensus at the RIS News’ Executive Summit event was to make your existing e-commerce site mobile-friendly as soon as possible. The good news is that it’s relatively cheap…
Sam’s Club Helps Small Guys Get Loans
Getting credit is not always easy for new business owners, but now one very large business, Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Club division, is working to help members get loans of up to…
Big Bucks Make for Big Mean Bosses
Ever work for a company where the boss is, well, a jerk? If the answer is yes, the reason for his or her jerkiness may be simply a matter of…
Bed Bath & Beyond Carves Out Giant Niche
Bed Bath & Beyond has churned out double digit top line growth over the past three quarters, helping it move up to the sixth position on Consensus Advisors’ 2009-2010 Retailer…
Retail TouchPoints: New Research Shows Online Shoppers Expect Personalized Merchandising
According to new research, more than 50 percent of consumers expect personalized merchandising, starting with a personalized home page, while one in four look for these tailored experiences at the…
Disney Opens First Apple-Inspired Store
The Walt Disney Co. last week opened the first of its 300 planned revamped Disney Stores in Montebello, CA. Inspired by Apple Inc.’s design team, the store features multimedia technology…
BrainTrust Query: An Inconvenient Truth About Bad Customer Service
Bad customer service may take years to prove fatal but the eventual outcome is almost always corporate extinction. Surprisingly, very few companies turn these negative situations around and improve their…
BJ’s May Become a Private Club
There’s nothing like the possibility of going private to send the shares of a publicly-traded company’s stock higher. That’s what happened when it was learned that a private equity fund…
