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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
All in the Family (Businesses)
While family-run businesses have created some of most innovative retailers in the country, the way they’re run are often dysfunctional. That’s according to Jay Goltz, who’s writing a series for…
Retailers Race to the Bottom on E-Reader Prices
Busy days in the e-reader universe. Apple announced it has sold three million iPads in the first 80 days the product was on the market. Both Amazon and Barnes &…
Amazon Plans Haute Couture Takeover
Amazon.com is looking to go upscale with its clothing and shoe business, staging a relaunch that has its sites set on “rivals such as Yoox and Net-A-Porter,” according to a…
Chinese Grocers Mete Out Shoplifter Justice
The sad fact of the matter is that, where there are retail stores, there is shoplifting. Some Chinese grocers have gotten the attention of shoplifters in New York for the…
BrainTrust Query: Expecting Zarafication?
What does the Zara’s launch in India mean for the nation’s fashion and retail sector? Is this the beginning of a new era? Should we expect Zarafication of the market?…
Getting More Out of Dad’s Day (A Postmortem)
Father’s Day, described by one newspaper columnist as the “Rodney Dangerfield of Holidays,” yesterday turned 100. Having just endured another, retailers and marketers may be wondering this morning what they…
CPGmatters: What Are Top Ten Best Practices for Private Label Promotion?
Increasing store brand sales calls for building innovative marketing strategies. The best way to do that, says Professor Mark Lang of St. Joseph’s University, is to borrow a page from…
RSR Research: The ROI of Customer Passion
At an executive summit on cross-channel recently, Nikki Baird asked a colleague if he believed that there is an ROI to be had around customer passion. What’s the closest a…
Consumers Want to Know What’s on the Menu
There are still plenty of people who are going to order that heart-attack-waiting-to-happen-on-the-bun no matter how bad it is for them to eat, but most consumers would still like to…
Department Store Bans Photoshop
You’ve got to hand it to Debenhams. The U.K. Department uses plus size mannequins and even a disabled person in a wheelchair to model in one its ad campaigns. Now…
Ambush Marketing Hits the World Cup
On Tuesday, a group of 36 attractive Dutch women wearing skimpy orange dresses were ejected from a World Cup match in South Africa in an apparent case of “ambush marketing.”…
Google Looks to Take Bite Out of Apple’s iTunes
Apple’s iTunes is the biggest force in music retailing today. It has gone head-to-head with Amazon, Best Buy and Wal-Mart and won. Now, a rumored new player to the music…
Toys “R” Us Raises Interest in Christmas Club
Toys “R” Us is banking on its new promotional program to prop up the chain’s sales during the Christmas holiday season. The retailer’s Christmas Savers Club will allow consumers to…
FD Buyer: Can Kroger Whip Wal-Mart?
In a word, “no.” But it certainly seems to be holding its own with nimble pricing and an aggressive private label program. How does Kroger match up against Wal-Mart? What…
Retailers Winning Interchange Fee Fight
If there is anyone working in retail today who doesn’t want to strictly limit what banks and card companies can charge for interchange fees, then they must be the only…
Chains Continue to Rationalize SKUs
Despite some evidence that consumers do not take kindly to having their favorite brands taken off the shelf, more than 40 percent of retailers plan to cut SKUs this year,…
BrainTrust Query: Dollars and Sentiments – The Real R.O.I. on Social Marketing
Marketers often find themselves needing to “get somewhere” but may not be precisely sure where that somewhere is. This has become particularly true of social marketing efforts. Do you believe…
Job Seekers Pose for American Apparel Jobs
American Apparel felt the heat again last week but this time over its hiring practices. Is it acceptable for retailers to make physical appearance one of the criteria in deciding…
BrainTrust Query: How to Revitalize an Aging Brand
A few weeks ago, 1980s Australian band Hoodoo Gurus put out their first new music release in several years. How would you bring back to life an aging rock band…
Will Consumers Gofer Sears Selling Groceries?
Many have tried to make it big in the online grocery business and most have failed. That certainly hasn’t stopped others from trying and the latest to give it a…
World Cup Fever Popping Up at Retail
While bars in U.S. cities were packed with revelers riveted to World Cup’s start this past weekend, evidence of the world-wide event was hard to find at retail. That’s a…
