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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
CSD: The Coffee Cup Hotel
C-stores are known for providing a myriad of services, but could your stores house customers for the night if the weather turned bad? What do you think of Coffee Cup…
Coach Opening Store For Guys
Coach Inc. has relied primarily on women customers to build the luxury brand but now the company is turning its attention to the opposite sex with its very first store…
Sears Trying to Raise Consumer Electronics Profile
When 20 percent of shoppers in your stores don’t even know you’re in a particular category, it’s kind of hard to build your business. That, according to a report by…
Brands Hit By Wal-Mart’s SKU Reductions
It’s tough losing your biggest customer and many brands today are finding that out firsthand as Wal-Mart Stores is aggressively pursuing SKU reduction in its stores. What are the implications…
SCDigest: Top Consumer Goods and Retail Supply Chains for 2009
Each year, SCDigest reports on the annual survey results from Cannondale Associates, which ranks the top consumer packaged goods industry supply chains and the top retail supply chains in the…
Is Twitter Losing Momentum?
According to a recent study from RJ Metrics, Twitter’s growth in new accounts slowed from 7.8 million per month last summer to around 6.2 million currently, and that only 17…
Retailers Hiding Prices Online
Much like some fine jewelry shops, some e-commerce sites are making prices for items difficult to spot. Only by adding the merchandise to their shopping carts are consumers able to…
BrainTrust Query: Junk mail isn’t so junky…
Anyone noticed how many newspapers have closed up shop or drastically changed their business model in the last 24 months? Many retailers and independent merchants rely on paper circulars or…
Shoppers Seeking ‘Best-Before Date’ Bargains
It looks as if many consumers are making their money go further by making their food go further — further from their best-before dates, that is. Do websites selling food…
Social Media Primarily Attracting Loyal Customers
A new study confirms that consumers are increasingly connecting with their favorite online retailers through social media sites. But most of those “friending” or “following” online retailers are already loyal…
Retail Customer Experience: Why Generation Y Isn’t Buying Your Products
Attention is short, demands are great and purchases are diverse…in a day and age where social media apps, slogan tees and even Nike sneakers can be customized to fit their…
CPGmatters: Counterfeit Surge Could Tip Redemption Imbalance to Larger Chains
Two different worlds in coupon redemption widen the competitive imbalance between larger and smaller retailers – and add to the ongoing fiscal pressures on CPG manufacturers. Do you see possible…
Heavy Snacking for Football Fans
In its inaugural Snack Down Survey, Supervalu found that nearly 90 percent of American football fans say they “never” or only “sometimes” feel guilty about what they eat when watching…
Super Bowl Ads Reach for the Funny Bone
The Super Bowl of advertising also took place last night. Thirty-second spots sold for a minimum of $2.5 million although some fetched more than $3 million. What did you think…
Macy’s Gets Boost From Dot-Com Biz
Reports around the holiday season noted that chains were releasing total sales figures but not identifying the contribution online was making to the top line. Now, at least one company,…
Dollar General Looks for Big Growth This Year
When the economy took a downward turn, consumers began shopping in dollar stores in greater numbers than ever before. Now, as the economy begins to improve, many chains are looking…
Shop at Your Leisure
By definition, especially as originally devised, pajamas are leisurewear…we do not work and shop simultaneously, shopping is a leisure activity. Ergo, pajamas may be considered appropriate shopping attire. Not at…
Ron Burkle is Busy Looking to Buy
Ron Burkle and his Yucaipa Cos. have stakes in quite a number of retailers. Recently, he has been making headlines as he has sought to buy bigger stakes in Barneys…
New Costco Prez Seen as Sinegal’s Successor, Maybe
In some cases it’s hard to separate certain chief executives from their companies, as with Costco where Jim Sinegal is synonymous with a mention of the retailer’s name. Do you…
BrainTrust Query: Is ‘Social Media for Business’ an Oxymoron?
As new marketing verbs like tweet, blog, and social networking permeate our thinking, we need to acquire a clarifying thought vocabulary that will allow us to grapple with emerging concepts…
Wal-Mart and Best Buy Bail on Used Video Games
Last year when Wal-Mart Stores and Best Buy decided to test kiosks for the buying and selling of used video games, it was seen as a direct challenge to GameStop…
