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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Retailers Keep Pressure on Brands
Retailers, at least as anecdotal evidence goes, are playing hardball with suppliers, offering them the choice of playing along or taking their products to other venues. Is the type of…
BrainTrust Query: The Many Sides of Me
Behavior is what we need to understand and influence by building stronger relationships and brand affinity. What are the opportunities as well as challenges in segmenting customers based on their…
Black Friday Promo in the Cards for Kroger
On Black Friday, Kroger, Safeway and other chains expanded non-traditional grocery items for promotions, as competition is heating up against Wal-Mart, which has become the largest food retailer and runs…
BrainTrust Query: Cloud Computing – Can Retailers Rise to the Challenge?
The National Retail Federation’s ARTS division has been working on a white paper on cloud computing for release in January 2010. The goal is to give both business and technical…
Black Friday Draws Traffic
Black Friday incentives ranged from blockbuster deals on limited items, 20% to 33% off coupons, and “Buy 1, Get 1 Half Off” promotions on select merchandise to sweepstakes and cash…
Thanks, Pass It On
While we typically think in personal terms for this time of thanksgiving, there are also quite a few reasons for being grateful on the professional front. What reasons are there…
Mackey Suggests Motivational Dieting
Whole Foods CEO, John Mackey, has told a Bloomberg interviewer about his latest ideas on motivating employees to lose weight and “measurably improve their health.” Are measurable discounts a good…
BrainTrust Query: Black Friday Madness – A Strategy for Failure
Changes in the retail industry are creating an environment where Black Friday sales are becoming less relevant and can actually create short-term damage to the brand. Do you think Black…
Hyping Cyber Monday for Fun and Profit
While some may argue that Cyber Monday is little more than a marketing ploy created by the retail industry to separate consumers from their hard-earned cash, online merchants are increasingly…
Dogs, Men and Doghouses
Another holiday season is here and, faced with the prospect of socks, underwear or something else similarly exciting under the tree, J.C. Penney reminds men that they don’t have the…
BrainTrust Query: American Airlines – Buying the Friendly Skies?
American Airlines recently announced that it will be testing a retail sales program aboard selected flights. With the help of on-board internet connectivity, passengers will be able to shop from…
Barnes & Noble’s Nook Sold Out for Christmas
Barnes & Noble said on Friday that its new Nook e-reader, introduced last month, is sold out and new orders won’t ship until after Christmas. Orders placed after Nov. 19…
Mothers Rely on Limited Number of Recipes for the Family
With more mothers working outside the home than ever before in both the U.S. and the U.K., it’s no wonder a recent survey claims that the “average” mother primarily relies…
RSR Research: Beyond Mobile – Augmented Reality for Retail
The time has come to talk about something that has been increasing in buzz in the general tech community, because of the potential to apply it to retail. Augmented reality:…
Three Strikes and Penn Traffic is Out
Having filed for bankruptcy protection for the third time in 10 years, Penn Traffic has decided that it will now seek to sell all or at least most of its…
Platt Retail Institute: Breaking Down Barriers to Create a Competitive Advantage
D+W Partners experimented with installing TV screens in the back rooms of 10 stores, in response to management’s concern that store personnel were not following weekly plans. A 15-minute tape…
Media Wrong Year After Year on Retail Holiday Sales
Bob Phibbs, president and CEO, The Retail Doctor and a RetailWire BrainTrust panelist, has published a white paper predicting that the general news media will yet again forecast a depressing…
CSD: The Impact of Tobacco Federal Excise Taxes
The increase of federal and state cigarette excise taxes will have a far-reaching, negative impact on the convenience store industry. How should c-stores respond to the likely steep drop in…
Penney Writes Final Chapter on Big Book
More consumers are going online than ever before and merchants are questioning whether they need to continually churn out catalogs to stimulate sales activity. The latest merchant to decide to…
Target May Go Small to Open Urban Stores
Prime retail space is at a premium in urban locations and finding enough space for the typical big box is hard to find. That’s why Target is considering the development…
Wegmans Calls Private Label Food Safety a Critical Issue
BrainTrust panelist Ron Margulis has long thought the only thing that could derail the store brand locomotive is a major recall of a retailer-marketed product. Turns out that some of…
