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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Kmart Provides Assistance to Unemployed Nationwide
Kmart announced earlier this week that it was going national with its Smart Assist Savings Card, which provides customers who have lost their jobs with a 20 percent discount on…
Sam’s Club Launches Free Tech Support
Sam’s Club is launching free technical support nationwide for consumer electronics. The rollout ignited speculation that its bigger sister, Wal-Mart, would likely be introducing a similar service. How critical are…
UPS Delivers Coupons Direct to Consumers’ Doors
UPS is making special deliveries of discount coupons and samples from a wide variety of retailers and consumer goods marketers this week to residents in five test markets around the…
Gap Co-Founder Don Fisher Passes Away
Donald Fisher, who along with his wife Doris started Gap Inc. with a single denim store in San Francisco in 1969, has passed away at the age of 81. What…
BrainTrust Query: Loblaws Quits Candy Cold Turkey
Reinventing retail is now more critical than ever. But now at Canada’s Loblaws, no candy, no Bic Lighters, no Purel Travel Size, no Duracell batteries, nothing in the checkout line!…
Consumers Can Get Smart with Power Bills
Awareness is gradually dawning that there are things individuals can and should do to reduce our contribution to the disasters of climate change. Who knew – or cared – until…
Designer Puts Curvier Models on the Runway
London’s fashionista’s were up in arms last week after designer Mark Fast used plus-size models to show off his collection at London’s Fashion Week; causing the designer’s stylist and…
CPGmatters: Frito-Lay Gains Competitive Edge Using Ethnographic Research
To better understand the mindset of consumers in the store as well their thinking beforehand and afterwards, Frito-Lay relies on deep insights gathered by cultural anthropologists using ethnographic research. What…
Amazon Expands Grocery Delivery Service
Amazon.com is expanding its Amazon Fresh grocery delivery business to the entire Seattle area over the next three months. What advantages or disadvantages does Amazon have moving into the home…
Penney Testing Mobile Coupons
Paper coupons may soon be a thing of the past for at least some of J.C. Penney’s customers in the Houston metro area. The department store announced it is running…
Retail TouchPoints: New Survey Shows Retailers Converting POS Into Marketing Tool
A survey from Aberdeen Research found that best-in-class retailers are over three times more likely than average performers to seamlessly integrate real-time unit-level promotion data updates at the point of…
Kohl’s Makes Big Push in California
Kohl’s had to feel pretty good about the purchase price when it bought up 30 stores in California last year from the defunct Mervyns’ department store chain. But, buying cheap…
Luxury Brands Stumble Online
Luxury marketers pretty much sat out the dot-com boom, the following bust and the period since then for a variety of reasons. But according to a study by NYU’s…
Say Cheese
In today’s connected world, where marketing departments seek to better utilize social media, companies still do things that can be seen as self-destructive; e.g. restricting the use of cameras in…
Chasing Fido Out of the Food Aisle
In dog-loving Portland, Oregon, it’s not surprising to see a pooch shopping alongside its owner in food retailers even though it is illegal. In response, the Oregon Department of Agriculture…
CSD: Sonja Hubbard Paves The Way For Women In Retailing
As CEO of Texarkana, Texas-based E-Z Mart Stores Inc., Sonja Hubbard is a true c-store industry veteran. Is the retail industry doing enough to promote women in management ranks? To…
BrainTrust Query: After ‘I’ll Take It.’
The successful associate knows there are still plenty of opportunities to both enhance the customer’s shopping experience and maximize the sale. What are some ways sales associates can fully maximize…
Restoration Hardware Changes Mix, Raises Prices to Stand Out
Restoration Hardware management is a) crazy like a fox or b) just plain crazy. The chain has decided it wants to differentiate from the competition by raising prices up between…
Brands Reclaim Some Share Lost to Private Label
National food brands were able to eke out a minor share gain at the expense of private label in a recent year-over-year comparison, according to Citigroup; the first time that…
SCDigest: Warehouse Management to the Rescue for Retail Out-of-Stocks?
Consumer goods manufacturers and retailers have been chasing the out-of-stock problem for decades. The problem could potentially be well addressed through use of one of the core capabilities of a…
Brands Get Ready for Their Close-Up
Television has long had sponsors for their shows. The U.S. and many European countries have allowed products and their logos to be clearly visible for some time but Britain has…
