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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
RetailTouchPoints: Today’s Retail Models: Everything is Broken, But Cross-Channel Formats Are Still Fixable
We know a lot about the broken economy and the credit crunch and the money that has vanished with real estate profits and personal refinancing. These things are in some…
FDA Says Baby Bottles with BPA are Safe
Stores are already pulling containers with bisphenol A (BPA) off the shelves but the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is saying that those steps may not be necessary based on…
Tesco’s Fresh & Easy Reassessed
Many were expecting great things before Tesco opened the first of its Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Markets. Some even spoke about how the format could potentially revolutionize food retailing in…
New FMI Format Has Ups and Downs
The Food Marketing Institute held its first annual meeting last week in Las Vegas under a new format in which the trade expo will be held every other year, and…
Looking Back/Looking Ahead: The Future of Grocery Wholesaling
It was this week in 2003 when RetailWire posted a story and discussion on Wal-Mart’s decision to sell McLane Company to Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway. Members of the BrainTrust weighed…
New Tesco Website Dedicated to Polish Groceries
Tesco in the UK has created a new website dedicated to shoppers wanting Polish products. Having launched a range of Polish foods in ten stores in 2006, the supermarket now…
Marketers Discover Sampling
Sampling works. It’s a known fact that giving consumers the opportunity to test a product increases the likelihood they will buy. That’s why it’s a mystery in food retailing,…
Self-Checkouts Seek Change of Scenery
Self-checkout vendors IBM and NCR are betting that a change of scenery will give consumers new reasons to use the technology to get them out of stores. According to a…
Target Launches Collection at Barneys
In a move perplexing fashion insiders, Target is introducing a line of eco-friendly clothes by American designer Rogan Gregory at Barneys. It’s believed to be the first time a luxury…
Bloomie’s Dropping Catalog, Focusing Online
Bloomingdale’s announced last week that it plans to stop publishing its Bloomingdale’s By Mail catalog and shift its entire direct-to-consumer focus to the its website. The department store made the…
Shoppers Choose Local Produce Over Organics
Shoppers are opting for locally grown produce over organic alternatives, according to the Shopping for Health 2008 survey released by the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) and Prevention. When cost is…
Britain’s most useless gadgets named and shamed
Reevoo.com, the London-based customer review site, polled 4,500 British shoppers and asked them to identify what they consider to be the “most useless household gadgets on the market.” The survey…
Spam Moves to Cell Phones
Americans are expected to receive an estimated 1.5 billion unsolicited text messages on their cell phones in 2008, according to San Francisco’s Ferris Research, which tracks mobile messaging trends. That’s…
CSD: Recession Rx For Business
“Companies with mediocre leadership can skate by when the economy is booming, but in tough times they really suffer,” says Quint Studer, president of the Studer Group, a Florida-based think…
Shoppers Ready for Brave, New Retail Future
Consumers from around the globe are ready for social networking shopping websites, interactive dressing rooms, smart carts, biometric payments and a whole host of other uses for technology to improve…
Looking Back/Looking Ahead: Retailers Pick Areas in Which to Excel
It was this week in 2006 when RetailWire posted a story and discussion on a then new study by AlixPartners that concluded, rightly so, that retailers cannot be all things…
Chrysler Seeks to Move Gas Guzzlers with Free Fuel Promo
Chrysler has a lot of cars to move off dealer lots and unfortunately many are not the fuel-efficient models that are currently so much in demand. To help make it…
Pace Slows for Opening In-Store Clinics
The easy money that many saw in opening in-store clinics was a bit harder to come by than expected so fewer new facilities are being opened as companies in the…
GHQ: Solving the GM Puzzle
With a fluctuating economy, rising gas prices and personal time at a premium, consumers are limiting their shopping trips. Industry observers suggest that these trends present grocery stores – more…
Hawaii Passes Rx Vending Bill
Pharmacies in Hawaii will now be able to set up remote vending units to deliver prescription medicines to low income residents in rural areas following a vote by the state’s…
Credit Card Deal: Dream or Nightmare for Target
Target management is using words to suggest it’s dreaming. Others, Reuters reports, wonder if the retailer has been asleep and is about to be wakened by a nightmare of a…
