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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
GHQ: Separate Ways
Small grocers looking to keep themselves off the endangered species list this year will need to focus on community appeal, health and wellness, freshness and the qualities that make them…
Rite Aid Cashes In Its Chips in Vegas
When Rite Aid acquired nearly 1,900 Brooks and Eckerd drugstores last June, it became the largest chain on the East Coast. Since then, however, Rite Aid has struggled. The day…
Donald Out, Schultz Back In at Starbucks
Starbucks is facing some challenges as it moves ahead and the company has made the decision that the best person to lead it into that uncertain future is the same…
CPGmatters: Schering-Plough Aims to Develop Custom Shopper Marketing Programs
Schering-Plough Consumer Healthcare aims to maintain the loyalty of shoppers by developing special promotions for them with the help of retail partners. As part of the process, the firm…
Wegmans Getting Out of Cigarette Sales
Wegmans is getting out of the business of selling cigarettes and other tobacco products starting Feb. 10. That announcement made Wegmans the only grocery chain in New York to stop…
The Curse of Knowledge
The more knowledge and expertise you gain, the less you remain open to new ideas. That’s the premise of the "curse of knowledge," a phrase used in a 1989 paper…
RetailWire’s Retail Stock Portfolio Challenge: 1Q08
It’s a new year, a new financial quarter and time to launch a new Retail Stock Portfolio Challenge. For this coming period, we’ve recruited a couple of fresh challengers for…
Reflections and Building the Future
President/CEO Dave McConnell takes a moment to reflect on what has transpired at GMDC in 2007 and looks ahead to building an even more successful 2008 for the Association. Also…see…
Re-Gifting to Re-Homing
People have probably ditched gifts since time immemorial. There have always been long lines at return counters in the days following Christmas. Then came re-gifting; saving the unloved object to…
FDA to Okay Meat, Milk from Clones
The technology is there to clone livestock and now the Food and Drug Administration is prepared to formally endorse the sale of meat and milk from these animals (and their…
Customer Reviews at Stores
Borrowing a page from online sellers, some brick & mortars have begun featuring customer reviews on displays at their retail locations. The big difference is that most of the reviews…
CSD: The Pulse of the C-Store
The convenience store front counter provides the perfect canvas to showcase a mix of hot new items and profitable impulse buys that will grab customers’ attention. But experts agree that…
Teenagers Shoplifting What Parents Can’t Afford to Buy
Many parents will have experienced the double distress of not being able to buy their children everything they may want and having to tell the kids that they can’t have…
Wal-Mart Goes to Washington
Wal-Mart spent more than $4 million on lobbying efforts in Washington in the past 18 months compared to $6.6 million it collectively spent in the prior seven years, according to…
Is the Time Right for FairTax?
The idea of instituting a national sales tax to replace the federal income tax is one of those issues that has cropped up from time-to-time over the years but never…
Those Anti-Consumer Gift Cards
While they’re one of this season’s most desired holiday gifts, gift cards are also exceedingly popular among lawyers looking to protect consumers from their hidden fees and early expiration dates…
RetailWire’s 4Q07 Retail Stock Portfolio Challenge: Final Results
In reviewing our first Retail Stock Portfolio Challenge results, one might conclude that predicting losers is a lot easier than winners in the world of retail. And yet, short-selling isn’t…
Whole Foods Fires Worker for Stopping Shoplifter
An employee for Whole Foods Markets in Ann Arbor, Michigan claims he lost his job after stopping a shoplifter. The retailer says he violated a policy that prohibits employees from…
The Marketing Power of Blogs
For many small businesses, blogging is proving to be a low-cost, high-return way to create public awareness. Across businesses, blogging companies are still a small minority. What do you…
Consumers Face Stricter Return Policies
Abuses by a few have led to less liberal return policies for many shoppers this holiday season. Fraudulent post-holiday returns are expected to top $3.7 billion this year, according to…
Circuit City Blows Another Fuse
Sometimes the tide doesn’t float all boats. Despite soaring demand for flat-screen TVs, videogames and GPS gadgets, Circuit City last Friday reported a much larger third quarter loss than analysts…
