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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Alice Walton Buying Art for Wal-Mart
Alice Walton, Sam’s daughter and the second wealthiest woman in the world, is currently building her collection of fine art. According to a report in The Independent in the UK,…
Accessorizing the Holiday
Many retailers are focusing on providing consumers little add-ons and accessories to supplement their gift giving this holiday season. The move is partly an attempt to move items in a…
Lululemon: Paper Was Wrong, Seaweed in Clothes
A report in The New York Times last week that Lululemon Athletica’s VitaSea seaweed-infused T-shirt did not contain seaweed fiber has put the company’s alternative culture status in jeopardy with…
StorefrontBacktalk.com: The In-Store Boomerang Strategy
American consumers walking around shopping malls this holiday season will start to see the first visible signs of retail merged channel strategies. All kinds of hooks into – and from…
Sears Offer Throws Wrench into Restoration Hardware Deal
Restoration Hardware has a deal with Catterton Partners to take itself private. But that deal now appears as though it may be in jeopardy after Sears Holdings recently bought nearly…
CVS Conflicted Over Cigarette Sales
CVS Caremark is a company in conflict. CEO Thomas Ryan recently admitted CVS Caremark has wrestled internally with its self-image of a company that promotes health while at the same…
BrainTrust Query: Should associates speak to Hispanics in Spanish?
Spanglish is the language used by a majority of the approximately 18 million people in the U.S. who are proficient in both Spanish and English. And though being bilingual certainly…
CPGmatters: Implementation Group Aims At ‘Elephant in the Store’
Sophisticated shopper insights, automated planograms, segmentation, targeting and shopper media have the potential to revolutionize the way categories are managed and products promoted. But these advances in marketing method are…
Wal-Mart Looks for Co-Marketing Opportunities
John Andrews, senior marketing manager at Wal-Mart, is intent on keeping on-message across all consumer communications with the retailer’s “Save money. Live better.” tagline. He is also anxious to…
R&FF Retailer: Taste of Diversity
Food Lion, Supervalu, Wal-Mart, Kroger – and scores of other retailers – have formal programs designed to maximize opportunities for minority- and women-owned business enterprises (MBEs and WBEs). Such programs,…
Who’s Ready to Go Contactless?
You have probably seen the commercials by now: customers can fly through the payment lines with a simple RFID card reader and enabled credit card cutting customers’ wait times, encouraging…
Truffles: It’s All About Aspiration
Advertising for the big British supermarkets focuses on slogans about everyday low prices and how every little bit helps. That is, the never-ending battle to beat the competition at satisfying…
Study Predicts Major Share Gain for Store Brands
A McKinsey & Co. study presented at the Private Label Manufacturers Association (PLMA) Annual Conference in Chicago this week revealed that $55 billion in annual sales could shift from national…
RSR Research: Getting Store Buy-in for Workforce Optimization – Lessons Learned
Last week at KronosWorks, several Kronos for Retail customers presented on their implementations of workforce management. Most focused on implementing forecasting and scheduling, and several common themes emerged among…
Some Seeing Red Over Carbon Monoxide in Meat
There are some who see using carbon monoxide to keep meat red longer as deceptive at best and potentially dangerous at worst. Conversely, proponents of using the gas in…
The Information Diet
Described as the “pet guru of Silicon Valley,” Timothy Ferriss has come out with a bestseller railing against cubicle workplace habits such as multitasking, constant checking of email and news…
Is the Consumer Engine Ready to Stall?
While there have been some fairly sizeable bumps in the road at various points over the years, consumer spending has remained strong even at times when many expected it would…
GHQ: Voice Activated
For the past decade or more, grocery warehouse workers have been hearing voices in their heads. Not a cry for psychiatric help, these voices are directing them where to head…
‘Operationalizing’ Data at Retail
Retailers are looking to make better and timelier decisions. For a growing number that has meant looking to provide business users with near real-time data analysis through the use of…
Low Dollar Encouraging British Shoppers to Buy Online
Airfares between the U.K. and the U.S. may be cheap, and the cost of a holiday an absolute bargain, but many British shoppers are saving even that expense by getting…
Macy’s Making Space for Groceries
Macy’s is in the process of working out a deal to bring a 20,000 square-foot grocery store to the basement of its State Street flagship location in Chicago sometime early…
