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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Mexican Businesses Follow Customers to America
As more Mexicans cross the border to make a life in the U.S., the companies that served them while in their home country are following the same path in search…
HeadOn: An Annoying Ad that Works
Described as repetitive, amateurish and intentionally obnoxious, the commercials for HeadOn also apparently work. Sales for the homeopathic migraine headache remedy catapulted 234 percent from 2005 to 2006 and are…
FAO and Macy’s Seek to Create Holiday Magic, Maybe More
Two New York retailing icons are hoping to make a hit this holiday in Chicago when FAO Schwarz opens a toy store-within-the-store at Macy’s State Street location. If successful, there…
Study: Store Security Involved in Racial Profiling
A large percentage of black consumers have been targeted by security personnel in retail stores because of their skin color, according to a professor of criminal justice at Penn State…
Coors and Miller Brew Up a Second Beer Giant
Molson Coors and SABMiller, the nation’s number two and three brewers, have formed a joint venture to better do battle against the King of Beers. The combination, to be called…
The Weather Calls for Rocky Retailing
According to a report by The New York Times, a growing number of fashion designers are concerned about the unpredictable weather and its impact on their business. Just how much…
Consumers Want Info to Buy Right
Grocery shopping has become an increasingly complex task for many consumers. They often start out their shopping trip short on time and faced with all kinds of questions about the…
Better Brainstorming
According to CIO Magazine, several studies show that the level of meeting effectiveness is the single most powerful factor in job satisfaction. Unfortunately, studies also found most meetings are ineffective…
Turning Over a New Leaf At Borders
For people who love books – and there are many new ones coming along every year to replenish the numbers as older ones fade away – nothing can replace the…
Retail IT Budgets Slow
According to the annual IT budget survey from AMR Research and the NRF’s CIO Council, retail spending on IT is expected to rise a modest two percent in 2007. That’s…
Wal-Mart Focused on Reducing Customer Contacts
Wal-Mart has found that it gets a lot of calls on its toll-free phone customer service number related to orders placed on the company’s website. That is something Wal-Mart wants…
Odds Are Against Major Healthcare Coverage Overhaul
It isn’t streamlined, it isn’t logical, but America’s cobbled-together system of paying for medical care does cover 85 percent of the population. And despite the chorus of pleas for a…
Music Cos. Celebrate Win in Illegal Download Case
The Recording Industry Association of America’s (RIAA) get-tough policy on illegal sharing of music got its test in court and the result was a judgment of $222,000 for music companies…
CPGmatters: Makers of Ethnic Cosmetics Need To Increase Business Intelligence
Ethnic cosmetics are severely underdeveloped in food, drug and mass channels where they post only two percent of category sales. Obviously, product manufacturers must take a fresh look at their…
Depot Tries to Make Women Feel at Home
It’s become the view of some observers of the DIY retailing world that Lowe’s is the retailer that caters to women while Home Depot is the place guys go to…
Luxury Sales Hold Up in Uncertain Times
There’s little concern that the rich will continue to spend big on luxury goods, but what worries retailers in the upscale end of the market is that middle class consumers…
CSD: Star’buck’-ing the System
It’s no secret that c-stores have “borrowed” ideas from outside channels. Thanks to Starbucks, c-store operators learned that customers would pay $4 for a cup of coffee as long as…
Wal-Mart Still a Force
A piece in The Wall Street Journal yesterday, Wal-Mart Era Wanes Amid Big Shifts in Retail, points out that a number of suppliers are seeking ways to lessen their dependence…
Affluent Consumers Like Saving at Aldi, Too
Aldi is moving to a better neighborhood. Dan Gavin, a divisional vice president for the limited assortment grocery chain, told The Cincinnati Enquirer that changes in the marketplace have led…
BrainTrust Query: Do ingredient and nutritional labeling requirements hurt consumers?
Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal featured an article on the new tomato Heinz is developing in an effort to insulate themselves from the price hikes being caused by the hunt for…
Word-Of-Mouth Has Universal Appeal
Despite a cacophony of advertising vehicles vying for consumers’ attention, word-of-mouth remains the most highly trusted among consumers worldwide, according to a global Nielsen survey. In the survey, 78 percent…
