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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
A&P Takes Pathmark Over
As widely expected, A&P (Great Atlantic & Pacific) has made a deal that Pathmark, primarily Yucaipa Cos., could not refuse. Christian Haub said the deal will “turn two unprofitable…
Are Convenience Stores in Wal-Mart’s Future?
Back in August 2005, Wal-Mart’s CEO Lee Scott said that the company’s Asda division had been losing ground to Tesco in the U.K. because that chain had gone places and…
Organic and Natural Beauty is Everywhere
Beauty products, most notably skin care, are becoming one of the most aggressive after food when it comes to incorporating organic and natural ingredients. For years, the natural food and…
How Many Environmentalists Does it Take to Change A Light Bulb?
As core suppliers of food, supermarket and fast-food chains have been actively touting healthy-eating educational programs and products to combat America’s obesity problem. As the main suppliers of light bulbs,…
Chain Store Age: Gen Y – Wake-Up Call for Retailers
For retailers that have long cast their fortunes with Boomers, Gen Y, also known as Millennial, is a wake-up call to a new type of consumer, one that expects information…
Golden Arches Banned by Royal Decree
In case you missed it, the Prince of Wales and potential future king of England was out and about recently when he suggested that obesity in Arab Gulf states could…
Irritation Free Marketing
As the parent of any toddler knows, the easiest way to get information sometimes is to ask them. But as the parent of any teenager knows, it’s not always easy…
BrainTrust Query: Is Daylight Saving Time a Y2K Redux?
Depending on your perspective, the relatively quiet transition that all our computers made into the 21st Century was because of brilliant planning by the IT specialists or a case of…
Meijer Discovers Marketing Opportunity
It seems how stars were discovered before they made it big has always been part of entertainment industry legends. Brian Epstein found The Beatles. Dianna Ross didn’t discover The Jackson…
Will Changes Make Recalls More Effective?
Up till now, when a problem was discovered with meat and poultry that required a product recall, consumers have had the item identified by name, type of package and even…
New Things That Make Nike Go Swoosh
Aiming for the legions of budget-conscious women shoppers trolling the mass channels, Nike Inc. recently launched an exclusive line of women’s sneakers at Payless ShoeSource Inc. Under terms of the…
RadioShack Says It’s Rockin’
Look for more investors to come a knockin’ for RadioShack shares after the consumer electronics chain predicted its business will keep on rockin’ the retail world in 2007. The company…
Full Sites and Empty Stores
John Clare, chief executive of DSG, the British company whose electrical goods brands, Dixons and Currys, have been high street stalwarts for decades, told attendees at the IPD/CBI Property In…
A&P Looking to Buy Pathmark
The number reported is $653 million – what the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company Inc. is willing to pay in cash and stock to acquire Pathmark. A deal has…
Consumers Staying Out Late at the Mall
Malls are looking to keep time with their standalone competitors by opening earlier and closing later. Last month, General Growth Properties made a decision to expand its hours at 200…
R&FF Retailer: ‘The Oogidie-Boogidie People’
Why don’t more of you guys integrate your organic and natural foods into your mainstream shelf sets? Warren Thayer just doesn’t see why this is still even debated. Is it…
Only Eight Negotiating Days Left Till March 5th
Today is February 26 and in eight days (March 5), the current labor contract between 59,000 grocery store employees represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union and…
The Challenge: Fill Up Tanks and Carts
Fuel prices on the national level are 50 percent higher than five years ago. It has been suggested in some quarters that consumers have become acclimated to the high prices…
Has Starbucks Lost Its Soul?
Howard Schultz is concerned that Starbucks has lost its soul and is asking everyone who works for the company to remember those attributes and practices that made the company great…
Supply Chain Digest: Inventory Management – Are we Making Inventory Progress?
People often ask Dan Gilmore about inventory levels, and he doesn’t often have good numbers off the top of his head. So he and Supply Chain Digest decided to…
Selection Doesn’t Fit with Consumer Wants
It’s not a new complaint. Female consumers have been saying for quite some time that the clothes found on store racks seem to be made for someone other than them…
