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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Starbucks Roasted by McDonald’s in Taste Test
Howard Schultz has said, “Starbucks represents something beyond a cup of coffee.” Perhaps that is true, but according to Consumer Reports, when it comes to getting a good cup of…
Editor’s Query – How can main street retailers overcome parking limitations to remain competitive?
Merchants in the main shopping district of historic Charleston, S.C. say local customers are hesitant to make the trek to the downtown peninsula because they feel it’s so hard to…
Smith & Wesson Targets Growth Opportunities
Firearms manufacturer Smith & Wesson had an image problem. The company that made Dirty Harry happy with its .44 Magnum found itself with a lot of inventory and too few…
Boards Told to Rein In Executive Pay
Ultimately, it probably amounts to little more than pandering to the populace, but many politicians are making noise about the need to rein in or at least increase the…
Chain Store Age: 2007 Consumer Trends
This month’s Chain Store Age has compiled The top 10 consumer trends for 2007. Which of the 10 trends from the Chain Store Age list do you think will be…
Target to Open Food DC
Target plans to open its first company-owned food distribution center in Lake City, Florida in the summer of 2008. The facility will be used to store and transport frozen, refrigerated…
‘Store of Future’ is RFID Driven
Who needs a store employee in the cosmetics department when you have radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and readers? The Japanese department store chain Mitsukoshi is involved in a RFID…
CSD: Convenience Store Shoppers Want … Convenience
A comprehensive new study by Meyers Research Center (MRC) finds convenience store shoppers know what they want before they get through the door and are expecting to find cold beverages…
Exec Changes Coming Fast and Furious at Wal-Mart
It’s getting to the point where a scorecard is going to be needed to keep track of who is moving up, over or out of the executive suites at Wal-Mart…
Buffett, Tesco and Trader Joe’s
Don’t bet against Warren Buffett. The Oracle of Omaha and Berkshire Hathaway have cast a vote of confidence in the form of a two percent share of Tesco’s stock in…
Living with Our Own Kind
We’ve talked here before about multi-generation and single person households but there is another kind of household whose numbers, especially in the U.S., are increasing steadily year on year. According…
Starbucks Puts Breakfast Strategy Into Drive
Starbucks helps a lot of consumers get their mornings jump-started with its coffee and now the chain is looking to drive some incremental business with its breakfast sandwich lineup. Beginning…
Marketers Passing on Super Bowl
There’s a lot of competition for the attention of consumers on Super Bowl Sunday. Marketers know that breaking through the clutter is not only challenging; it’s incredibly expensive, as well…
Cashiers and Baggers Key to Acme’s Success
Visit the headquarters of Supervalu’s Acme division and you will find that many executives come from modest grocery backgrounds. In fact, the Cherry Hill Courier Post reports that 14 of…
Webkinz is a Word-of-Mouth Wonder
Want to know the power of word-of-mouth? Just take a look at Webkinz, a product described as “Beanie Babies on Steroids” that have sold more than one million units without…
Supply Chain Digest: Supply Chain Integration – Crossing the Marketing and Logistics Divide
In the fall 2006, the Journal of Business Logistics published research based on a number of in-depth interviews they did with both logistics and marketing professionals in business-to-business oriented corporations…
Tesco Labels Itself Part of the Green Solution
Label Tesco green, literally. The British grocery market leader has pledged to take concrete steps to bring about a low-carbon economy. In the past, it has initiated a number of…
Bend It, Spend It. Beckham’s Here
By most accounts, David Beckham’s soccer (football, if you prefer) skills have deteriorated. That appears to be of little concern for the Los Angeles Galaxy franchise and Major League Soccer…
Financial Benchmarking for Private Companies
Across the country, large public companies are closing out their accounting books for the year and taking stock of their performance – and for most this means comparing themselves to…
Sustainability Rises to the Storefront
Sustainability has risen to the top of the heap in business discussions over the past several years, perhaps due to the fact that many industries are realizing that political and…
Gas Station Takes on Terrorists
A new gas station, scheduled to open on Feb. 1 in Omaha, Neb., has a unique point of differentiation with which to market its business. The station, Terror-Free Oil, says…
