RECENT discussions
Discussions
Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
BrainTrust Query: Can other retailers find inspiration in Whole Foods’ new spa concept?
This week, Whole Foods announced that their new store in Dallas will include a spa concept called ReFresh. Designed to be an everyday spa, customers will be able to get…
Christmas is Back In for the Holidays
Retailers, according to a number of groups, have something to put back also. Stores, they say, need to put the Christmas back in the holidays. This year, Wal-Mart and…
Don’t Follow Wal-Mart, Say Analysts
Industry experts speaking to CNNMoney.com said that Wal-Mart’s disappointing sales results in October and previous months means the retailer is going to come out firing with price rollbacks designed to…
Category Management at the Crossroads
Category management has been in use for over 15 years, and it is now in near universal use at CPG companies with any size and scope. Today, with cross-pollination and…
Macy’s Learns New Ways to Communicate
Rumors have abounded that sales are way off, but Frank Guzetta, former president of Field’s and the current chairman and CEO of Macy’s North, said things are looking up and…
Giving Thanks for Not Cooking on Turkey Day
It’s been said before. Today’s consumers are cooking-challenged. That fact of modern life has turned into a business bonanza for food stores and eateries that are willing and more than…
Meijer’s Smart Carts
For the most part, retailers testing radio frequency identification (RFID) have confined the use of the technology to warehouse and backroom efforts to track inventory as it moves through a…
Democrats Win: What’s Next for Retail?
The Democrats are back in the House and this time they will be controlling it. And, with some voting (and recounting) still to do, it may just be the Dems…
Office Max Redesigns Business
The new interior and services at the redesigned Office Max are intended to put a little color in the shopping experience and make business people feel more comfortable parting with…
Four Seconds Too Long for Online Shoppers
High prices and delivery costs are tops when it comes to turning off online shoppers but other factors are important if retailers want to turn browsers into buyers. Based on…
Tops for Sale
Royal Ahold announced yesterday that it intends to sell its Tops Markets business in upstate New York. Tops, the largest chain in the Buffalo area and number two in…
Whole Foods Increases Salary Cap for Execs
Executive pay has certainly become a hot topic in recent times. Last week’s announcement by Whole Foods that it was increasing the salary cap from 14 times the average…
Companies Accused of Seeking to Influence Elections
Companies have been doing their civic duty by encouraging consumers and workers to get out and vote on Election Day. While retailers have been lauded for promoting the need…
Amazon, Nordstrom, L.L. Bean Top Customer Service List
When 8,100 consumers were asked to name the companies that delivered the highest level of customer service, they had a lot of stores from which to choose. When the polling…
Books Sold in the Strangest of Places
Publishers are not willing to wait for consumers to go to the bookstore to buy the titles they release. Increasingly, publishers are going where the consumers are, including upscale clothing…
Try Before You Buy
When (if) life isn’t enough, we can now reinvent ourselves with alter egos called avatars just as upwards of one million people have done on the three-dimensional, virtual world known…
Stores Put On a Facade
Retailers don’t want consumers window-shopping anymore. They want them inside buying merchandise, and so the days of the wide-open plate-glass window storefronts appear as though they may be coming to…
Chain Store Age: The New Customer Service
The irony of today’s consumer mind-set regarding customer service relates to perception — the fact is that for some, good service actually equates to less direct interaction with store associates…
Is Bigger Better?
There’s no stopping the big from getting bigger. Indeed, merger and acquisition activity is more than maintaining its pace this year and the number of transactions itself is robust, to…
CVS Deal for Caremark Addresses Competitive Issues
CVS’ deal to acquire pharmacy benefits manager Caremark Rx comes at a time when competition from retail pharmacies and mail order is at its most intense. What will the…
SoCal Lockout and Strike, Part Two?
Oh no, its déjà vu all over again. Back in late 2003 and 2004, a lockout and strike involving 60,000 grocery workers in Southern California resulted in losses and resentment…
