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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Deals for Dad’s Day
Marshal Cohen, chief analyst at NPD Group, has it nailed. “If you forget Mother’s Day, you’re dead,” he told The Associated Press. On the other hand, according to Mr. Cohen…
GHQ Cover Story 6/06 – The Comfort Factor
Until recently, when manufacturers and retailers spoke about convenience foods and related items, they meant that these products had some feature focused on speeding consumers through their busy lives. Today,…
Triple Whammy Hits Home Retailers
Traditional furniture and related home furnishings retailers are getting hit from pretty much all sides. According to a piece by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, companies such as Pier One…
Change in the Teen Fashion Weather
According to Reuters, wide leg pants and midriff baring tops are out and tighter jeans with longer and looser tops are in. The sudden change in the way the fashion…
Google’s GBuy to Give eBay’s PayPal Run for the Money
PayPal watch out. There’s a new online payment system in town and it plans on capturing the data from internet transactions to develop more precise target marketing to consumers using…
Wendy’s Looks for Healthy Advantage
It has already cut trans fats from its salad dressing and begun offering choices such as a side salad or baked potato in place of French fries. Now, Wendy’s is…
Catch Me If You Can
The keynote speaker at this year’s Uconnect Conference in Nashville, Tenn. was Frank Abagnale Jr., whose life story was the basis of the 2002 DreamWorks movie, Catch Me If You…
Death Tax Repeal Dies in Senate
Last year when the House of Representatives passed a bill calling for the permanent repeal of the estate tax (AKA the death tax), family-business owners and their representative organizations widely…
Gap’s Latest Plan to Turn It Around
Gap Inc. has announced yet another new plan (strikingly similar to past ones) to turn its struggling business around. Among other strategies, the company intends to reconfigure its locations into…
J.C. Penney’s New Home
J.C. Penney may discover the adage, “You can’t go home again” to be particularly fitting to its situation. The retailer has big expansion plans and is looking to increase its…
Closings Pave the Way for Safeway
Safeway has reasons to be giddy. In the past year, it has reinvigorated its business with the rollout of its Lifestyle format and now it finds itself with an unexpected…
Trading Partners Synch Up
Nearly 1300 people descended on Nashville, Tenn. this week to learn about the fundamental technical requirements for a successful B2B implementation using the global standards supported by GS1. Data synchronization…
HDTV Gets Consumers Pumped Up
Five hundred gas stations around the U.S. will soon be going into the entertainment business. Gas Station TV said it would provide the stations with high-definition television screens at the…
Macy’s Takes Hit Over Name Change
According to a study by Scarborough Research, the number of customers walking into Macy’s stores in the Columbus, Ohio area have declined 4.5 percent since parent company Federated Department Stores…
Pregnant Women Told, ‘No Tuna’
A new report from Consumer Reports magazine says pregnant women, those planning on conceiving or those who are presently nursing infants or toddlers should not eat canned tuna – period…
Walgreens Takes Unfamiliar Route to Growth
Walgreen Co. has always been proud that it has become the largest drugstore chain in the country through organic growth. It is just that philosophy that makes the announcement Walgreens…
Tesco Cards Asda
Many see Wal-Mart’s decision not to use loyalty cards as another area where they have succeeded in keeping costs under control while its competitors with loyalty programs tinker around in…
The IKEA Difference
One thing most people seem to agree on is IKEA is not your average, run-of-the-mill retailer. In fact, being different from others is perhaps the most significant advantage the furniture…
Mervyns Has Good Start on Remaking Itself
While it is still a long way before Mervyns reaches 100 from the day in 2004 when the department store was acquired by a group of investment companies (Sun Capital…
The Other Albertsons’ Acquisition
With practically all the media attention given to Supervalu’s acquisition of a large chunk of Albertsons, many have forgotten that others made significant deals with the grocer and drugstore chain…
Taking Consumer Insights to the Next Level
Successful new food product development is the result of taking two basic steps, according to Dr. Mieke Weegels of Unilever’s Consumer Perception and Behaviour Department. “First, you have to come…
