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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Consumers Will Not Forget Elephant Pharmacy Experience
Elephant Pharmacy isn’t your typical drugstore. The two-store business, which first opened in 2001, offers the same services and many of the same products as other drugstores, but it also…
A new FMI Annual Convention Slated for 2008
The Food Marketing Institute announced earlier this week that it is moving to a new format in which the trade expo will be held every other year with the group…
Dutch Bookseller Goes Its Own RFID Way
Boekhandels Groep Nederland (BGN), the Dutch bookseller, is testing radio frequency identification (RFID) at the item level. Aside from a few experiments, it is unusual for a retailer to implement…
Whole Foods Not Whole Paycheck
Whole Foods is tired of being referred to as “Whole Paycheck” because of the perception the chain’s prices are higher than other grocery stores. That’s why the chain is running…
Grocery Store Brands: Growth, Opportunities, and Issues
There was a lot of buzz at the Food Marketing Institute convention this week around private label, which some prefer to refer to as store brands. Just about everyone seems…
Wal-Mart Calls for New Kind of Online Auction
Retailers have used the online auction process to drive down costs of all types of products they purchase for internal use as well as sale to consumers, so perhaps it…
Home Depot: The One Stop Home Improvement Shop
If federal regulators approve Home Depot’s acquisition of EnerBank USA, a state chartered bank in Utah that provides home improvement loans to consumers referred by building contractors, then there will…
276 CEOs – Creating Great-Performing Store Directors
In the 19th study produced by the Coca-Cola Retailing Research Council, researchers at Franklin Covey sought to “unlock the secrets” of great performing supermarket store management teams. In its report,…
Larry’s Asks for Bankruptcy Protection
Last year, Larry’s Markets was planning to add up to 15 new stores. Yesterday, the Kirkland, Wash.-based grocery store operator filed for federal bankruptcy protection so that it can continue…
Casey’s Not Concerned About Grocers’ Gas
The box its stores operate in is substantially smaller but Casey’s General Stores has taken a path similar to Wal-Mart in its rise in the convenience store ranks. But…
Hispanic Shoppers Not Satisfied
Retailers have a long way to go if they are going to take advantage of the Hispanic market opportunity that so many say they are targeting. According to research from…
Grocers Promote Family Meals
Research from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse shows that teenagers who do not eat meals with their families are more likely to develop alcohol and drug problems…
Planning/Saving for a Higher Gas Price Day
A gas retailer in Minnesota has borrowed a program from home heating oil companies in the Northeast that allows consumers to buy large quantities of gasoline in advance at locked…
Rite Aid Answers Questions to Build Loyalty
Rite aid launched a program in April to help its customers understand and avoid uncomfortable allergy symptoms. The program, which Rite Aid worked on with the American Academy of Allergy,…
Play It Again, Jack
We’ve heard that tune before. At least, Michigan consumers have. Beginning tomorrow, Farmer Jack will bring back an advertising message that it mothballed five years ago, “It’s Always Savings…
Save-A-Lot Founder to Step Down
Since 1977 when the first store opened, it has been impossible to bring up Save-A-Lot without mentioning the company’s founder Bill Moran. Now, Mr. Moran is retiring from the…
Retailers Pick Areas in Which to Excel
According to the 2006 AlixPartners Consumer Sentiment Index, when it comes to the key criteria shoppers use in evaluating a retailer (price, product, service, access and overall shopping experience), merchants…
Family Dollar Makes Progress on Several Fronts
Family Dollar Stores said it is pleased with the progress it has made in reducing shrink (and building profits) in its urban stores and finding overseas manufacturers to source its…
Frito Bets You Can’t Just Eat One Healthier Chip
Frito-Lay is betting that consumers won’t be able to eat only one chip now that the company has announced it is going to produce Lay’s and Ruffles cooked in NuSun…
Middle East Conflict: Trade and Retailing
Jordan is one of America’s greatest friends in the volatile Middle East region so it was not unusual that, in 2001, the U.S. signed a free trade agreement with the…
Donuts Alone Do Not Make a Chain Grow
Dunkin’ Donuts, says Nation’s Restaurant News QSR Newsletter, was reborn on April 10th when the fast food chain began the “most significant repositioning” in its 55 year history. The chain…
