RECENT discussions
Discussions
Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Stop, Thief!
Want an easy way to dramatically grow your profits at retail? It’s as simple as reducing your shrink, according to Larry Miller, president of Trax Retail Solutions, who gave a…
Target Creates Talent Pool for Others
Target has become a target, of sorts. Other companies looking to copy Target’s success have gone head hunting for executives from the Minneapolis-based retailer. Today, Target alumni hold senior management…
Learn from Loyalty Program Accidents
During a holiday promotion for members of its Sparkling Circle loyalty club, Moët Hennessy USA offered one of three “sparkling music mixes” for holiday entertaining. The offer wasn’t for a…
Boscov’s Looks to Grow Faster
The recent announcement that the family-owned chain Boscov’s had agreed to purchase 10 stores under the Kaufmann’s, Macy’s and Strawbridge’s banners from Federated Department Stores was totally out of character…
McD’s Fries: Great Taste, More Trans Fats
Improvements in food testing helped McDonald’s discover an unpleasant fact about the company’s famed French fries. They have one-third more trans fats than the company previously thought. The announcement by…
Consumers: Another Day Older and Deeper in Debt
Today’s twenty and thirty-somethings may no longer be working for the company store but they are certainly having their styles crimped by high levels of debt as many struggle to…
Wendy’s Doesn’t Like Decrease in Same-Store Sales
When you’re used to increasing same-store sales year after year, it comes as something as a shock to the system when you finally experience the opposite. That was the case…
Meijer Sends 81 Jobs to India/50 to Boston
Meijer has decided to outsource 131 jobs, with 81 information technology positions going to a firm in India and 50 call center jobs going to a contractor in Boston. The…
Tesco is Coming, Tesco is Coming
The British chain Tesco is finally coming to the U.S. The company announced it will finally make its long rumored entry into the American market with a convenience store…
New CEO Looks to Storch TRU’s Competition
Gerald Storch has a new job. The former vice chairman of Target is the new chairman and chief executive officer of Toys R Us. Mr. Storch, who has a reputation…
Amazon Searching for New Revenue Streams
Amazon.com plans to test a program that would place links to products on the retailer’s partner sites, similar to the system employed by Google. According to Chris Beasly, founder of…
Kiosk the Right Medicine for Busy Consumers
Fill ‘er up is about to take on a whole new meaning. A Giant Food store in Reston, Virginia is testing a self-service kiosk that will enable registered consumers…
The Name Game
A recent Consummate Consumer column in the Washington Post says shoppers in the D.C. area are less than happy about stores that have cashiers thank club and credit card customers…
The Rocket Science of Ethics
Marc Lampe is all business when it comes to a discussion about ethics. “More than ever before, unethical behavior has the potential to do tremendous harm to our world and…
Prof Wants Ibuprofen Pulled Off Store Shelves
A professor of pharmacy at the University of Tasmania says many of the problems that led to Vioxx being withdrawn from the market can be found in a popular anti-inflammatory…
Ross More or Less on a Roll
Ross Stores recent financial reports demonstrate that less can be more when it comes to both top and bottom line performance. The clothing retailer with 633 stores operating under the…
Evangelists Spur Loyalty
Gary Stein, analyst at Jupiter research, says customers who actively share information have an increased sense of brand loyalty and maintain it regardless of trends in the marketplace. Supporting that…
A-B Continues Big Game Dominance
When the discussion of dynasties comes up, there is always a debate often along generational lines on who was the strongest: Lombardi’s Packers, Chuck Noll’s Steelers, the Niners under Bill…
Marketechnics 2006: Technology and the shopping experience
The nature of retailers is that they want to sell stuff that appeals to customers and they want to sell it in a manner that appeals to customers. The Food…
Men Put Money Where Their Hearts Are
Research from the customer loyalty research consultancy Brand Keys shows that, when it comes to demonstrating love and affection in retail purchases, men are more romantic than women on Valentine’s…
GHQ Cover Story 2/06: Igniting a Hot Spot
Downtown Dallas used to be similar to a number of American cities. Once all the workers left for the day, it became something of a ghost town. While that was…
