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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Bringing the Carts Back Home
The problem has been around as long as there have been shopping carts. Customers, or others, go to a store location and push shopping carts off the lot and then…
Starbucks Looks to Do Big Box-Office
Now that Starbucks has conquered the music business, the coffee chain has decided to take on motion pictures. The company announced yesterday that it had signed a deal with…
Another May Question Answered: Federated to Sell Lord & Taylor
Along with what would happen to Marshall Field’s, one of the big questions that many asked when Federated Department Stores acquired the former May Department Store properties was, “What would…
Super Bowl Represents Super Selling Opportunity
Super Bowl XL is less than a month away and the big game in Detroit means big sales for a number of retailers, especially those selling big screen televisions. …
Best Buy Makes Management Changes, Looks to China
Best Buy’s latest management shuffle is the most recent indication that it is set on moving forward with its domestic consumer-centricity initiatives while looking overseas, specifically China, for future growth…
Wal-Mart Puts Money Behind Diversity Initiative
Wal-Mart wants the world to know it is serious about promoting diversity within it ranks. In a filing made with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Wal-Mart said it was…
Plan D Becomes Plan Disorderly
The new Medicare prescription plan has created confusion and longer waiting times at pharmacy counters in Corpus Christi, Texas, reports KRIS-TV. Pharmacy workers are finding that they need to spend…
Maryland Voters Want Wal-Mart to Pay More for Healthcare
The results of a new study shows that two-thirds of Maryland residents want the state’s lawmakers to overturn Gov. Robert Ehrlich’s veto of the so-called Wal-Mart bill. The proposed…
Who Wouldn’t Want to Work for…
Fortune magazine’s list of the 100 best companies to work for includes many of the usual suspects and a few new ones in the world of retailing, foodservice and consumer…
Medical Clinics Are the New Banks in Stores
It used to be that banks were popping up in just about every supermarket you went into. Today, banks can still be found in many locations but, increasingly, in-store medical…
Saks’ New Tact
Brad Martin, the CEO of Saks Inc., is stepping down and his hand-picked successor is likely to jettison what is left of the department store chain’s middle-tier business to concentrate…
Taking Shoppers Back From Wal-Mart
For grocers who have felt themselves pushed to extremes from competing with Wal-Mart, there is new hope in a consumer study from Zenith Management Consulting. A test group of 180…
Toys Will Not Be Us at 73 Stores
Some are wondering what took so long but Toys R Us has announced it will begin downsizing when it closes 73 stores this spring. The owners of the company, including…
Bird Flu Takes Human Lives in Turkey
At least five deaths in Turkey are thought to be tied directly to humans coming in contact with chickens infected with the bird or avian flu known in medical terms…
Coughlin Expected to Plead Guilty to Greed
Some people simply can’t get enough even when they’re getting millions. In apparently another in a long line of cases of business leaders run amok, the former number two…
Home Shopping Network Captures Viewers and Sales
QVC, the home shopping network, is sweeping up a growing number of television viewers and their purchasing dollars, reports Bloomberg News. Greg Maffei, the next CEO at QVC parent company…
Unions Call for ‘Fair Share Health Care’ Laws
The AFL-CIO says the healthcare system in the U.S. is broken and it’s up to legislators to make sure that large companies such as Wal-Mart do their part to fix…
Solving Backdoor Issues Key to Driving DSD Efficiency
A new study, Unleash the Power of DSD: Driving Supply Chain Efficiencies and Profitability, conducted for GMA by Willard Bishop Consulting concludes that direct store deliveries can be made more…
IKEA Founder Finds Lack of Female Managers ‘Strange’
Ingvar Kamprad, founder of IKEA, is not happy about his own company’s lack of females in top management positions and he’s looking to change that. “It’s very strange that we…
McD’s Wants Government to Tighten Up BSE Safeguards
A group that includes McDonald’s is calling on the government to do more to protect animals and people from bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as mad cow disease. …
Analysts Call for Gap CEO’s Head
Gap Inc.’s sales performance and stock price is not where analysts believe it should be and they are calling for the ouster of the company’s CEO Paul Pressler. Under Mr…
