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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Long Lines Gets Shoppers PO’d
Of all the things consumers hate about shopping, waiting in line at the checkout may be just about the worst. Even shoppers who have spent a considerable time in the…
Retailers Starting After-Christmas Sales Now
Merchants in the Pittsburgh, Pa. area concerned with being stuck with excess inventory at the end of the holiday season are beginning to advertise “after-Christmas” sale prices on a wide…
Marshall Field’s Last Christmas
The subject of the Marshall Field’s banner being removed and replaced with Macy’s is a sore one for many Chicagoans. Many of the department stores’ customer understand this will be…
It’s Better to Give Than Receive
According to some retail industry watchers, this year’s holiday season is different as the images of the personal devastation brought by Hurricane Katrina, the tsunami in Asia and other events…
Spartan to Buy D&W Food Centers
Spartan Stores has entered into an agreement to purchase “certain operating assets” of D&W Food Centers. The deal, pending due diligence, will give Spartan control of D&W’s 20 grocery stores…
Marketer to Seed Ad Budget with Healthcare Savings
Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. plans to boost its ad spending from 5.6 percent of company sales to seven percent and it has a unique strategy for funding the increase. The dollars…
Actual Performance May Vary
The National Retail Federation said retailers got off to a strong start over the Black Friday weekend and the group is expecting sales for the season to come in around…
The Way to a Man’s Wallet
Jim Suchy’s idea of a great night out shopping for Christmas presents involves sitting in a comfortable chair watching television while drinking beer and eating pizza. That’s why he decided…
Loyalty Doesn’t Fly
United Airlines recently launched Mileage Plus Auctions, a new program that lets members of its Mileage Plus frequent flyer program use their miles to bid on big-ticket items, such as…
Now Playing: Late Fees at Blockbuster
The experiment with no late fees is over for some Blockbuster franchisees. Stores in Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee have reinstated late fees on movie rentals when the stores found…
Federal Grand Jury Indicts Ralphs
A federal grand jury has handed down an indictment of Ralphs Grocery Co. charging the company illegally rehired nearly 1,000 employees during the grocery workers lockout/strike two years ago. According…
The New Owners of Albertsons Are…
A report in The Wall Street Journal says an investment group of Cerberus Capital Management, Kimco Realty and Supervalu will be announced as the winners of the bidding for Albertsons…
Late Shoppers Find OOS on Hot Toys
Shoppers who wait until Christmas draws closer may find they get better deals on some goods but, as many others are discovering, they may also be faced with the reality…
Sears Pops Up in Manhattan
Temporary or pop-up stores are becoming increasingly popular as a way to create buzz around a retail brand. Now Sears is joining Apple, Target and others that have used this…
LA Law Would Require New Owners to Keep Workers On
A controversial new law tentatively approved by the Los Angeles City Council yesterday would require a company acquiring a supermarket to retain workers who have been on the job for…
Global Diversity Rings in the Cash Registers for Sesame Workshop
International Licensing has contributed substantially to the increase in revenue of Sesame Street Workshop, the non-profit organization based in New York. The global travels of Kermit the Frog, Big…
GTIN Called Obstacle to In-store Promotion
Global Trade Item Numbers are assigned based on the packaging, net weight, and dimensions of the item being sold. The emphasis is on linking all the various physical containers associated…
Loyalty Not in the Cards
Biometric payment provider Pay By Touch isn’t content using its technology to speed payment for shoppers and lower transaction fees for retailers. They have ambitions to use biometric identification to…
Oil Prices Only Going Up From Here
If you held out hope that energy prices would be coming down, it’s time to get over that notion. Guy Caruso, head of the Energy Information Administration, said yesterday that…
New Owner Has Global Plans for Dunkin’ Donuts
It is now official. Pernod Richard has sold its Dunkin’ Brands business (Dunkin’ Donuts, Baskin-Robbins ice cream shops and Togo’s sandwich stores) to an investment group including Bain Capital, Carlyle…
Kiosks Kash In
Those temporary kiosks and carts you see set up in malls are doing a brisk business, with annual sales of around $10 billion. The reasons behind the success are varied,…
