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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
High Gas Prices No Problem for Etailers
Well, whether there is a white Christmas or not this year, the one thing online retailers are probably hoping they don’t see coming down this holiday season are gas prices…
Forty Percent of Asda Workers Shopping at Competitors
Turns out that Sears Holdings isn’t the only retailer that appears to have a problem with its employees going to competitors to buy products for their everyday needs. According to…
The Do’s and Don’ts of Baby Boomer Retailing
Everyone knows that Baby Boomers are a huge consumer market but that’s about as far as most retailers’ understanding of this group goes, according to Patrick Conroy and Bruce Westbrook…
Teens’ Choice: Jeans, Sneakers and Downloads
The average teenager spends about $3,400 a year, so marketers are very interested in what kids are thinking and what they are planning to buy. The results of a survey…
Driving Traffic with Gas Promotions
With the price for a gallon of gas continuing to go up, consumers are looking for ways to conserve the fuel they burn and spend less when they have to…
E-Loan Founded on Loyalty
E-Loan has tried to distinguish itself from other firms in the online-financial-services sector. In every public proclamation, the company notes its refusal to add lender’s fees, its non-rate-based commissions, its…
New Edict at Sears: Employees to Get in Touch with Softer Side
First, Aylwin Lewis sent a memo telling employees not to advertise when they buy products from competitive companies by bringing their bags onto Sears Holdings’ property. Now, a new edict…
Don’t Mess with Marcus
A number of years back, the Texas Department of Transportation came up with an anti-littering campaign for the state’s highways that used the slogan: “Don’t Mess with Texas.” Now that…
Wal-Mart’s Stylin’
Wal-Mart’s got an image problem and it has nothing to do with how it treats its employees or labor unions. This particular image problem is the one where consumers can…
Storch Out at Target
The man who said “the stupid era of the Internet is over now,” described Wal-Mart as “vicious predators” and was widely viewed as the CEO-in-waiting at Target has left the…
RFID Evangelists Rejoice
Praise be, praise be… The day that proponents of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology have been waiting, if not praying for, appears to be close at hand – widespread adoption…
Gas Prices May Be Super for Food Markets
An editorial in Supermarket News says the high price of putting gas in cars may just be what supermarkets need to gain some traction for their businesses. Editor-in-chief David Orgel…
Is it Time for the ‘Whole-Broker’?
Is it time to merge the roles of wholesaler and broker into one? Wholesalers provide the efficiency necessary to distribute products of small manufacturers who are unable to own their…
Shoppers Spend Less Time and More Money at Malls
Consumers are making fewer trips to go shopping at the mall, but when they go, says a new report from the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), they are spending…
Conscious Capitalism
Patricia Aburdene, the author Megatrends 2010, wants everyone in business to know that Gordon Gekko had it wrong. Greed is not good. In fact, if anything can kill capitalism, rampant…
The Digital Music Revolution
Thank you, Steve Jobs. According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the digital music market has tripled in the past year and now represents six percent of…
AutoNation CEO Says Time is Right to Pump Up Gas Tax
The high price of gasoline has already begun a shift of sales away from big SUVs to more fuel-efficient vehicles. This trend began even before Katrina hit as the American…
Sears CEO Demands Loyalty
A recent incident where an employee got on board a company plane with a competitor’s shopping bag got Sears’ new chief executive Aylwin Lewis so upset he sent out a…
Schnucks and Dierbergs Battle for St. Louis Home
Craig Schnuck summed up the current situation his company finds itself in. “We’re under attack virtually by everyone in the retail business who is trying to sell food in their…
Consumers Put Money Into Gas Tanks, Not Dollar Stores
Dollar stores are not bringing in the dollars the way they had been. The high price of fuel and stepped up competition from other channels has put the brakes on…
Employee Loyalty Research
According to research by author and entrepreneur Dianne Durkin, spending the time and resources to cultivate employee loyalty can mean a big difference to the long-term health and profitability of…
