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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Six More Lose Jobs in Krispy Kreme Scandal
Six Krispy Kreme executives have lost their jobs in connection with the government’s investigation into accounting fraud at the company. Last week, a special committee of independent directors for the…
MTV Tunes In to Asian Americana and Imports Global Pop
Asian culture is building its unique identity in the United States. But the sheer plurality of cultures across the “Peoples of Asian Heritage” can be dizzying to marketers. Now, instead…
CEO Confident Winn-Dixie Making Right Move
It’s not easy to find positives coming out of an announcement that a company is closing 326 stores, three distribution centers and cutting 22,000 jobs (500 at its headquarters), but…
Will Wal-Mart and Its Customers Pay More?
The cost of energy and other raw material costs has continued to go up but consumers, for the most part, have been immune to inflationary pressures as both manufacturers and…
Restaurant Patrons Determine Menu Prices
A number of restaurants in the U.K. have instituted a new policy that lets patrons decide for themselves how much they will pay for a meal. These “pay-what-you-like” restaurants, such…
Execs Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired
Uninspired and all but retired is how a USA Today report describes many top executives currently running many American businesses. Research conducted by the Gallup Organization to determine how engaged…
The Importance of Being First
Marketing pros don’t like emphasizing it because they think it downplays the importance of the marketing function, but being the first one out with a product in a category can…
Attention Shoppers: Kmart/Sears Experiencing Technical Difficulties
According to a report in the Chicago Sun-Times, an analyst believes Kmart continues to suffer “chronic out-of-stock problems” because of its “unsophisticated replenishment system.” Sears has also had problems with…
Wal-Mart Overruled on Dating Ban
A labor court in Germany has ruled that Wal-Mart can not bar employees from having relationships with co-workers and that a proposed hot line for reporting violations of company code…
Great Leaders Start with the Future
According to author Marcus Buckingham, great leaders and managers are in rare supply in business today. The best ones, Mr. Buckingham told a Wharton Leadership Conference, share the ability…
Subject: TRUST
According to a Gallup Poll cited in the 6-12-05 New York Times Magazine, only eight percent of Americans trust big business a great deal. Could it be that for all…
Retailer Finds Its Niche Online
As the headline on the company’s homepage clearly states, ‘Niche Retail is our name for a reason.’ The online retailer with 40 employees in Michigan and Minnesota operates 14 separate…
Positive Feedback Goes Better With Cash
Twenty-one employees at the Eegee’s fast food chain in the Tuscon, Ariz. area received surprise bonuses from their bosses recently. The company is having a good year, said co-founder Ed…
The New Generation Gap
The U.S. Census Bureau made headlines last week with the announcement that Hispanics accounted for half of the U.S. population growth from 2003 to 2004. Since then, there has been…
McD’s Takes a Boys-and-Their-Toys Approach
Here’s the basic premise that McDonald’s is putting to the test with its new flagship restaurant: Boys that love toys grow up to become guys that love gadgets. It’s these…
Impressions: Retail Tech Developments
When a non-tech writer visits a technology show, it can be a bit daunting trying to sort out what everyone’s doing, and what’s really “new and different.” Under the assumption…
Getting to 2010: Innovation Required
A newly released report from the group, Retail Innovation: Ten Opportunities for 2010, sponsored by American Express identifies areas of consumer need that offer retailers the best prospects for achieving…
Consumption Tax Makes Strange Bedfellows
It’s probably not too far afield to suggest that most retail executives would fall to right of center on the political spectrum. But executives running retail businesses in the U.S…
Court Rules Borders.com Must Collect Sales Tax
A ruling by California’s 1st District Court of Appeals says Borders Group must collect sales tax for sales made in that state through the company Web site. The court ruled…
Deciding What’s Broken and Fixing It
David Orgel, editor-in-chief of Supermarket News, writes that grocers and manufacturers agree that there is something broken in the Center Store. What they do not agree on, however, is what…
GHQ Cover Story 06/05: Shopping Around
Consumer packaged goods manufacturers are following the money and the consumers who have it to spend by broadening their distribution to channels outside of traditional supermarket businesses. Manufacturers are also…
