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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
The Future Calls for Letting Go
As Dan Quayle the famous philosopher, orator and spelling bee contender once said, “The future will be better tomorrow.” According to a report on the Xtreme Retail 23 (XR23) Web…
Retailers Paying Employees to Rob Them
Retailers hire teens transitioning from the schoolyard to the workforce believing this will keep costs low and profits high. The troubling reality of this practice is it often means businesses…
Returns Leave Retailers Between Rock and Hard Place
Customer returns are definitely a pain in the bottom line. Most returns are legitimate and retailers gladly accept them, but a large number are fraudulent and, based on the most…
Consumers Eat Their Cake and Salad, Too
According to an article in The Hartman Group’s Hartbeat e-newsletter, “balance has become one of the dominant consumer ideologies of the early 21st century.” It is also, according to the…
Office Depot Offers Grande Loyalty, Hold the Discount
Office Depot’s “Web Café” is an innovative marketing program that identifies and satisfies an unmet customer need. The program consists of online seminars available to anyone, not just members of…
Sweetbay Off to Good Start
In a conference call with analysts, the Delhaize Group said it was encouraged by the early performance of its Sweetbay stores in Florida. Has Delhaize found a winner with the…
Illinois Video Game Ban Goes Up for Vote
The Illinois state House civil law committee gave its approval for a bill to go to the floor for a vote that would fine stores up to $5,000 for selling…
Who’s In Your Wallet?
Forget about “What’s in your wallet?” With all the recent announcements that hackers have broken into company files to steal the personal information of what could be millions of consumers,…
Ahold Stocks Up On Staples
Ahold’s Stop & Shop and Giant-Landover supermarkets are getting ready to go back-to-school. The supermarket chain announced a deal to put office supply areas under the Staples brand in…
Chapter 2: Oracle Bids for Retek
Last week SAP offered to buy Retek for $8.50 per share. Now Oracle has stepped in to defend its turf and has upped the bid to $9.00 per share after…
‘Attention Kmart – Check That – Sears’ Shoppers’
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Kmart Holding Corp. said it plans to convert 400 Kmart stores to Sears’ locations over the next several years. The retailer…
Whole Foods Puts On a Show
Whole Foods’ wants its shoppers happy and spending their money — make that really happy and spending a lot of money. “The grocery equivalent of Disney World for food junkies,”…
Keeping it Real; Jewish Style
What do you call a line of clothing and jewelry aimed at today’s Jewish youth market? How about KewlJu? That’s the idea of entrepreneur Larry Broome. He was inspired by…
Shareholders Want Say in Deciding Pay to Go Away
Objections to the size of severance packages awarded to former senior executives at Coca-Cola has prompted company shareholders, led by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters General Fund, to introduce a…
Sam’s Club Offers Discount Health Services
Members of 552 Sam’s Clubs nationwide now will have access to discounts of up to 50 percent on a variety of medical and dental services through UnitedHealth Group’s HealthAllies program…
NRF: Minimum Wage Will Increase Welfare Rolls
The U.S. Senate voted down an amendment introduced by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D – Mass) that would have increased the national minimum wage by $2.10 over 26 months. The National…
Dominick’s a Good Deal if Roundy’s Can Get It
At $325 million, Dominick’s Finer Foods would be a bargain if Roundy’s can get Safeway to part with it. An unidentified source close to Roundy’s said, “Yes, we would be…
Attention Sears’ Shoppers: This is Only a Test
A piece on the Chicago Daily Herald’s Web site says it’s still too early to tell if Sears 97 store test of stores targeted to local ethnic populations is working…
NASCAR Starts Loyalty Program
On Feb. 10, NASCAR launched the Official NASCAR Members Club in Daytona, Fl. The objective of the program is for NASCAR to reward members and, in the process, learn more…
Bill Seeks To Bring Slots Out Into the Open
A bill introduced in the California state legislature would impose fines on retailers that do not let vendors know up front what they will be required to pay in slotting…
Kmart Wants Cheap Chic Niche
According to a report by The New York Times, Kmart is hipper than it used to be and plans on becoming even more closely identified with products that are both…
