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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
NRF Calls For Bankruptcy Reform
The National Retail Federation (NRF) has urged the Senate to approve bankruptcy reform legislation contained in S. 256, the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005. If approved,…
Okay, Maybe Crime Does Pay Sometimes
By all accounts, Martha Stewart’s conviction on federal securities charges and her subsequent jail term had little to no negative impact on the sale of products bearing her name. Now…
GHQ Cover Story 03/05: Adapting for survival
According to the March 2005 issue of Grocery Headquarters magazine, many well-known names in grocery retailing – Winn-Dixie, A&P, Pathmark, Penn Traffic and others – find themselves confronting this reality…
Brown and Cole Closing Stores
The family-owned Brown and Cole grocery store chain is closing eight of its 31 stores in the Pacific Northwest and the owner says he has no choice as shoppers desert…
Consumers Do Homework Online
It’s not news that consumers often research products and services before going into a store to make a purchase. What may surprise some is the number of people who are…
Are Stereotypes About Minorities and the Internet Still Alive and Well?
A February 24, 2005 article in Ad Age cites recent Forrester Research survey findings that over 80 percent of Fortune 100 companies lack Spanish-language Web sites, and even the other…
More Changes at Circuit City
Things are certainly busy in Richmond, Virginia where the consumer electronics chain, Circuit City, finds itself the target of a takeover bid, searching for a new chief operating officer and…
Religious Beliefs and Professional Ethics
A temporary pharmacist with strong religious convictions found himself in court after refusing in July 2002 to fill a prescription for birth control pills for a University of Wisconsin-Stout student…
SAP Buys Retek
After years of dabbling in retail, SAP finally takes the plunge with an investment of $496M to buy Retek. SAP has made a number of efforts to establish a beachhead…
Consumers Want Government to Limit Rx Prices
A telephone poll of 1,200 adults conducted by the nonprofit health research organization, The Kaiser Family Foundation, found that nearly two out of every three questioned believe the federal government…
Companies Are Not Worthy of Loyalty
According to the 2004 Customer Experience Management Global Survey conducted by Strativity Group, despite companies being more committed to customer strategy than they were three years ago, the company/customer relationship…
Federated/May Agree to Deal
Federated Department Stores announced this morning that it has agreed to acquire rival May Department Stores in a deal valued at approximately $11 billion. The deal will make the combined…
Is Roundy’s Getting Out of Wholesale Biz
With the sale of two distribution centers in Lima, Ohio, and Westville, Ind. to Nash Finch, Roundy’s has come closer to putting itself out of the wholesale grocery business. Is…
J.C. Penney to Go Shopping For Real Estate
With $2.5 billion to play around with after it pays down $500 million in debt, J.C. Penney has plans to go shopping for real estate, reports MarketWatch.com. Penney’s chief financial…
Shoppers Dropping Into Their Chairs
The rallying cry for uber-shoppers used to be ‘shop till you drop’ but, with the growing number of people sitting down in front of their computer to go shopping, a…
Developer Drops Wal-Mart, Not Worth the Trouble
Vornado Realty Trust, which is developing a site in the Rego Park section of Queens, said it had decided to find other tenants for the site after protesters from various…
Is it Time for Scan Based Trading?
Under SBT, brick and mortar retailers are relieved of the investment in presentation stock they must make in order to merchandise vendors’ products. Vendors are paid based on scanning data…
Dealing in Diversity
In an article on Monday, USA Today poses some dos and don’ts of attracting ethnic buyers to automobile dealerships. Do stock waiting rooms with magazines and newspapers in different languages…
Younger Men Suit Up
While many older men equate the term suit and tie with stiffness, their younger counterparts are buying more formal apparel in increasing numbers, reports The Los Angeles Times. Does the…
Asian Markets Not Just For Asians
Go to Assi Plaza, a 54,000-square-foot Asian market in a suburb outside of Philadelphia, and you will find many shoppers of Asian heritage. Depending on the day, you are likely…
Lands’ End in Reorganization
Speculation that Lands’ End doesn’t fit with Sears and could be subject to a sale or spin off once the merger with Kmart is complete is likely to increase after…
