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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Auto-Retailing Has Nothing To Do With Cars
Federated Department Stores’ chief Terry Lundgren put three-foot tall robots at the entrance of Macy’s to greet shoppers as they entered the store. Many within the industry did little to…
Lundgren Has Merchandising in His Blood
According to a piece in the Wall Street Journal, Terry Lundgren, Federated Department Stores’ chairman and chief executive officer, would like nothing better than to transform the entire department store…
It’s Not Loyal to Stop Shopping
Reports have tended to emphasize the continual declines in annual trips to supermarkets, but there’s another story here. For the first time, one percent of shoppers, over a period of…
Yes Martha, Kmart Does Have Another Home Products Line
A report in the Detroit News says Kmart is rolling out a new line of home products, such as towels, bed sheets, etc., without the Martha Stewart name attached. Does…
NRF Review: Looking Forward to Next Year
The NRF show was really about the next next big thing in retail technology. Managers are now looking for what the next thing to help them differentiate themselves will be…
If At First You Don’t Succeed, Try and Merge Again
It’s déjà vu all over again. Two years after being unable to complete a deal that would have united the two largest U.S. department store chains under a single corporate…
NRF Study: Supply Chain Efficiency Key Retail Issue for 2005
Retailers will continue to focus on supply chain efficiency this year, while issues like product assortment, technology and store design will receive an increased amount of attention from managers. What…
The Second Term
As George W. Bush places his left hand on a family Bible and his right hand in the air to take the oath of office at his inauguration today, it…
Love Anti-American Style
One outcome of the war in Iraq has been the beating taken by French products and brands sold in the U.S. C’est la Guerre, but perhaps a bit more disconcerting…
Old News is Good News from ARTS at NRF
The Association for Retail Technology Standards, sponsored by NRF, was established to work on platform independent, vendor neutral standards. The objective: lower the cost and increase the speed of retail…
Hi-Tech Marketingspeak: Making Orwell Proud
When’s the last time you read a high-tech brochure that did NOT present a “value proposition” to “streamline processes” and “optimize resources” across your entire “enterprise”? Was the “solution” “robust”…
What IS Customer Service?
A new research study commissioned by American Express and the NRF Foundation attempts to get at exactly what retailers and consumers mean by customer service, and what state they think…
Online Retailing: How High is Up?
According to Forrester Research, online as a retailing venue is looking good on a number of fronts. During a discussion on Monday at the National Retail Federation convention, moderated by…
Wal-Mart, Tesco and Metro Group Present a Glimpse into the RFID Future
In the Monday morning Super Session at the National Retail Federation conference sponsored by Intel, three retailers in the vanguard of RFID implementation discussed their efforts and their vision for…
Where Are Department Stores Headed?
Although May Department Stores didn’t provide an explanation or announce store closings, Gene Kahn’s exit comes on the heels of a 3.2 percent holiday sales drop. May’s troubles are representative…
OfficeMax Sued Over Rebates and Rainchecks
The Ohio Attorney General’s Office has filed a lawsuit against the office supplies retailer, OfficeMax, for failing to honor rebates and offer customers a raincheck when sale items are not…
Realizing Rev. King’s Dream
On Aug. 28, 1963, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and delivered his famous speech where he said his was “the American dream,”…
SPAM Concerns Limit Loyalty Communication Options
ReleMail, a Cody, Wyo. e-mail monitoring and certification service, commissioned a survey on e-mail attitudes. The survey reported that 87% of respondents say they believe that, if they subscribe to…
Macy’s Agrees to Settle Profiling Case
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is expected to announce today that his office has reached an out-of-court settlement with Macy’s over charges the department store engaged in racial profiling…
Penney Targets Middle America and Target
In an informal meeting with Wall Street investors in New York yesterday, new J.C. Penney chief executive Mike Ullman indicated the chain needs to continue sharpening its pencil on pricing…
Demography Is Destiny:
Three Monumental Trends That Will Rock Your (Retail) World
The 19th century French mathematician Auguste Comte’s tenet “demography is destiny” has particular resonance today in light of the new demographic trends which confront America’s immediate future. Three primary forces…
