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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Albertsons Delivers to Salt Lake Consumers
Consumers in a couple dozen communities in the Salt Lake, Utah area will be able to begin ordering groceries online for home delivery or store pickup from Albertsons beginning on…
How Much is Service Worth?
Two-thirds of American consumers are willing to pay more for selected services in exchange for better service, despite lower prices being a primary reason for switching service providers. That paradoxical…
Clueless On Impact Of New OT Rules
The new federally mandated regulations regarding overtime go into effect today. How the new rules will affect retailers remains to be seen. For one thing, organized labor is hopeful that…
For Sale Sign May Go Up On Duckwall-ALCO
Strongbow Capital Ltd., the third largest shareholder in Duckwall-ALCO Stores, is running out of patience and it wants the company to improve its sales performance, cut costs and get a…
Meijer To Pump Biodiesel
Meijer will begin pumping biodiesel at one of its gas stations in Ann Arbor, Mich. before Christmas as part of a partnership with the city and the Michigan Soybean Council…
Angry Consumers Prompt Best Buy Lawsuit
Yesterday, the Ohio attorney general’s office filed a lawsuit against Best Buy for allegedly repackaging used product and reselling it as new, failing to honor extended service contracts and other…
Organic Sales Rise With Safety Concerns
A new study from the market research firm Mintel says sales of organic foods and beverages have grown 81 percent over the past three years, in large part because of…
The Penney Idea
In his book, Celebration of Fools: An inside look at the rise and fall of JCPenney, Bill Hare discusses one significant difference between JCPenney and all other competitors: management’s unerring…
Bridging the Digital Divide?
According to Jupiter Research, only 54% of African American and 57% of Hispanic households are online, compared to 71% of Caucasian households. America Online is hoping to change all that…
What’s Really Going On At Krispy Kreme?
One day after announcing he was leaving his position as chief operating officer of Krispy Kreme, John Tate was publicly named as the new COO and executive vice president of…
Wal-Mart Expands In-Store Pickup Test
Wal-Mart is expanding its test of in-store pickup for products purchased on Walmart.com beyond the five original Dallas-area locations it started off with last month to an additional 23 Supercenters…
NY Launches Comparative Pricing Site For Rx
New York’s Attorney General, Eliot Spitzer, wants consumers to be able to get the lowest price possible when buying prescription medicines. That’s why his office launched www.NYAGRx.org, an interactive Web…
Trader Joe’s Bags Supplier
Trader Joe’s is being praised by the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) for its decision to stop buying bags from Weyerhaeuser, a company the environmental groups calls “the number one destroyer…
Study: Trans Fats Debate Shaped Online
A new research report contends “online word-of-mouth” has increased the pressure felt by manufacturers and restaurants over the use of trans fats in various foods. The firm that released the…
Grocery Options Galore
A funny thing happened on the way to the grocery store. Consumers discovered they could find the very same items they planned to buy at the supermarket for sale at…
Pharmacy Mistakes Costs Consumers and Retailers
A study by Auburn University estimates 51 million prescriptions filled by pharmacies every year contain an error. Of those, three million could harm patients. Two recent cases in the news…
Blogging Takes Word Of Mouth To New Level
It used to be that if a consumer was not happy with a product they bought or the service they received at a retailer, restaurant or other business, they could…
Making Email Marketing Work For Customers
Personalization and relevance seem to be key ingredients in having your email make it through the increasing clutter of worthless messages. At the eTail 2004 East Conference, HomeDepot.com, Art.com and…
Retail Community Joins America Prepared Campaign
The National Retail Federation (NRF), a representative of the retail community, announced today it was joining with The America Prepared Campaign (APC), to help promote National Preparedness Month in September…
Judge Tells Amazon and Toys ‘R’ Us To Play Nice
New Jersey State Superior Court Judge Margaret McVeigh has had enough of the squabbling going on between Amazon.com and Toys “R” Us. In a hearing yesterday, the judge ordered the…
If The Clothes Fit, Buy ‘Em
Store-based retailers have attempted to address this consumer problem by offering fitting and tailoring services on-premises. Although custom-fit services are generally associated with more upscale retail establishments, at least one…
