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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Wal-Mart Tests Pharmacies Around The Clock
Wal-Mart is testing 24-hour pharmacies in five stores in Arkansas and Texas to determine if it should rollout the feature in its other stores. “The need to consult a pharmacist…
E-tailers Give Sites Poor Marks
Consumers give online shopping sites better marks than those who run them. According to a survey of 400 executives by ForeSee Results, e-tailers gave themselves a grade of 65 out…
UFCW Finally Wins A Battle With Wal-Mart
Thanks to a labor board in Quebec, the UFCW may just finally win one in its head-to-head competition with the world’s largest retailer. A ruling yesterday by the Quebec Labor…
UFCW Fails To Organize Home Depot
The United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) was successful in getting enough signatures to get a vote on whether it would represent associates at a Detroit-area Home Depot. The…
Pharmacy’s No Profit Strategy For Building Business
It’s been said that no good deed goes unpunished. In the case of Kaylei Mosier, owner of Smith Drug Co. in McKinney, Tex., the cynical adage could eventually turn out…
Privacy Issues and Loyalty Marketing
There is a lot of ground covered in an article on loyalty marketing in the June 25 IndyStar.com. Reporter Sherry Anne Rubiano does an excellent job of capturing many sides…
Krispy Kreme’s Problems Go Deeper Than Atkins
Krispy Kreme has been blaming reduced levels of performance on the popularity of low-carb diets, but is there more to the story than this? As a report in USA Today…
Mentors Wanted
Young professionals are looking for advice on career and life from more experience and successful colleagues but few are getting it, according to the latest Act One column by Jennifer…
Target Can Concentrate On Target Now
Yesterday’s announcement by Target Corporation that it had agreed to sell the Mervyn’s department store chain to an investment consortium for approximately $1.65 billion in cash means the retailer can…
Kmart, Sears Learn Value of Location, Location, Location
A recent report from analysts at Deutsche Bank says the real estate holdings of Kmart and Sears are worth substantially more than the current value of the companies as reflected…
Loyalty Reduction Cards
Bill Virgin, a columnist with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, has a number of problems with loyalty cards and his grievances provide food-for-thought for retailers with card programs. For one, Mr. Virgin…
Warnings About RFID Security Breach
Retailers who may eventually deploy radio frequency identification (RFID) tags on individual items are going to have more to worry about than protecting the privacy of the consumers who purchase…
Wanted: More Closet Space
Americans, it seems, are always on a diet. That is, of course, unless they’re off one. This on-again, off-again approach to weight maintenance has had an interesting side effect, reports…
Publix Not Stepping On The Gas
Publix isn’t like other grocery store operators. That’s always been one of the main reasons for its success. Today, for example, when others, such as Wal-Mart, Kroger, Albertsons and Costco,…
The Hamburguesa Wars
There is nothing more American than a good burger. And two burger joint giants – Burger King and Carl’s Jr. – agree that Hispanic Americans share a penchant for the…
Meijer Banks On Getting Bigger
Meijer plans to open 14 new stores between now and the end of next year in an attempt to keep up with the Wal-Marts and Targets of the world. According…
Charges Expected For Alleged Book Cooking
Former executives at Ahold’s U.S. Foodservice unit will reportedly be charged this week for their participation in alleged acts of insider trading and conspiracy related to the company’s accounting scandal…
Shoppers PO’d Over BOGOs
Some single people and seniors believe they are being unfairly penalized by retail store deals that reward multiple purchases of a product while not offering the same unit pricing for…
Magic Takes Starbucks Straight Into Compton
Ask most people what they think of when you mention the Los Angeles suburb of Compton and you’re likely to hear about the type of brutality and hopelessness expressed in…
Jewel-Osco Acts Like Mom-And-Pop
Large retail chains are not generally known for their nimbleness in addressing differences in local markets, so it may come as a surprise to some that one of the largest…
Will Work for Personalization
Internet Retailer had an item on July 19th regarding a survey on the value of online privacy. In exchange for a more personalized shopping experience, 64% of those who…
