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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Are Smaller Chains Relevant to Suppliers?
In a world increasingly influenced, if not dominated, by mega-chains, three smaller retailers – Marsh Supermarkets, Golub / Price Chopper and Smart & Final – tried to demonstrate to large…
Under and Overpaid In Seattle
According to the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW), the average grocery worker in the Puget Sound area makes $18,000 a year. The amount paid to the chief executive…
Stater Bros. Called The Best
Stater Bros. Markets in California has been named Grocery Headquarters Magazine’s “2004 Supermarket Retailer of the Year”. The 158 store chain was awarded this distinction for its “attractive supermarkets, superior…
Judge Rules Six Can Become 1.6 Million For Suit
It took U.S. District Judge Martin Jenkins nine months to decide whether a sexual discrimination lawsuit brought by six women against Wal-Mart should be granted class-action status. Once he made…
Customer Service, What Customer Service?
What’s the use of complaining? According to a new study on customer service, most consumers do not believe it will do much good anyway. The study found 63 percent…
Small Stores Getting Bigger Share of Business
Everyday, the headlines scream out the same thing. The Supercenters are coming! The Supercenters are coming! That may very well be true, but as Willard Bishop Consulting’s (WBC) Store Format…
Senators Say It’s Time To Import Rx Drugs
A General Accounting Office (GAO) report provides the evidence that it’s time to lift the ban on importing prescription medicines from Canada, say key Republican and Democratic senators. In light…
Wendy’s Tests Drive-Thru-Only Stores
Wendy’s knows many American consumers think of themselves as being too busy to get out of their cars to order inside one of its restaurants. That’s why the number three…
Grocer Displays Differences With Wal-Mart
The owner of four Pick ‘n Save supermarkets in Wisconsin compares competing against Wal-Mart’s Supercenter to being chased by a grizzly. He knows he can’t outrace the bear so he…
SimonDelivers’ Simple Loyalty Program
Golden Valley, Minn.-based online retailer, SimonDelivers.com, has found a simple way to engender loyalty; free groceries. The objective of their currently running “8th week free” program is to get customers…
RFID Privacy Concerns Not Going Away
With legislation pending in a number of states, it is clear the concerns some have about the misuse of radio frequency identification (RFID) to intrude on the privacy of individuals…
Customers Are Lovin’ Kiosks
McDonald’s test of kiosk ordering has been a hit with the majority of consumers, according to one McDonald’s franchisee, preferring to place orders in this fashion rather than give them…
‘We’ Are The Key
In a talk at the just-concluded GMA Executive Conference, former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich said he often uses a “pronoun test” to evaluate businesses. When he hears workers saying…
Safeway Sued For Selling Cigarettes To Minors
Safeway says it is being unjustly singled out. The State of California says the retailer has an unacceptably high record of selling cigarettes to minors. What are your thoughts…
‘End Of Brand Positioning As We Know It’
Larry Light, chief marketing officer for McDonald’s, had a startling message for attendees at the AdWatch: Outlook 2004 conference. Mass marketing doesn’t work. What is your reaction to Larry Light’s…
Best Buy In Need of Few More Good Men and Women
Best Buy said it was scaling back its plans to rollout its customer centricity program because the company couldn’t find enough “leadership” and “talent” among its current ranks of employees…
McD’s Asks, What Did He Expect?
The chief executive for McDonald’s Australian business wants everyone to know that Morgan Spurlock’s documentary, Super Size Me, was about gluttony, not the chain’s menu selections. What do you think…
Food Promotion Act Promises To Do No Harm
The House Agriculture Committee chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) said he and Charlie Stenholm (D-TX) know what they don’t want to happen with their new proposal for voluntary country of origin…
Knowing Hispanic Moms
Two market research firms, Packaged Facts and Silver Stork Research, have teamed up to produce a comprehensive, just published report called The U.S. Hispanic Mom Market. The report combines…
GMA Awards Kraft For Work With Safeway
The Grocery Manufacturers of America presented the first Associate Member Council (AMC) CPG Award to Kraft Foods for the company’s innovation and industry collaboration efforts. What is the current state…
Giant and UFCW Want To Zone Wal-Mart Out
Unlikely allies, Giant Food and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) have joined forces to push for an ordinance to ban Wal-Mart from building its Supercenters in Montgomery…
