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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Company Wants To Take HIV Test OTC
The chief executive of OraSure Technologies, Mike Gausling, wants his company’s OraQuick rapid HIV test to be made available to consumers without prescription. Should rapid tests for HIV such as…
Loyalty: Bigger Than A Program
Things were going great for Eckerd in their hometown of Tampa back in 1981. How things change. As Chris Tisch, writing for the St. Petersburg Times, put it, “More than…
Lands’ End Stores May Go It Alone
Sears is considering launching stand-alone specialty shops featuring products from its Lands’ End catalog division. The stores would sell regular merchandise and would not simply serve as factory stores for…
Demand For Martha’s Furniture Grows
Alex Bernhardt, chairman and chief executive of Bernhardt Furniture, said he was braced to take a hit on the sales of his company’s Martha Stewart Signature Furniture but it didn’t…
Brewer Takes South Beach Fight Public
Anheuser-Busch says the best selling book, The South Beach Diet, by Dr. Arthur Agatston gives readers the wrong information about beer and it is publicizing it with full-page ads in…
The Boom Is Back In Dot-Com
Internet giants Amazon and eBay have posted impressive sales results demonstrating there is still plenty of boom left in those old dot-coms. What are your thoughts on the current state…
Amazon Goes Into Jewelry Biz
Amazon.com has gone into the jewelry business with the opening of its newest site and its strategy for gaining business is simple. It will simply low-ball the competition. What…
Ethnic Groups Unswayed By Low Carb Food Trends
Atkins and other low-carbohydrate diets are big news. Mainstream consumers are shunning potatoes, pasta, bread and other high carb foods, while manufacturers and restaurants are seizing the opportunity by offerings…
Judge Says Time Doesn’t Fit The Crime
Judge Sylvia Rambo thought former Rite Aid chief executive Martin Grass was getting off too easy with a plea bargain that would have seen him serve a maximum of eight…
Self-Service Better Than No Service
A column by Amy Culbertson in the Star Telegram asks and then answers the burning question about the new Shop ‘n’ Scan system being used by Albertsons in the Dallas-Fort…
Food Addictions May Be Real
A new study published in the April issue of the medical journal NeuroImage appears to give credence to the argument that people can become addicted to certain types of foods…
JCP: Not Your Mother’s Store Anymore
J.C. Penney’s chairman and chief executive officer, Alan Questrom wants everyone to know, “We’re no longer my mother’s store. This is a new store.” A sense of optimism surrounds the…
Wal-Mart Gets Key To Chicago
Ald. Emma Mitts (37th ward) said Wal-Mart belongs in her West Side district of Chicago and it appears she’ll get it with yesterday’s City Council approval of a zoning change,…
Retailers Pushing RFID, Others Scrapping Plans
Home Depot, Metro, Target, Tesco, Wal-Mart and others may be pushing ahead with programs to test and implement radio frequency identification technology (RFID) but a survey from Meta Group says…
Gillette’s Kilts Is Favorite To Run Coke
Bill Pecoriello, an analyst with Morgan Stanley, says the current chief executive at Gillette, Jim Kilts, is the leading candidate to succeed Doug Draft as the chairman and CEO at…
McD’s New Chief Was Cantalupo’s Confidante
By all accounts, Charlie Bell, 43, was the person Jim Cantalupo intended to succeed him as chief executive of McDonald’s. Regrettably, Mr. Bell finds himself thrust into the role…
Doubts Grow Over Outsourcing, Off-shoring
The topic of outsourcing programming and call-center jobs, especially overseas to places such as India, has remained a contentious topic in American business circles. Why do you believe companies are…
Google Gmail: Value or Invasion?
Google is testing a free email service called Gmail. The service plans to offer each account holder 1 gigabyte of storage — more than 100 times that of Yahoo! and…
Future Retailing: High Tech Or High Touch?
The German retailing powerhouse, Metro, calls its test laboratory Future Store. But, as the success of that store and others employing technology to improve the shopping experience has become documented…
Save-A-Lot Pays Big Dividends
A report in the Star Tribune says that Save-A-Lot has become the “star performer” in Supervalu’s portfolio.Burt Flickinger III, managing director for Strategic Resources Group, told the paper, “Next to…
ACNielsen Prepares For Retail Industry Change
The retail world is changing and ACNielsen (a RetailWire sponsor) has announced new initiatives that better reflect the present realities of the business while anticipating future developments. What are retailers…
