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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Wal-Mart Gets Out The Vote
In the peculiar world of California politics, there is nothing elected officials can decide or propose that cannot be overturned by voters in a recall election or rejected by special…
Study: Kids Get Fat and Violent Playing Video Games
A Reuters report says a documentary created for Swedish television, Deadly Game, maintains “Video games can make children fat and, in the case of violent games popular among teenage and…
Are Chains More Competitive?
The recent grocery strike/lockout in Southern California can hardly be called a victory for either side. If there was a winner, most seem to agree it was the grocery chains…
Gibson’s Passion Drives Retail Sales
All the interest generated by Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ has resulted not only in a big box office for the film, but has generated an increase in…
Leader Threatens to Stop Sending U.S. Oil
The price of oil has risen to a post-Iraq war high after President Hugo Chavez Frias of Venezuela threatened to suspend shipments to the United States if it did not…
Metro Nixes RFID Chip in Loyalty Card
The German retailer, Metro Group, is replacing 10,000 loyalty cards it gave to customers with new ones after receiving complaints about radio frequency identification tags embedded in them. Will RFID…
Bruno’s Giving Ground To Supercenters
Bruno’s may be Birmingham, Alabama’s hometown grocery business but that isn’t keeping shoppers from going over to Wal-Mart’s Supercenters to do their shopping.What will the new owner of Bruno’s need…
Old Navy Recruits New Shoppers
No one involved with Old Navy at the beginning could have seen what a hit it was going to become with consumers. They also didn’t see the falloff in business…
Target Gets A Makeover
Target is opening a new prototype store that “will feature expanded, more cohesive departments,” reports the Houston Business Journal. Will a store layout reformat achieve the differentiation and results Target…
Campbell’s Home
Campbell’s mission to reach the highest standards for Growth, Differentiation and Asset Management is now reflected in all of their current initiatives: from innovative product development, to collaborative marketing and…
Where There’s A Corner, There’s A Drugstore
According to a report in the St. Petersburg Times, there seems to be a chain drugstore popping up on the corner of every heavy intersection in the Tampa, Fla. area…
After The Strike Is Done
Although neither party is releasing specific details, all reports say the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) and the big three supermarket chains, Albertsons, Kroger and Safeway, have reached…
You Can’t Make This Stuff Up: Politics and Retail
Democratic presidential front-runner, John Kerry, was in Santa Monica, Ca. yesterday to give his support to the striking grocery workers. Mr. Kerry called the members of the United Food…
Gun Maker Chairman Quits
James Joseph Minder has resigned as the chairman of Smith & Wesson after it was learned he served more than 10 years in prison during the 1950s and 1960s for…
Is Deal Imminent In SoCal Strike?
Reports coming out of California suggest the ongoing grocery strike/lockout in the Southern part of the state is about to come to an end. Have the two sides in the…
Tiffany’s New Banner To Target Younger Consumers
Instead of going the “all things to all people” route, Tiffany has decided to create a new store banner (yet unnamed) targeted to younger consumers than the typical Tiffany’s shopper…
Former Fed Prez: Get Control of CEO Pay
William McDonough, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and current chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) said the government may eventually intervene to…
APA Wants Kids Ads Restricted
The American Psychological Association (APA) is recommending advertising targeted to children under the age of eight be restricted. Should the content of commercials be more formally restricted on programs with…
Costco and Teamsters Reach Agreement
The president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Jim Hoffa, is hailing a new contract agreement with Costco for its members in California as “an example of what can happen…
Marks & Spencer Breaks New Ground
Marks & Spencer says its new Lifestore concept will “revolutionize the home retail market.” After recent disappointing results, the venerable British retailer may need it to be just that. Is…
Borders Books Goes Downtown
Borders Books and Music is following the spirit of Wee Willie Keeler’s advice and hittin’ em’ where they ain’t with two new store openings in underserved neighborhoods in Detroit and…
