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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Store Brands Growing Every Which Way
Between 1997 and 2002, sales of private label items across all channels grew 38 percent compared to 19 percent for brands. At the same time, private label entered into 88…
USDA: Food Safety Improves
The US Agricultural Department is saying that its safety inspectors are finding a much lower incidence of ground beef with E.coli than last year. The department’s figures show it ordered…
UFCW Agrees to Four-Year Deal in St. Louis
The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union’s Local 655 has reached a tentative agreement on a four-year contract with the St. Louis area’s largest supermarket chains including Schnuck Markets,…
Ahold Compensations Saga Continues
Ahold’s chief executive is taking a pay cut and its chairman is leaving the company in response to shareholder’s outrage over executive compensation and accounting scandals that have rocked the…
Association Dis’s Forrester’s Research
The International Recording Media Association (IRMA) has criticized Forrester Research’s report From Discs to Downloads for its conclusions that digital downloads of music and movies will replace DVDs and CDs…
If It Worked for Oprah
Bob Greene has made a career out of helping Oprah Winfrey lose weight. Now he’s going to work for McDonald’s to help America slim down and deflect some of the…
Shopping Urban Style
Consumers in Charlotte are trying to make the transition from suburban-style shopping using a car to walking to the store to pickup groceries and other items. Will American consumers trained…
One Latte, Hold the Tax
Voters in Seattle overwhelmingly rejected a proposed tax, Initiative 77, which would have added a 10-cent levy on every cup of espresso or espresso-based coffee purchased in the city to…
Employees Footing More Health Care Costs
A study by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research Educational Trust says employees participating in employer-sponsored health plans are paying 48 percent more for their own care than…
Consumers Give Moms and Pops Highest Ratings
Independent drug stores deliver better service and, at least in some cases, lower prices than the big chains, according to a survey of 32,000 readers of Consumer Reports. What is…
Retailer Attempts Food Comeback Via Non-Foods
UK retailer Sainsbury is trying to regain food shoppers lost to the competition with a new line of non-foods house and cookware items in 12 of its stores. What are…
P&G Sells Fair Trade Coffee
Procter & Gamble (a RetailWire sponsor), announced yesterday it would begin selling “fair trade” coffee online and through the mail as part of its Millstone Signature Collection. What are your…
Is Krispy Kreme Kracking?
According to a report in today’s Wall Street Journal, Krispy Kreme’s biggest franchisee, Great Circle Family Foods LLC had a decline of 10 percent in same-store sales last quarter. What…
Cancun Collapse Is Opportunity Missed
Associations representing retailers and manufacturers are expressing disappointment at the collapse of the recent World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Meeting in Cancun, Mexico. The talks were broken off Monday by…
Whole Foods Good For Some, Not Others
Some small natural food stores have failed under the competitive pressure of Whole Foods. Others, such as My Organic Market operating in the Washington, DC area, have thrived. What impact…
How Many Stores is Too Many
Bankrupt Eagle Food Centers is having trouble selling off two its former stores in Dubuque, IA, according to a Telegraph Herald report, and it may be because potential buyers think…
Banana Republic Transitions Brand
Gap’s Banana Republic division thinks it’s time men started wearing suits again and it’s saying so in its mailers and in the windows of its stores. Is there a trend…
Scheduling Software Goes With The Flow
Retailers including Shaw’s Supermarkets, Pep Boys and Bob’s are using technology to help improve employee scheduling and provide better service to customers shopping in the store. Shaw’s rolled out its…
Justice Sues to Close Canadian Rx Shops
The US Justice Department has sued to shut down two companies importing prescription drugs from Canada for sale in the US, reports the Associated Press. Current law prohibits all but…
More Cracks Found in Windows’ Security
Windows users have been put on alert as Microsoft warned that newly discovered flaws leave computers running on the operating system vulnerable to virus and worm attacks similar to the…
Former Calvin Klein Exec Joins Sears
Sears announced yesterday that Carrie Shigetomi, a former executive with Calvin Klein, is its new vice president of brand development. Ms. Shigetomi will be responsible for overseeing the retailer’s private…
