> Recent Articles
Diluting Cotton Content Compromises Quality and Brand Perception
Consumer Facts from Cotton Incorporated Lifestyle Monitor™ A year ago the rising costs of materials, labor and fuel put pressure on apparel brands and manufacturers to maintain margins and pass minimal costs onto the consumer. In re-thinking sourcing strategies, many brands sought to cut … [Read More...]
India’s Dilemma
The view from my hotel window in Delhi was telling. In the left foreground was an elegant swimming pool adjacent to a white-tablecloth restaurant. Nearby, a spotlight waterfall, a manicured bamboo hedge and then a tall fence. On the other side of that fence was a squatter’s camp of tattered tents, … [Read More...]
Controlling Creation to Consumption: It’s Time
The mantra of the old school merchants has always been “… at the end of the day, success is all about product, product, product.” Well, several years ago that myth was shattered and the ante was raised in the apparel game by the likes of Zara, H&M, Mango, and Forever 21. And, at the … [Read More...]
How Supermarkets Turned Pain at the Pump into a Positive
There’s something unnerving about the volatility of petroleum prices. First they’re up, then they’re down - but somehow the downs aren’t ever as big as the ups and fuel prices continue their upward climb. Recent weeks have brought another upward move for gasoline and other fuels. … [Read More...]
Detroit’s Disconnect Problem and How to Fix It
As goes General Motors, so goes the nation. Uh, Oh! The problems in the mirror are closer than they appear. The recent Clint Eastwood Super Bowl commercial notwithstanding, the auto industry is still clawing its way back out of the recession. There’s an estimated 90 million vehicle … [Read More...]
> Beauty
Beauty Be-Tween The Lines
Make-up for the Playdate Set By Dana Wood When she isn’t marching around the house ordering her parents to stop using plastic grocery bags “because sea turtles swallow them and die,” … [Read More...]
Beauty A.D.D.: Losing Focus in the Department Store
On a Monday evening this past September, I had a bit of time to kill before a press event celebrating the launch of Dr. Fredric Brandt’s new radio show on Sirius XM. And because I’m … [Read More...]
Whose Fragrance Am I Wearing? Why, My Own, Of Course!
Custom beauty products are poised to rear their lovely heads again On paper, it sounds like the ultimate beauty experience: To plop down in a swivel chair at a cosmetics counter, or be ushered into a … [Read More...]
> Brands
Q&A With Gilt Groupe CEO and Founder Kevin Ryan
Luxury fashion flash sale phenomenon Gilt Groupe has only been in existence for four years, but already has annual sales of over $500 million and a valuation of a billion dollars. We spent an hour … [Read More...]
Warnaco in Brief
Warnaco Inc. (WRC) was founded in the late 1800s when two brothers, New York physicians Lucien and Ira Warner, became concerned about injuries and health problems suffered by women who wore the … [Read More...]
What Do You Get When You Cross Luxury Spend with Discount Buying? Affinity Plays!
It’s commonly assumed that the creeping social stratification that’s widely written about crosses over to the retail sector, with the higher-end consumer shopping exclusively at luxury retail … [Read More...]
> From Kurt Salmon
Luxe Redux
The High-End Customer Returns From Exile Best Practices from Kurt Salmon As the economy begins to recover, high-end consumers are coming out of their self-imposed shopping hibernation, creating a … [Read More...]
Five Keys to Success with a Slimmed-Down Inventory
by Jon Mays and Brooks Kitchel The growing emphasis on ever-leaner retailing means the days of hedging inventory bets with colossal surpluses are gone for good. The costs of inventory … [Read More...]
From Casual Chatter to Decider-In-Chief
Social Media Can Lead Your Way Best Practices from Kurt Salmon Associates How can a retailer strategically leverage social media intelligence into internal decision-making? Here’s an example. … [Read More...]
> Trade
HOOKED! China’s Low-Cost Mainline
Apparel Insights When the chilly winter weather arrived last month, I headed to some of my favorite stores in search of some new clothes. As I looked through rack after rack of clothing, I was … [Read More...]
CHINA:Communists – Capitalists – Conquistadors
This isn’t really an old Chinese Proverb. I composed it in 2004 to introduce a feature story on the opportunities and threats to be expected from China. Its suggestion, that China will … [Read More...]
How One Smart Company Got It All Wrong
Suppose you’re the CEO of a successful, multinational food retailer. You’ve had good luck opening stores in numerous countries, many with cultures much different from that of your home … [Read More...]
> Q&A
Q&A With Adrianne Shapira, Managing Director and Senior Retail Analyst at Goldman Sachs
We talked with Adrianne, one of whose many areas of expertise includes online retailing, about the meteoric growth of online shopping, how it’s changing the retail landscape, and what it says about … [Read More...]
Q&A with Neil Cole, CEO of Iconix Brand Group
We talked with Neil Cole, CEO of Iconix Brand Group. The brand management company licenses its 27 (and growing) brands in exclusive deals with big retailers and wholesalers, allowing them national … [Read More...]
Q&A With Hal Reiter, CEO, Herbert Mines Associates
Reflections from the Corner Office from Herbert Mines Associates Herbert Mines Associates recently conducted a leadership survey of 135 retail Presidents and CEO s about critical issues facing the … [Read More...]
> Consumers
From Me to We, From More to Less: Five Value Shifts That are Changing our World
Consumers have been transformed, but not by the recession. The metamorphosis, which started long before the economic downturn, will prevail regardless of what Congress, The Fed, or Europe does. … [Read More...]
Customer Experience in a Multichannel World
By Amy Klaris and Greg Ellis Best Practices from Kurt Salmon The Customer Experience Imperative In Kurt Salmon’s recent conversations with leading retailers, two topics come up repeatedly: … [Read More...]
What, Where, How and Why They Buy
The changes that have hit retailers and service merchants in the past two years have only intensified the foundational need to maximize revenues, improve operational efficiencies, and forge brands … [Read More...]
> Retail
Why Walmart Failed To Crush Conventional Supermarkets
Those of us who have followed the food-retailing industry for a while recall well that just a few years ago it was widely predicted that Walmart Stores’ grocery aisles -- increasingly burgeoning … [Read More...]
Timely Data, Timely Strategies
High-Speed Economic Data for the Fast-Paced Ever-Changing Retail Industry Insights From MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse Retail is by nature a forward-looking business. You decide now what you’ll … [Read More...]
Little Bobcars
Big New Preemptor Don’t Stop. Don’t Pass “Go.” Go Directly to the Consumer Kiosks, pop-ups, food carts, in-flight shopping, m-commerce, door-to-door, living room selling parties, … [Read More...]
> The Economy
“Chicken Little” or the “Bluebird of Happiness?”
Is the economy a case of “chickens coming home to roost” to a double-dip recession and a possible deflationary cycle, or a several- year-long … [Read More...]
Bubbles and Kicking the Can Down the Road
Just this once, I’ve decided to look on the brighter side…..but only briefly. Bubbles can be very positive and fun. And, I’m not talking … [Read More...]
Let the Deals Begin
Or: Don't Touch That Dial I do hope everybody else is right and I’m wrong as the last “double-dipper” standing, who still believes another … [Read More...]
