Why Americans Increasingly Ignore The Call of the Mall The overwhelming majority of American shopping malls were built more than 25 years ago. They were put up fast, and any design equity in the project was focused inward. Whether or […]
Throwback in Need of a Makeover Read More »
Now Department Stores Beauty Brands Want a Piece of the Action Since this past July, when he came on board as Clarins USA’s first-ever National Director of Sales in its Hotel & Spa Division, Barry McCaffrey has barely spent a
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. Evaluate a retailer’s current market research activities. Replace many of the costly and
From Casual Chatter to Decider-In-Chief Read More »
Will all due apologies to Bob Dylan: “Oh, Mr. Sam, can this really be the end, To be stuck inside of Bentonville With the home furnishings blues again.” Whoever would have thought it? The biggest big box of them all.
Homeless in Bentonville Read More »
New E-Commerce Site Offers Luxury Goods, Vegas-Style Sorry, we just couldn’t resist the trite sound bite! Unlike the timed flash sales of the Gilt Groupe, Ideeli and Rue-La-La, whose members addictively rush to the their sites daily to snap up
ToVieFor Is To Die For Read More »
Finding New Retail Leaders Has Gotten Tougher Than Ever Reflections on The Corner Office from Herbert Mines Associates Faced with seismic changes in the retail world, companies want leaders who can navigate through a complex, evolving market environment and create
Beyond the Merchant Prince Read More »
New Consumer Intelligence Tools for Tough Economic Times Insights From MasterCard Advisors Merchant Solutions In this tough economic environment, every retailer knows how critical maintaining customer loyalty is to being successful. As money has gotten tighter, consumers have become increasingly
The Daily Battle for Consumer Loyalty Read More »
And How to Get Out of the “Value Vise” that Kills The light at the end of the tunnel is not what you think it is. It’s a train. And, it’s loaded with a bunch of stuff freshly made in
Who\’ll Blink First Read More »
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 forward-integrate and acquire American assets, including retailers and
CHINA:Communists – Capitalists – Conquistadors Read More »
Rob Sweeney answers questions about some big picture issues surrounding the retail industry, current valuations and the capital markets, and the industry’s attractiveness for activist investors. Rob explains why such investors, along with many private equity firms, are particularly drawn
