Just a few quickies this weekend:
In case you missed in, Andrew Young resigned from his position with Wal-Mart after putting his foot in his mouth.
EnVision Marketing Group has partnered with Kroger Food Stores to offer advertising on the conveyor belt at the supermarket checkout. Interesting concept. Whenever I go to my local supermarkets, I notice how much advertising they cram in there. Any marketable space seems to be taken up by an ad for a local contractor or lawyer. One food store has a model train that goes around the front end, with the track suspended by wire from the ceiling. The train pulls a number of cars with advertisments for said local companies. But my question is, who’s looking at it? Will these conveyor advertisments actually work or will they just be another outlet for an unnoticed advertisment for the local computer repair place, although this time covered in meat juice?
Over at Starbucks Gossip, one story has ignited a debate over the cost of two ounces of coffee. Read the story and read the comments, some very interesting points are brought up from both customers and employees alike.
I like throwing in some local retail notes, so here goes: looks like White Castle has an application for construction on Route 36 in Hazlet, NJ. That’s the last thing I need nearby! Also, lots of development at the Monmouth Mall as Jessica McClintock and Yankee Candle are opening new stores while The Limited is opening up a new location.
Until next week.
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First in maybe a weekly column? Hopefully.
Some quick retail notes for this lazy Sunday:
I hear that the new Abrecrombie & Fitch Back To School Preview floorset is this week. The seasonal transition at A&F is very impressive and seamless. Sales will be strong but it will be tough for A&F to compete with themselves and the high comps they had with BTS 2005 (June, July & August had comps of 38%, 22% & 24% in 2005). Look for solid increases in the gross margin with decreases in markdowns and sales for this upcoming season. This will be another great season for A&F.
Two quickies from the Loss Prevention blog: Cop kills man in grocery store shoplifting and Kroger manager jumps on hood of shoplifters car. I have nothing to say about the unfortunate shooting, but Im sure Krogers corporate management doesnt look fondly on employees jumping on cars to apprehend shoplifters. There has to be more to the story than that.
Last week, the Chicago Sun-Times ran an article showing where some of the former Sears executives have gone: Life After Sears.
And finally, a story from Starbucks showing how a good idea from worker, combined with the support of co-workers, the corporate office and customers can lead to a very positive outcome: Starbucks worker brews plan to get java to GIs in Afghanistan. A Starbucks employee from Maine organized a campaign where her co-workers donated their weekly bag of coffee they recieve as a benefit and, with corporate approval, solicited donations from customers. The result? 106 pounds of coffee sent to troops in Afghanistan. [via Starbucks Gossip]
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