Forums: Retailing

The other night I was reading Nathan’s Economic Edge Blog, http://economicedge.blogspot.com/, and he had a link posted to an interview done by Eric King of King World News with Gerald Celente of The Trends Research Institute, http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/Broadcast/Entries/2010/1/9_Gerald_Celente.html, where he gave his take on 2010. Mr. Celente has a pretty good track record in discerning future trends in business, politics, social and world events. He has been at this for 30 years. You can examine his website at; http://www.trendsresearch.com/index.htm. One of the things that caught my attention in this interview was his prediction for big box retailing, i.e. Wal-Mart, Target, Home...

I have been talking about the commercial real estate implosion for some time. [...] The CoStar Group is reporting Retailers Taking Their Medicine and Turning Cautious Over Growth. Here are the store closings mentioned in the article. Store Closings * Movie Gallery closing another 400 stores * Charming Shoppes (CHRS) closing 150 stores and cutting expansion plans by 50% * Starbucks (SBUX) closing 100 stores and slowing expansion plans by 34% * Ann Taylor (ANN) shuttering 117 stores and slowing store growth * Boston Market evaluating its real estate opportunities * Buffet Holdings sorting out its underperformers * Sprint Nextel...

MUMBAI - Wal-Mart on Monday announced a long-planned venture to jointly build wholesale outlets in India and a nationwide supply chain with local partner Bharti Enterprises. The Bentonville, Ark.-based retail giant’s attempt to enter India’s highly protected retail sector has sparked howls of protest from leftist politicians and small-scale retailers, who fear the impact of competition on the country’s 12 million mom and pop shops, which hold 97% of the market. The companies are establishing a joint venture called Bharti Wal-Mart that will open a chain of wholesale cash-and-carry outlets to supply Indian retailers, in line with government regulations, Bharti...

CHICAGO, June 29 (UPI) -- In a bold move to jump-start years of declining sales, Sears is reportedly placing some free-standing stores inside some K-Mart facilities. The discount chain is renting about 7,000 square feet inside existing Kmarts to Sears dealers in four towns -- Claremont, N.H.; Freedom, Calif.; Pell City, Ala.; and Zephyrhills, Fla. The dealers sell hardware, appliances, lawn equipment and some consumer electronics, the Chicago Tribune reported. Some observers see it as another step toward an expected merger. During the past year, Sears Holdings Corp. has been moving its best Sears brands into Kmart in an effort...

Declining growth, increasing competition, and not an easy fix in sight. John E. Fleming, Wal-Mart's newly appointed chief merchandising officer, is staring hard at a display of $14 women's T-shirts in a Supercenter a few miles from the retailer's Bentonville (Ark.) headquarters. The bright-hued stretch T's carry Wal-Mart's own George label and are of a quality and stylishness not commonly associated with America's über-discounter. What vexes Fleming is that numerous sizes are out of stock in about half of the 12 colors, including frozen kiwi and black soot. Fleming may be America's most powerful merchant, but a timely solution is...

The giant retailer's low prices often come with a high cost. Wal-Mart's relentless pressure can crush the companies it does business with and force them to send jobs overseas. Are we shopping our way straight to the unemployment line?A gallon-sized jar of whole pickles is something to behold. The jar is the size of a small aquarium. The fat green pickles, floating in swampy juice, look reptilian, their shapes exaggerated by the glass. It weighs 12 pounds, too big to carry with one hand. The gallon jar of pickles is a display of abundance and excess; it is entrancing, and...

Parents Beware: Chain Stores Going Crazy Selling "Girls Gone Wild"By David W. AlmasiNational Policy Analysis Paper #493 published in October 2003 by The National Center for Public Policy Research, 777 North Capitol Street NE #803, Washington, D.C. 20002, 202/371-1400, Fax 202/408-7773, E-Mail info@nationalcenter.org, Web http://www.nationalcenter.org. Reprints permitted provided source is credited. Probably thinking of himself as being on the cutting edge of the civil rights struggle, rapper Snoop Dogg broke his ties with Mantra Entertainment - makers of the "Girls Gone Wild" videos - because it doesn't feature enough black and Hispanic girls getting naked.1 "Girls Gone Wild" is a...