Retail Industry Archive

Whole Foods and the United States Federal Trade Commission are back in court again, but their whole anti-trust struggle seems increasingly pointless. In the current phase of the anti-trust case, Whole Foods is trying to prevent the FTC from holding an administrative trial over its acquisition of Wild Oats, insisting that the agency has predetermined the outcome. Earlier this week, Whole Foods...

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Despite the attention paid bargain shopping in the holiday season, consumers still demand more from retailers than a good price. This is true across the spectrum of retail. Trader Joe’s for example, has won customers based on the low prices it offers for fashionable food. Evolving on the West Coast, it developed in regions that were well served by quality traditional and alternative...

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Macy’s plans to expand the presence of FAO Schwarz shops in its department stores, proving that not every development around gift giving in the holiday season has been related to price slashing. Macy’s decided to add the shops this fall after they enjoyed a successful test run at its State Street store in Chicago last holiday season. FAO Schwarz departments ranging in size from...

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Retailers can’t count on gift card revenues to salvage a holiday selling season that is looking increasingly abysmal. According to a report from MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse, overall retailer sales – including those from credit cards, gift cards, checks and cash — were down between two and four percent from Nov. 1 to Dec. 24  versus the same timeframe in 2007. Stores selling...

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Chicken Little might be right this time. Every year, after the National Retail Federation makes its annual prediction about holiday season sales, which this year were pegged to gain about 2%, some one or more statistics alarm observers who immediately predict that the sky is falling on retailers. As a result, retail stocks decline and consumers, conditioned to see retail weakness as a prelude...

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With its tender offer for Chile’s Distribucion y Servicio, a 185-store supermarket chain, Wal-Mart is making an acquisition that will put it into an even stronger position when the global economy stirs again. Internationalization is an ongoing theme at Wal-Mart. Its executive suite will soon feature Mike Duke, who will succeed Lee Scott as president and CEO on Feb. 1, 2009, as well as ...

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Retailers who combine food, general merchandise and value have been surviving the recession better than most, but even Wal-Mart and Costco haven’t been as creatively aggressive in using that formula to promote their stores as has Grand Rapids, Mich., based Meijer. With stores in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky, Meijer has recently benefited from trouble at Sears Holding, which...

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Best Buy’s finances took a hit in the third quarter, but the company also demonstrated that it understands the consumer and competitive landscapes have changed, and not necessarily in its favor. Operating income declined by a third, Best Buy slashed next year’s capital spending budget by half and the company announced buy outs with the possibility of layoffs behind them. Given Best...

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Home-center retailers are going to have to work hard if they’re to dig their way out of a recession that has undermined construction in the U.S. Of course, companies such as Home Depot and Lowe’s are going to suffer in a recession, but this one is particularly painful. In a conference call today on home building and building products, S&P analyst Thomas Nadramia shared a painful...

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Cocooning is back, and could help weaker retailers survive the recession. Consumers were supposed to be done with cocooning, a term that emerged in the late 1980s used to describe a focus on home life and entertainment that helped spur sales of everything from home theater systems to iron skillets. Then about six years ago, consultants declared that consumers were emerging from their cocoons to...

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