1) Sell counterfeit merchandise and threaten customers. 2) Get pissy with a TV investigative reporter. 3) Call back reporter, tell reporter you've changed and "witnessed the power of God," and are willing to talk on camera. 4) Punch, spit, curse, and throw snowballs at the reporter when he returns, all the while being filmed on camera. 5) Barricade yourself in your store, even when the cops show up. 6) Have Anderson …
The Gap Falls Into A Hole
Is it just my clouded memory, or does this seem to happen every few years? The Gap goes along strong, then they try selling trendy clothes and sales drop, then they go back to basics, then they get stronger, then they screw up again, then they go back to basics? I swear I've heard this 3 or 4 times in the last 20 years or so. From …
Counting Gators Before They Hatch
News Net 5 in Cleveland, Ohio reports on one retailer's desire to capitalize on an Ohio State victory (that did not happen) in last night's championship game. Macy's made a losing bet on the Buckeyes and now has T-shirts that stores can't sell, proclaiming Ohio State college football's national champions. Three of the department stores in Columbus had the merchandise ready to go in case the Buckeyes won Monday's …
Lawsuits Are Targeting Target, Claiming Copyright Infringment
If you think your local Target is beginning to resemble a Pottery Barn, it may not be your imagination. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports on a new lawsuit, and others over the years, that accuse Target of copying other retailers' products: Williams-Sonoma, which operates Pottery Barn and other chains, claims in a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday that a quilted Christmas stocking sold at Target stores contains "every …
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Deer, Pot And Retail
Gawker Media's The Consumerist is always a good read (thanks to editor Ben Popken). Today, particularly so. Here's one story from the retail sector: A huge-ass box of pot on its way to a Philadelphia drug dealer was mistakenly rerouted to the local Kmart, Saturday, where it was discovered by an employee in the stock room. Imagine their surprise when, instead of Martha Stewart towels staring up at them, the poor Kmart …
Wal-Mart’s Too Trendy!
Saw this in the New York Times and I had to chuckle: The chief executive of Wal-Mart Stores, H. Lee Scott Jr., said yesterday that the introduction of upscale products, like silk camisoles and 300-thread-count sheets, had proved “choppier than it should be” and that the company had “moved too far too fast” with fashionable clothing. “What we did was overload the fashion part,” he said, by introducing new trendy …
Wal-Mart’s Quest To Be More Sophisticated
Uniforms at retail help define a brand. Last week I was at Hotel Monaco in Salt Lake City where the staff wears tie-dyed oxford cloth shirts. It's easy for me to feel at home in such a place. According to the Houston Chronicle, the world's largest retailer is now looking to spiff up its outfits. For decades, a humble blue smock or vest has been required dress for employees at Wal-Mart Stores, conveying the retailer's …
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Wal-Mart Goes Shopping For A New Ad Agency
That's the big news from the ad world today. Ad Age and Adweek have respective articles. Currently, the bulk of the account is split between Austin's GSD&M and Kansas City's Bernstein-Rein. And for a long time, too, as Adweek mentions: GSD&M has worked for the retailer for the past 19 years. Bernstein-Rein has been on the roster for more than 30 years. And Bernstein's about to build a new big swanky headquarters, aka …
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