How many times have you walked or driven past a grocery-anchored strip center and been surprised? Never. It’s the same old, same old … year in and year out. But you may not have realized that this half-century old phenomenon is perhaps the most consistently profitable model in today’s ravaged shopping center sector. Grocery Anchors You may have also missed some significant news in the grocery-anchored (G-A) sector this spring, which slipped beneath the radar of most mainstream media (except for the prosaic supermarket and finance industry …
Operations
The Grocery Business Is Anything But, in the Bag
As much as the pandemic turned so many retail industries upside down it can be argued that one sector of retailing is coming out of this as the most changed of all. The airlines, the restaurants, the hotels and the entertainment businesses all were devastated by Covid, but as they return, they look remarkably similar to what they were pre-pandemic. But not the grocery business. In so many ways and at so many companies, the aftershocks of the past 15 months have profoundly --and perhaps permanently -- changed the way supermarkets go …
Uncontainable: The Great Supply Chain Meltdown
OK, consider this situation: You’re going to the supermarket to pick up a few things but there are problems. You can’t find your car keys and when you do, the car is blocked in by a large truck on the street and you can’t move. You finally get to the store but there are no shopping carts. However, an enterprising fellow at the entrance is raffling off the few carts that show up to the highest bidder. You eventually pay him through the nose to get one and fill it up to the brim. But the checkout lanes are stacked up to the back of the store and …
Big Beauty Walks the Enviro-Talk. What About You?
As much as I love my “beat” – and I seriously, unequivocally love my beat – it’s pretty challenging to write about the beauty category and the environment without getting at least a little cynical. It’s also not always easy to predict when the cause du jour will morph into a truly meaningful, not-going-anywhere, full-on movement. Past as Prelude Tina Hedges was about to launch LOLI Beauty back in 2014. We were discussing brand positioning, and how to stand out in the dense forest that is the American skincare market. She kept circling back …
The Direct-to-Consumer Model Is no Retail Panacea
The academician in me needs to clear up some persisting confusion about direct to consumer (DTC) -- even for those working in retail. DTC was originally a label to describe the business model of digital native brands that sold products directly to consumers through ecommerce sites. Warby Parker, Dollar Shave Club, Bonobos, Allbirds, and Glossier immediately come to mind. And of course, we all know Zappos, which in 1999 became one of the first DTC brands still supported by fierce loyalists. Its DTC value is self-evident: Amazon purchased Zappos …
Are You Ready for the Next Level of Business Casual?
Now that about one-third of Americans are fully vaccinated, businesses are considering when to bring office employees back to the workplace. But after more than a year that saw Covid-19 give new meaning to business casual -- sales of pajamas more than doubled last year over 2019 -- employees and retailers alike are wondering what will be the new definition of professional attire. Hint: Casual and comfortable will play major roles. Work Shift Ford Motor Company is planning to offer 30,000 employees a hybrid option to work from home, only …
Are You Ready for the Next Level of Business Casual?Read More
Walmart and Gap Go Home
Walmart has fallen into The Gap. It no doubt hopes it’s a successful journey…even if history suggests otherwise. Last month the biggest of the big, Walmart, said it was partnering up with casual apparel retailer Gap to bring a line of home furnishings products to, at least initially, its online business and potentially its stores. Gap had announced earlier that it was looking for a home for…well, home, but the Walmart connection didn’t seem to be the obvious choice at first glance. After all, Gap was the store of choice for the …
Leveraging Peer Reviews
If you somehow managed to miss the message that the customer is firmly in control in the driver’s seat, it may be too late for you. In 1990, Sam Walton said, “There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.” His commonsense business approach has been amplified over 30 years later by the digital marketplace, making transactions more transparent and giving the consumer more vocal power to influence the purchase journey. With the explosion of …