So, the latest retail rocket science theory is to start condensing assortments around key brands, eliminating others and consolidating ordering from fewer suppliers.
This gives the store more buying power as its orders get larger as well as making it easier for retail operations and stocking...
What’s that old saying about what to do when life hands you a lemon? Make lemonade?Well, lots of people don’t like lemonade so maybe we should add another alternative: Get rid of the lemons and go out and get some new fruit.And before you think I’ve been drinking something other than fruit juices,...
Don’t look now, but the pendulum is starting to swing back the other way.No, some company at the Housewares Show this week is not introducing an automatic pendulum slicing machine ... although that’s actually not such a bad idea. The pendulum we’re talking about is the symbolic one, the one...
How can you be in two places at once and not be anywhere at all?,” the classic Firesign Theater comedy group once queried. To find out, just ask Cindy Crawford.Those of us who trudged through the Oscar Awards on Sunday night—no thanks to Cablevision and ABC—were treated to a running marathon of J.C...
This has not been a funny year. There has not been much to laugh about for the millions of people out of work, for those who have watched their personal financial situations deteriorate and for all the companies struggling to survive the worst economic period in several lifetimes. So, in this...
The news a few weeks ago that Walmart had set up a huge sourcing infrastructure in Asia and that it was going to aggressively expand the amount of direct importing it was doing was not just massive: it was Walmartian massive.
I think in a few years the general merchandise industry will look back at...
So, yesterday the official furniture buyer, Credenza Phil, came out of his hole and saw his shadow, which means we’re going to have six more months of cold furniture sales. But then it’s going to start getting really hot.
The furniture industry, some of which is gathered in Las Vegas this week for...
Howard Lester, the driving force behind the Williams-Sonoma retailing empire, announced his retirement earlier this week. At age 74, Lester certainly deserves to enjoy that retirement. but just as importantly the industry needs to recognize his role in helping to advance the home furnishings...
People are always talking about Chinese imports. Or the Chinese impact on the industry. Maybe it’s the Chinese economy or Chinese products or Chinese quality. Well, it’s time to stop talking like that. China is a noun. If you are a little rusty on your English composition skills, the point here is...
To all of those Americans who bemoan the changing nature of the giant Heimtextil trade fair in Frankfurt that opened Wednesday morning, I say build a bridge over the Mein River and get over it.
Heimtextil has always been the opening salvo of the trade show season for the textiles industry, a time...