STORES Magazine - March 2009 - (Page 90)

THE LAST LAUGH INSIDE TRACK NRFnews RAC Moves to Las Vegas BERT JACOBS, founder of Life is good, told attendees of the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association’s 57th annual Retail Advertising Conference how selling T-shirts with his brother on the streets of Boston led to the creation of one of the most lovable apparel brands in the country. Chip Wilson, founder of lululemon athletica, a yogainspired athletic-clothing Bert company, shared secrets Jacobs about how he developed an iconic brand and the company’s mission to help people live longer, healthier, more fun-filled lives at the conference, the retail industry’s largest single gathering of retail marketing and advertising professionals. RAC moved to Las Vegas from Chicago this year. Retail marketing veteran Ric West, divisional vice Chip Wilson president for Sears Holdings, was inducted as the newest member of the Retail Advertising Hall of Fame. & WHO WHAT WHEN contribute to a public health plan. Rather than mandates, Ratner said, Congress should consider proposals outlined in the NRF Vision for Health Care Reform, which emphasizes competition among health care providers Dave Ratner along with more use of computerized medical records, more wellness programs, better management of chronic conditions and more pooling mechanisms. Lowering costs would allow employers to voluntarily provide coverage for more workers, and would make coverage more affordable for those who buy insurance on their own, he said. Ratner said retail is one of the strongest supporters of providing health coverage to workers but high costs are even more difficult to afford in the current economic crisis. Balancing the advantages of keeping employees “healthy and productive” against the costs of insurance is “borderline impossible even in the best of times, and these are far away from being the best of times,” he said. On the Retail Horizon ARE retailers more focused on keeping customers or reducing costs? How is the economy expected to impact profit margins? In what ways are companies responding to customer feedback? These are just a few of the questions addressed in Retail Horizons: Benchmarks for 2008, Forecasts for 2009. Hundreds of retailers contributed to the study, seen as an authoritative source for retail benchmarks and trends. According to the report, customer satisfaction and retention remains a top priority for retailers. The study also evaluated retailers’ plans for global expansion, loss prevention techniques and marketing as a percentage of sales. The Retail Horizons study identifies key industry benchmarks, reports retailers’ business priorities and plans and tracks established and emerging retail trends. The report includes specific information from eight areas of retail: e-commerce, finance, human capital, IT, supply chain, store operations, marketing and merchandising. The data is enhanced with relevant insights and analysis. STORES readers can receive $150 off the regular price of Retail Horizons during March by visiting www.nrf.com/retailhorizons and using promotional code “STORES.” WWW.STORES.ORG Testimony Urges Reduction of Health Care Costs EFFORTS to make health care available to everyone should focus on lowering costs rather than mandating that employers provide coverage for their workers. This is what Massachusetts retailer Dave Ratner, owner of Dave’s Soda & Pet City, told Congress during his testimony on behalf of NRF. Ratner appeared before the House Small Business Committee during a hearing on how health care reform should be approached in the current struggling economy. He said employer mandates would drive up expenses for companies while doing nothing to lower the actual costs of health insurance, ultimately forcing layoffs. Employer mandates are expected to be a key issue during the health care debate because President Obama has proposed requiring employers to either make a “meaningful” contribution to the cost of employee health coverage or 90 STORES / MARCH 2009 http://www.nrf.com/retailhorizons http://WWW.STORES.ORG

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of STORES Magazine - March 2009

STORES Magazine - March 2009 Contents Executive Editor's Page President's Page Movers and Spenders What Shoppers Think Take Your Laundry Online 10 Things You May Have Missed Numbers Worth Counting Full Price/Markdown Retail People Luxury for Less Q & A CONCEPT2WATCH Checkout Management Online Entrepreneurs Sustainability POS Online Strategy Online Scheduling SaaS Online Marketing Merchandise Security PCI Compliance LPinformation Supplier Directory Exception Reporting Industry Perspective Theft Research LOEB Retail Letter ARTS Update Point of View NRF News Retail Crossword Retail Industry Calendar End Cap

STORES Magazine - March 2009

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