StORES Magazine - August 2007 - (Page 10)

EXECUTIVE EDITOR’S PAGE StORES® What’s for Dinner? BY SUSAN REDA STORES Magazine 325 7th St. NW, Suite 1100 Washington, D.C. 20004 202/626-8101 I no longer dream about what I want to be when I grow up. But, there is this recurring fantasy that I can’t seem to shake. In it I’ve just finished a tough day at work. I log off the network, turn down the lights and head to the kitchen. There to greet me is my personal chef. He/she (it doesn’t really matter) has prepared a healthy, low-carb meal, tweaking it just a bit to suit the needs of each fussy family member. My husband and children sit down to this meal, smiling. No one whines, “Chicken, again?” or peppers me with questions about carb counts. It’s a golden dinner moment . . . and a true fantasy. Like most women in America, I approach the four o’clock hour with a creeping sense of dread. It’s about that time that the family begins grilling me about dinner. With each query, my apprehension and aggravation builds. By 5:45, I’m out the door headed for the local supermarket — usually with nary an idea of what to cook, but determined to get something on the table by 6:30. Perhaps that’s why I’ve been so caught up in the news about Tesco’s plans to open the new Fresh & Easy concept. The idea of a smaller, easier-to-navigate store that emphasizes fresh food holds real appeal. I’d much rather have an edited selection of meats, vegetables, salads and the like from which to choose than 40,000 SKUs spread out in front of me. The last thing I want to do is roam a football-field-sized supermarket in search of wild rice! Ideally, I’d like to pick up a fresh bunch of asparagus, buy a container of wild rice – already prepared – and maybe grab a package of marinated pork tenderloins to toss on the grill. I want to pay for the items without a long wait and be back in my kitchen 20 minutes later ready to pull this meal together. I realize that supermarkets can’t just take a pill and make themselves smaller, but they need to think long and hard about how to make themselves more relevant to today’s shopper. Convenience is key; so is fresh, healthy food. Someone needs to tell supermarket operators that the slab of mac and cheese on the black plastic plate that they’re calling “Prepared Foods” just isn’t working – nor it is very appetizing to look at. Fresh & Easy is not going to reinvent the American food retailing scene with a few dozen stores, but I sure hope the concept gives traditional supermarket retailers – especially the ones who remain stuck in the “pile it high” mode – pause. Americans have different shopping needs at different times of day. If supermarkets want to be the answer to “What’s for dinner” they need to figure out how to be more in sync with the rhythm of today’s shopper. How great would it be to have your customers say that shopping your store is like a dream come true? editor@nrf.com RICK GALLAGHER Publisher Vice President 202/626-8103 FAX: 866/640-8136 E-mail: publisher@nrf.com SUSAN PATTERSON Assistant Publisher 202/626-8102 FAX: 202/661-3042 E-mail: pattersons@nrf.com EDITORIAL SUSAN REDA Executive Editor 516/437-1245 FAX: 866/640-8138 E-mail: editor@nrf.com HARRY LISTER Managing Editor 202/626-8199 FAX: 866/640-8137 E-mail: listerh@nrf.com MARY ALICE ELMER Senior Copy Editor 202/661-3047 FAX: 866/640-8134 E-mail: elmerm@nrf.com LUCY D. REDDAWAY Creative Director ADVERTISING & MARKETING MIKE GRIBBIN Advertising Director 410/893-8003 Mike Gribbin Therese Draddy Tim O’Connell Molly Deise Terry Baker Dan McClure Executive Publishing Inc. 900A Main St., Suite 103 Bel Air, MD 21014 410/893-8003 FAX: 410/893-8004 E-mail: advertising@stores.org CIRCULATION ELENA CAIOLA Senior Director, Circulation and Information Management 202/626-8146 FAX: 866/640-8139 E-mail: circulation@nrf.com DORIS MASON Circulation Assistant 202/626-8172 FAX: 866/640-8140 For high-quality article reprints (minimum of 100), including e-prints, please contact Reprint Management Services at 717-666-3052. At STORES, we appreciate hearing our readers’ thoughts and comments. Please address your correspondence to editor@nrf.com, or contact me at (516) 437-1245. 10 STORES / AUGUST 2007 WWW.STORES.ORG http://WWW.STORES.ORG

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of StORES Magazine - August 2007

Contents Executive Editor's Page President's Page Upfront NRF News Retail People Concept2Watch Supermarkets Cover Story Online Marketing In-Store Marketing RFID Data Management Payment Systems Software Loss Prevention E-Commerce Risk Management Communications Loyalty Marketing Human Resources Mobile Commerce Loeb Retail Letter Arts Update Point of View Advertising Index Retail Industry Calendar

StORES Magazine - August 2007

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