StORES Magazine - August 2007 - (Page 12)

PRESIDENT’S PAGE Food for Thought BY TRACY MULLIN The Voice of Retail Worldwide STORES is published by NRF Enterprises Inc., F ifty years ago, the symbol of retailing was a downtown department store or the small mom-and-pop shop on Main Street. Much has changed since then. We’ve seen the emergence of discounters, category killers, mass merchandisers and the Internet. Along the way, the lines separating one format from another began to blur. Wal-Mart started selling groceries; supermarkets began selling toys, and office supply stores started selling iPods. Retail is certainly not as easy to define as it used to be. This year, STORES included restaurants in its lists of the Top 100 Retailers and Hot 100 Retailers. From the editors’ vantage points, restaurants are continually finding ways to grab larger portions of consumers’ wallets, taking money away from the traditional grocery sector. Additionally, they feel restaurants are among the most in tune with their customers and are able to roll out new services to meet people’s needs. There’s certainly no doubt that restaurants are doing something right. In fact, 23 of the Hot 100 Retailers featured in this issue are restaurant companies. Some of them, like Applebee’s and Ruby Tuesday, appeal to harried parents with curb-side pick-up options. Others, like Benihana and Dave & Buster’s, provide an experience in addition to great food that makes them a destination for parties and family get-togethers. Panera Bread and Starbucks offer wireless Internet service, hoping that students and business professionals will linger. There is also no question that restaurants and retailers share some of the same challenges. In the past few years, members of the National Council of Chain Restaurants, an NRF division, have become increasingly involved in NRF committees. Ralph Alvarez, president and COO of McDonald’s, sits on NRF’s board of directors. And, restaurants and retailers typically share the same positions on public policy issues, collectively strengthening our voice on Capitol Hill. With the broadening definition of retail, many traditional retailers consider restaurants to be their competitors. Smart stores are actually emulating restaurants, with Safeway quietly opening Citrine and Wegman’s operating a standalone restaurant called Tastings. Traditional grocery stores are revamping their selections of prepared foods and increasing private label offerings to differentiate themselves. The inclusion of restaurants in the Top 100 and Hot 100 lists started an interesting discussion around here about whether NRF should include restaurants in our definition of retail industry sales. The federal government already considers restaurants a part of retailing; NRF will continue to have this debate over the next several months. But whether or not restaurants are included in our official calculations, they are quickly becoming a part of the day-to-day retail world. Consumers don’t differentiate between the two, so why should we? a subsidiary of National Retail Federation Inc., 325 7th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20004. (202) 783-7971 FAX (202) 737-2849 CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD M. Farooq Kathwari, Chairman, President and CEO, Ethan Allen Inc., Danbury, CT VICE CHAIRMEN Paul R. Charron, Chairman Emeritus Liz Claiborne, Inc., New York, NY Myron E. Ullman III, Chairman and CEO, J.C. Penney Co., Plano, TX PRESIDENT & CEO Tracy Mullin SENIOR VICE PRESIDENTS Mallory B. Duncan, General Counsel David Hogan, CIO Karen Theibert Knobloch, Member Services Carleen C. Kohut, Finance & CFO Steven J. Pfister, Government Relations NRF Divisions Association for Retail Technology Standards EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Richard E. Mader (202) 626-8140 National Council of Chain Restaurants PRESIDENT John R. (Jack) Whipple (202) 626-8183 FAX: (202) 626-8185 Retail Advertising & Marketing Association EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Mike Gatti (202) 626-8117 FAX: (202) 737-2849 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Scott Silverman (202) 626-8192 FAX: (202) 626-8191 325 7th Street, NW Suite 1100 Washington, D.C. 20004 All articles published in this magazine represent solely the individual opinions of the writers, and not necessarily those of the National Retail Federation. 12 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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