STORES Magazine - August 2008 - (Page 20)

trEnDS 10 THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED transferring, Target is no longer accepting coupon offers,” the company said, because the certificate was altered “to make it appear to apply to any purchase in the store.” Some 85,000 e-mail coupons with expiration dates of Oct. 1, 2008 are being replaced by $5 gift cards sent via postal mail. No deal x 2 … Financially troubled Pier 1 Imports wanted to take over Cost Plus, whose performance had been deteriorating; Blockbuster, which only recently stabilized its own operations, was making a bid for Circuit City. Before you could say “Independence Day,” however, both acquisition proposals were withdrawn. Cost Plus spurned Pier 1, which then backed off, while Blockbuster aborted its effort after eyeing Circuit City’s books — but said it might return with a revised offer. with reduced margins, and there is significant competitor growth,” says Premlata Nair, an ExxonMobil spokeswoman. There are about 12,000 ExxonMobil stations in the United States, three-quarters of which are operated by distributors and dealers. Topical medicine … For a while it seemed retailers and health clinic operators couldn’t cut deals fast enough; now it seems some may have been too hasty. Seventy or so in-store health clinics shuttered in the early months of this year, and then came the news that SmartCare Family Medical Centers closed locations in 15 Colorado Walmart stores without notifying the retailer. Word also came that CVS Caremark-owned MinuteClinics has trimmed its expansion plans and may close some clinics already in operation. Compiled by David P. Schulz 1 Not all malls are alike … Take a few women’s apparel stores, mix with some sit-down restaurants and, voila, you have the essence of a lifestyle center, says the International Council of Shopping Centers. These two business types constitute 27 percent of the tenant mix in lifestyle centers, according to “The Remaking of Lifestyle Centers: The Ascendancy of Women’s Apparel and Restaurants.” The report notes that in regional malls, growth is greatest among family apparel retailers. 4 6 convenience stores. A TNS Retail Forward ShopperScape survey found that onethird of consumers are buying most of their gasoline from these retailers rather than cstores, up from 22 percent three years ago. Cents-off fuel promotions by these alternative retailers are “very attractive” to shoppers, according to report author Jennifer Halterman. Site expansion … Amazon.com keeps rolling along, expanding into new merchandise areas as it 9 No mo’ Kinko … Say good-bye to the oddlynamed shop that attracted last-minute term-paper writers in search of instant copies. FedEx, which bought Kinko’s four years ago, is renaming more than 1,600 locations FedExOffice and taking a charge of $891 million for its trouble. “Kinko’s was primarily a copy and print-service provider,” says Brian D. Philips, president and CEO of FedExOffice, while the new name describes a provider of information and services to small businesses and mobile professionals. 2 Saying “no” to retail … ExxonMobil is getting out of the convenience store and retail gasoline business, with plans to sell 820 company owned-and-operated locations and another 1,400 that are operated by others. The retail business “continues to be a very challenging market 5 Another jolt … Earlier this year, Starbucks began reporting its first-ever declines in same-store sales. The other shoe dropped in July when Starbucks said it would close about 600 underperforming locations, dramatically reduce the pace of new store openings and trim its workforce by about 7 percent. 7 goes. First the Internet retailer launched its Office Supplies store featuring more than 500,000 products from thousands of manufacturers. Then, days later, Amazon announced the acquisition of Fabric.com, an e-commerce site that offers custom-measured textiles, cut fabrics and patterns, sewing tools and accessories. Fabrics.com will become part of Amazon’s Home & Garden store. Pacific crossing … Costco has penciled in a 2009 opening date for its first Australian store, a 140,000-sq.-ft. location in a Melbourne redevelopment project known as Docklands. The warehouse will be as much like its American counterparts as possible, says Patrick Noone, Costco’s manager for Australia. 10 3 Coupons not accepted … Target customers can no longer redeem a $5-off coupon for a toy or general merchandise item costing $25 or more. “Unfortunately, due to fraudulent tampering and 8 Fuel for thought … Gasoline is on the list of what influences consumers, so along comes a study that says supercenters, supermarkets and warehouse clubs with fuel centers are taking business away from 20 STORES / AUGUST 2008 WWW.STORES.ORG http://Amazon.com http://Fabrics.com http://WWW.STORES.ORG

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of STORES Magazine - August 2008

STORES Magazine - August 2008 Contents Executive Editor's Page President's Page The Lure of Free Shipping Walmart’s New Look What Shoppers Think Will Widgets Work for Wheat Bread and Wasabi? 10 Things You May Have Missed Numbers Worth Counting Full Price/Markdown Retail People Store Design Industry Economics Hot 100 Retailers Concept2Watch Mobile Technology Small Store Technology Website Optimization Site Selection Mobile Payments Recycling Merchandising: Cool Sells Merchandising: Merchandising in Mexico Store Construction & Development Human Resources Loyalty Programs Mobile Marketing Loeb Retail Letter Arts Update Point of View NRF News Retail Crossword Retail Industry Calendar Last Laugh

STORES Magazine - August 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.