Retail Watchers

I do not believe that Amazon has been as "hands on" as we might think at WFM. The direct Amazon changes are: adding online ordering through Amazon, moving delivery to Amazon employees, accepting Amazon returns, installing Amazon lockers, and using Prime service for discounts. Some stores ...

Marginal competitors usually don't have much effect unless they force someone to set-up a pricing zone or some other easy fix that has little effect in a region beyond a few stores. A lot of the competition for drug stores has always been other kinds of stores---lots of places sell H&BA. and tha...

Given these REIs are being represented by an arm of UFCW, there are already a lot of blueprints out there on contracts to apply to these stores and more importantly, though not even mentioned in the article, the employees will be able to start paying into UFCW's employee benefit funds for healthcar...

Regarding theft and numbers under the umbrella of "crime". I often question myself on the legitimacy of my opinions and beliefs (weird, but I have always been like that). I try to uncover that which would change my position. I have googled voraciously about retail theft (larceny theft, sh...

Basically, the only difference is instead of having two (or maybe three) different chains in each area, now it's the same two (or three) chains in most areas. No real difference in the competitiveness, just the names used :) Let's say I go and look for promotions at 3 different drugstore chains eve...

They do well in MI because they have both store density in multiple metros and wide coverage of the lower peninsula (they were also in the UP but sold most of those off to Walgreens). They acquired reasonably well-run assets (Perry Drug) which were pretty evenly distributed throughout the state. I'...

Retail businesses seem very good at limping along for many, many years even if they're obviously shrinking. I think it's because of their ability to generate cash, which is probably what enables them to continue after they run out of working capital and go into bankruptcies. Only when you get really...

Targets in my area are busy almost any time of day, from what I have seen. Same with Home Depot and Lowes. From what I have seen at the very few Walmarts anywhere near me is that the parking lots seem kinda empty. I never go in because once I cross the entry door I immediately break out in HIVES! :...

I've noticed Aldi's in places that are more well-off than their usual locations, too. For many people, they probably fall into a category of cheap, but not stigmatized stores, unlike one of the dollar store chains or Walmart. There always have been chains like this---Woolworth's had many stores in u...

Westfield may have rethought their strategy but what they're doing isn't unusual---Richard Jacobs had malls under development when they liquidated their portfolio 20 years ago, Westfield is hardly the only mall owner that got rid of properties through a foreclosure. When Forest City (which once co-o...