Blog

Best Buy takes my advice

April 18, 2011

Retailers reduce footprint, but are they thinking about their costs or about what consumers actually want?

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Harry and David Update

March 23, 2011

There’s a very tight lid on communications from Harry and David. I don’t know what’s going on inside, but here are some things I do […]

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Retail: Walmart takes my advice

March 11, 2011

Walmart takes Renee’s advice…

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Trends 2011- #2

March 6, 2011

I promised to provide a series of posts regarding my predictions for 10-year trends.  So..here is the first:  Over the next 10 years, at least […]

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Borders’ loyalty programs

February 28, 2011

Can loyalty programs save Borders?

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What does a turnaround expert DO?

February 21, 2011

I have recently been asked by reporters, “What would you do at Harry and David?” I responded with a description of the turnaround steps described […]

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Did e-readers kill Borders?

February 18, 2011

It’s easy to blame e-readers and associated technological changes for Borders’ predicament, but they are merely the symptoms and not the disease. When companies face […]

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Size DOES Matter: The Pop-up Principle

January 31, 2011

Everybody did it:  Borders, Burlington Coat Factory, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Toys “R” Us and others all opened “pop-up” stores for the holidays.  This year, Toys […]

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A retail story fit to print….

January 16, 2011

Well… after I wrote last night about my frustration with news media reporting only part of a story, my local paper, The Oregonian, ran a […]

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Retail sales: Compared with what?

January 16, 2011

In an article yesterday on The Huffington Post, Abby Wendle reported that retail sales increased for the 6th straight month. This is good news, but […]

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