DSN Retailing Today articles from December 2003

DSN Retailing Today archives from December 2003

Kmart tailors apparel vision.
December 15, 2003... TROY, MICHIGAN -- After a long stretch of sailing the rough waters of apparel retailing without a seasoned category captain, Kmart has finally found a leader in John Goodman, who it named as new chief apparel officer earlier this month....

New toy dynamics put squeeze on specialists.(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... NEW YORK -- The holiday season is supposed to be prime time for toy retailers. Instead, two of the top specialists--including New York-based FAO Schwarz, arguably the nation's most celebrated toy institution--are heading into the peak buying...

Right Start, wrong end--as empire sighs FA-uh-O.
December 15, 2003... NEW YORK -- Frederick August Otto Schwarz must be rolling over in his grave. If the man whose namesake graces the nation's most famous toy store were alive today, the news of the financial troubles and collapse of the business he brought to...

Toys 'R' Us pulls plug on ailing stand-alones.
December 15, 2003... PARAMUS, N.J. -- Toys "R" Us started the holiday season on a down note when it announced plans to shutter its 146 Kids "R" Us stores and 37 Imaginarium standalone outlets by the end of January. The news came on the same day the company...

Watts and Degn move up in Wal-Mart ranks.(Claire Watts, Doug Degn)
December 15, 2003... BENTONVILLE, ARK -- The recent resignation of veteran WM-Mart merchant Don Harris, a move that surprised even those close to the company, should be only minimally disruptive to Wal-Mart's merchandising organization. Harris, 46, served as...

Casual male unveils foreman clothing line.(Market Watch)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... NEW YORK -- Casual Male Big & Tall president and ceo David Levin and boxing--and marketing champ--George Foreman unveiled their new men's wear offering at a press conference at the NASDAQ in Manhattan on Dec. 3.

Big lots names new merchandising EVP.(Market Watch)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... COLUMBUS, OHIO -- John C. Martin, formerly president at Garden Ridge, has joined Big Lots as the new evp of merchandising. Martin, who has 30 years of retailing experience, will oversee all areas of merchandising for the company, including...

AutoZone to sponsor NASCAR Elites'.(Market Watch)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... NEW YORK -- Longtime NASCAR supporter AutoZone has deepened its involvement with the racing league by agreeing to become the title sponsor of NASCAR's Elite Division, the minor leagues for the racing association. The merchandising...

Levi Strauss signature expands to Target.(Market Watch)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... SAN FRANCISCO -- While Wal-Mart was the first retailer to pick up Levi Strauss Signature this summer, now Target will carry the mass-market family brand as well. The initial launch of Levi's first discount label demonstrated that the product...

It's quality over quantity, as luxury buying demonstrates purchasing shift.
December 15, 2003... NEW YORK -- One thing that early returns from holiday shopping seem to bear out is that the predicted resurgence of the luxury market is, indeed, occurring. What is not certain is the overall effect. Will consumers cut back on the number...

Payless steps out with Starlet line.
December 15, 2003... NEW YORK -- With celebrity endorsements ringing at a fevered pitch and ethnic marketing at an all-time high, Payless ShoeSource has a winning combination in daytime television personality Star Jones, who recently reached a deal with the shoe...

Dollar General raises food bar within deep-discount segment.
December 15, 2003... NASHVILLE, TENN. -- Food continues to play a larger role in Dollar General's growth strategy, as the retailer recently announced plans to expand its test grocery format to 20 more locations and roll out coolers to all stores over the next...

BJ's concept positioned as evolutionary test pad.
December 15, 2003... NATICK, MASS. -- BJ's has opened its first concept store in Kissimmee, Fla. as a forum for trying out new ideas. The resurgent warehouse club operator, which continues to benefit from a competitive battle over business customers being waged...

Penney's, OfficeMax lead third quarter promotional activity.
December 15, 2003... CHICAGO -- Promotional activity among the nation's largest retailers was a mixed bag during the third quarter, as some companies increased their use of circular advertisements while others curtailed promotional activity. Among the 15...

'Tis the season.(Letter From The President)(Editorial)
December 15, 2003... Last week I was flying to Chicago and by chance sat next to a man who I have not seen in 30 years. His company, though not our biggest customer, has been a consistent and loyal advertiser. After some pleasantries, he turned to me and said,...

ShopKo posts profit, but comps are mixed.(Financials)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... ShopKo posted a net income of $1 million for the third quarter ended Nov. 1, compared to $0.9 million for the same period in the prior year. The Pamida division delivered positive comparable sales of 3.3%, even as ShopKo's titular division...

Kmart narrows third-quarter loss.(Financials)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... Kmart Holding Corp. posted a 21.2% drop in third quarter sales and an 8.6% decline in same-store sales. Net loss for the 13 weeks ended Oct. 29 totaled $23 million versus last year's net loss of $383 million.

Ahold announces net loss.(Financials)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
December 15, 2003... Ahold announced that net sales for the first three quarters of its fiscal year totaled 43.3 billion euro. Net loss was 62 million euro, including exceptional non-cash losses of 130 million euro. TOP GAINERS For 2 weeks ended...

Major indeces.(December 3, 2003)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
December 15, 2003... MAJOR INDICES Close Close Net % 11/12/03 12/3/03 Change Change S&P 500 (GSPC) 1058.56 1064.73 6.17 0.58% Dow-Jones Industrial Average (DJI) 9848.83 ...

Insider trades.(share purchases by executives and directors in retail trade)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... STOCKS BOUGHT Books-A-Million: Charles Anderson, director, bought 25,500 shares on Nov. 26 at $4.62, now owns 2,435,373 shares. Pier 1: Marvin Girouard, chairman, bought 584 shares on Nov. 28 at $25.46, now owns 2,323 shares. ...

Container Store opens in Manhattan.(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... NEW YORK -- The Container Store recently opened in Manhattan's Chelsea district, a neighborhood quickly becoming known as the city's epicenter of home goods. It is the company's first unit in New York City. Like many newly arrived...

Costco Home to expand in '04.(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... KIRKLAND, WASH. -- It's been one year since Costco opened its first Costco Home in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland, and so far the home furnishings store has exceeded all expectations. But despite the success of its pilot project, Costco still...

CompUSA sees change of guard.
December 15, 2003... DALLAS -- CompUSA's long-time ceo Hal Compton announced his retirement last month, handing over the reins of a company entering 2004 with an expanded electronics assortment and a substantially larger store base thanks to the acquisition of...

IMRA is navigating the crossroads of retailing.(Guest Column)(Column)
December 15, 2003... Retail has always been at the crossroads--those intersections that proved convenient to merchants, the local community and weary travelers. Today retail is not much different from those early market days, as local communities continue to...

Old-world FAO falls prey to modern-world retail ways.(Editorial)
December 15, 2003... Yes, Virginia it's true. As good old St. Nick gets the reindeer ready, the nation's "Ultimate Toy Store," may not make it 'till the big day. The venerable FAO Schwarz chain, which was founded in 1862 and has been a fixture on Fifth...

Guns, drugs and violence--coming to a Christmas tree near you.(Viewpoint)(Column)
December 15, 2003... Every year about this time, a ground swell of holiday spirit begins to build inside me. So meet the urge, I consciously start doing my part to deck the halls and jingle the bells. But I'm having a little trouble this year wrapping my brain...

Outlook 2004: projecting the future of product merchandising.(Cover Story)
December 15, 2003... Things are looking up as the economy heads into its current turnaround, but nothing guarantees that a spike in consumer spending, no matter how sustainable, will be the tide that helps all boats to rise. Among the most active categories in...

Longing for the next big label: PL lines and high-end trickle-down keep mass in the mix.(apparel & accessories)
December 15, 2003... Fresh off a year that saw its share of ready-to-wear hits and misses, apparel merchants are looking to 2004 with hopes that the inevitable shifts in mindset by the ever-fickle apparel consumer will bring them more good fortune than bad. To...

Cargo shorts.(apparel & accessories)(trends)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... cargo shorts hold the potential to be the top-selling bottoms in men's wear for 2004. Cargo pants came into vogue once again last year across categories, and their success is a harbinger of improved results in the shorts classification. ...

Push-up bras.(apparel & accessories)(trends)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... Not since the inception of Sara Lee's Wonderbra has the industry been so excited about pushups. They look to enliven the intimates category, which has been flat for the past two years. During this time, the category has revolved around the...

Fashion jeans.(apparel & accessories)(trends)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... Basic denim is always a standby in the U.S. market, especially in the discount channel. However, fashion denim promises to boost bottom lines with incremental sales for 2004. High-style blues have brought in the green for retailers...

The digital revolution is just warming up: an HDTV in every home? It could happen sooner than you think.(ce & entertainment)(trends)
December 15, 2003... Sleeker, smarter and smaller has been a theme for consumer electronics every year for the last few years. Now the mass market is adding "cheaper" to that list. As the plunging price of DVD players demonstrated in 2003, there is virtually no...

High-def TV.(CE & entertainment)(trends)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... You can never be too rich or too thin--as the saying goes--or in the case of one of the CE's hottest product categories, too expensive or too thin. "High definition TV [HDTV] shipments are up close to 60% right now with around 3 million...

Digital video recorders.(CE & entertainment)(trends)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... The rap against DVD players when they first arrived was that they couldn't record programming the way VCRs could. Manufacturers provided a solution two years ago when they introduced DVD players that record programs on blank discs, but sales...

TV shows on DVD.(CE & entertainment)(trends)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... When DVD first emerged in the late 1990s, its growth was driven by special effects-laden films like "The Matrix" and "Gladiator." These days, the fastest-growing genre in DVD is at the other end of the spectrum: full season box sets of TV...

Cocooning still carrying core categories: mass 'Ikeas-ization' puts furniture in hot growth seat.(home goods & housewares)(trends)
December 15, 2003... the tried-and-true home goods categories gory has faired rather well in the last two years, considering the defensive spending posture adopted by American consumers in the wake of 9/11. And now that consumers are growing more confident, the...

High-tech floorcare.(home goods & housewares)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... Consumers tired of household chores--and who isn't?--are in for a welcome surprise in vacuum cleaning this coming year. With technology evolving to make floor care simpler, a new generation of automation is making homemaking as convenient and...

Modular furniture.(home goods & housewares)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... two ideas drive modular furniture. First is space. Modular furniture provides consumers with the ability to cope with non-traditional space by building into it, piece by piece. Originally, urban apartment dwellers were the target, but as...

Better everyday coffee.(home goods & housewares)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... playing off the huge success of such brands as Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts, coffee makers are developing products to give java junkies a better fix. The past couple of years have seen innovations particularly in home brewed "to-go"...

Wellness has never had it so good: with stigma gone, 'health' food is suddenly more palatable.(food & consumables)
December 15, 2003... while convenience, price and flavor will continue to form the three-legged-stool of food merchandising in 2004, wellness will be a fourth factor--adding more support than ever. In fact, wellness has become such a central element to the food...

Natural meats.(food & consumables)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... when 69% of U.S. consumers say personal health and wellness are more important than hey used to be (up from 60% in October 2002, according to the Natural Marketing Institute), it means something. In the case of meat and meat handling--where...

Nutrition-added foods.(food & consumables)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... certainly, supplemented products aren't new. Salt has been iodized for years. Products ranging from cereal (Special K) to shampoo (Suave with aloe) have boasted wellness-oriented additions for varying degrees of time. Recently, though, the...

Everything low-carb.(food & consumables)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... the trend toward low-carb diets--most often associated with names like Atkins--may not be getting the high-profile attention they once did, but many vendors are introducing product or marketing that will add to its momentum in 2004. ...

Meeting the needs of the Me generation: no one can afford to miss out on the next whitener craze.(health & beauty care)
December 15, 2003... mainstream America has adopted a "look good, feel good" approach to personal care, and that connection between beauty and health is on track to grow stronger in 2004. Consumers, educated by magazines and glitzy advertising campaigns, are...

At-home makeovers.(health & beauty care)(trends)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... magazines, touting the latest cosmetic treatments, have sent droves of consumers looking for affordable alternatives to the personal care aisle. In skin care, players continue to launch products with innovative advancements in technology and...

Men's pampering.(health & beauty care)(trends)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... There are men out there who don't bat an eyelash at the notion of a manicure and who stock their medicine cabinets with face creams and under-eye serums. Marketers have dubbed this group metro-sexuals--heterosexual men who unapologetically...

Ethnic beauty.(health & beauty care)(trends)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... Ethnic cosmetics for the general market may sound like an oxymoron, but to a growing number of beauty marketers it's a strategy that allows their brands to cast a wider net. As of July 1, 2002, the Hispanic population, at 38.8 million people,...

Tech growth is bright spot in PL mire: channel's reinvention will require new, innovative spirit.(office supplies)(private label features in trends)
December 15, 2003... Expectations of healthy economic growth next year are good news for office products retailers catering to small businesses and power home office users. As existing small businesses expand and entrepreneurs undertake new ventures during...

Imaging accessories.(office supplies)(digital cameras)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... the digital camera is a consumer electronics success story whose growth is a long way from being over. Household penetration rates currently stand at about 30%, so there are still millions of Americans taking pictures with analog cameras and...

Data storage devices.(office supplies)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... portable data storage products are poised for exceptional growth in the coming year thanks to increased usage of digital cameras, MP3 players, PDAs and camera phones. All these devices, as well as personal computers, enable consumers to...

Scrapbooking.(office supplies)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... considering that photo albums have been around since cameras were invented, it was understandable that product suppliers were met with cynicism several years ago when they began to use the word scrapbooking as a verb. As it turns out,...

Gearing up, literally, for a year of growth: sales in 2004 should exceed $50 bil. for the first time.(sporting goods)
December 15, 2003... Sporting goods retailers have reason to be optimistic heading into 2004, considering the industry has achieved a track record during the past decade of growing faster than the economy as a whole. If that proves to be the case again, then...

Motor sports.(sporting goods)(NASCAR related merchandise)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... Sales of NASCAR-licensed merchandise are poised to accelerate in the coming year for a few simple reasons. The 2004 racing season kicks of in early February with the Daytona 500, and when it does, NASCAR will have a new sponsor for its...

High-tech fitness.(sporting goods)(trends)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... It was not that long ago that selecting a quality treadmill for home use was a simple exercise. Once a consumer determined how they planned to use the machine, it became a process of selecting a model that had the right combination of...

Yoga.(sporting goods)(trends)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... One of the indisputable truths of the sporting goods industry is the rise and fall of trends in the fitness category. Aerobic dance, inline skating and stair climbing stand out as examples of activities whose rapid ascension in popularity...

Price wars bode ill for innovation: studios and entertainment properties offer best hope for future.(toys)(trends)
December 15, 2003... The soft economy has changed the face of many retail sectors in recent years, and toy retail is no exception. Annual toy sales have been stuck at around $20 billion since 2000, and toy specialists are being forced to reposition in a market...

Edutainment toys.(toys)(trends)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... The market for educational and learning toys started with simple products that taught preschool kids the basics. But now, industry leaders like LeapFrog and American Greeting's Learning Horizons are expanding the sector with toys that target...

Non-violent video games.(toys)(trends)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... Most of today's top-selling video games allow players to tote a gun and blast away at zombies, terrorists or rival mobsters. And while games like "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City" have grabbed headlines and huge sales, they've also created a...

Interactive plush.(toys)(trends)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... It used to be that plush dolls just had to be cute and soft to attract a following, and that combination worked a generation ago for the popular Care Bears. But the Tickle-Me Elmo craze of 1997 changed all that, and toy manufacturers are...

Home improvement engine still hot: decor, do-it-for-me could each see banner years in '04.(Hardware)(trends)
December 15, 2003... Strength of the home improvement market has been one of the bright spots in retailing this past year as other segments floundered through a tough economy. This pattern of success should continue next year as well, aided by favorable factors...

Laser-guided tools.(Hardware)(trends)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... Tools with sophisticated features are catching the eye of the discriminating do-it-yourselfer who enjoys home projects but is savvy enough to appreciate high-tech benefits. Laser features in power and hand tools are the hottest thing...

Shop organization.(Hardware)(trends)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... Benches, tool cabinets, books and shelves to organize a workshop in the garage or basement have become a strong hardware sales category fueled by increasing rates of home ownership and the growing popularity of do-it-yourself projects. ...

Outdoor lighting.(Hardware)(trends)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... Outdoor lighting is getting more sophisticated in pace with outdoor living. More consumers are enjoying their leisure hours outside and are looking to improve the experience with better lighting. Blinding floodlights, glaring lanterns and...

Accessories on track to outpace parts: the fuzzy dice of a new generation shows staying power.(automotives)
December 15, 2003... all signs point toward ongoing steady growth in automotive parts and accessories retailing next year, with sales shifting more toward nonessential extras as average drivers increasingly forsake do-it-yourself repairs and maintenance tasks....

High-performance parts.(automotives)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... muscle cars are back in style, this time with a modern-day twist as young hot rod enthusiasts experiment with revved-up imports such as Hondas, Toyotas and Mazdas. Aftermarket sales in the sport compact performance market grew 60% last...

DIY detailing.(automotives)(trends)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... Accessories that add personality, comfort or style to a vehicle are one of the highest-growth segments in the aftermarket. With the continual shift away from DIY repair, accessorizing is one activity drivers still enjoy. From basic...

On-board entertainment.(automotives)(trends)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2003... Just as the camcorder became a must-have item for new parents in the '80s and '90s, portable entertainment systems may become a necessity next year as a means of entertaining children during stressful commutes or long family road trips. ...