retail

Global Retail Intelligence – October 2016

To follow is a brief review of retail news from around the world: October 1 – D Mart, India The Business Standard (Mumbai) reports that India supermarket operator, D Mart “is looking to add over 60 per cent more space in the next three years. The chain, the third largest retailer after Future Group and Reliance Retail, has 3.4 million square feet of retail space now and is…

Global Retail Intelligence – September 2016

To follow is a brief review of retail news from around the world: August 26 – Walmart & ASDA, UK Bloomberg offered a review of the state of supermarket retailing in the UK including a suggestion that “Walmart should cut Asda loose. The U.S. retail giant has struggled with the U.K. supermarket it bought for 6.7 billion pounds ($8.9 billion) in 1999. A sale to a private…

Trends: Eating Where You Shop

More people are eating where they shop these days, especially Millennials, a generation prized by retailers for its size and potential consumerism. Overall, in-store dining and take-out of prepared foods from grocers has grown nearly 30 percent since 2008, accounting for 2.4 billion foodservice visits and $10 billion of consumer spending in 2015, according to a recently…

British Retail Sales Rose Strongly in July

The Wall Street Journal reported today that, post Brexit, “(UK) households largely shrugged off the referendum result and kept spending” with retail sales gaining 5.6% in July compared to a year earlier. For more information, please click here. …

Retail Profile: The Culinary Apple

Retailer: The Culinary Apple Location: Chelan, Wash. Founded: 1996 Owners: David and Mary Weldy Square footage: 1,600 sq. ft. in the retail space; less than 500 in the kitchen space Located in the heart of Washington State’s apple country, The Culinary Apple has taken a leaf from its surroundings with a housewares store stocked with all things apple. There are apple cookie…

Retail Alchemy

Gourmet retailers work hard to find the products their customers never knew they have always wanted. Walking trade show floors, developing relationships with vendors and manufacturer’s reps and going the distance to figure out how to get the best pricing, are part of the mix of a successful sale. But perhaps the most important element of that brew is observing what one’s own…

Retail Profile: The Kitchen Place

Retailer: The Kitchen Place Locations: Marlborough, Mass.; Salem, N.H. Owner: Pamela Sullivan Founded: 1987 Square footage: Marlborough--1700 sq. ft.; Salem--1,900 sq. ft. The first thing a customer notices about The Kitchen Place is a proud sign posted at the front of each of the two stores: “We are a locally owned business” it starts, noting that the stores have been…

Drinkware Parties On

Thanks to the two largest generations entering new life stages, and apparently celebrating along the way, specialty retailers say sales of drinkware continue to rise. Consumers between the ages of 25 and 34, otherwise known as Millennials, and Baby Boomers in their 50s and 60s are helping to fuel those sales, retailers say. Researchers at the NPD Group agree, noting in a…

Industry Update from the Japan DIY Industry Association

Information provided by the Japan DIY Industry Association shows remarkable development in the sales and number of DIY stores/home centers in Japan since the first DIY store was opened in the country over 40 years ago. There are now over 4,500 DIY stores/home centers in Japan with the annual general proceeds reaching 3.95 trillion yen. According to the annual report by the…