The toy store brand FAO Schwarz is back, nationally. In lots of places, including middle-market airports. At airports, the retailer is a licensed boutique for travelers, selling candy and last-minute stuffed animals and assorted toy classics, such as an FAO Schwarz rubber ducky. One of their newest shops is atMORE HERE
The closure of many Kmart stores, and the potential for the shutting down of the entire chain, reminded me of F. W. Woolworth, better known as Woolworth’s. At the time of their closure in 1997, they had many long-term leases and at well below market rates. For thus reason alone,MORE HERE
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. – Kmart, a unit of Sears Holdings, has struggled for the last two decades. In the last two years, management has tried to give the brand focus, all the while suffering from old stores and less viable locations. This month, more bad news came as more storeMORE HERE
DEERFIELD, IL – Walgreens has a nifty new store brand for store-branded groceries. It’s called Nice, and it tries to take a snazzy approach to the basics, including coffee, rice and the like. Notice it’s “TM” rather than “R” on the packages. Interesting choice of a very generic word forMORE HERE
For those who like a traditional looking Christmas, there is no substitute to light from incandescent C-7 and C-9 light bulb, and no name more synonymous with Christmas lights than General Electric. One can make the case that the outdoor Christmas light has been one of the greater (and mostMORE HERE
Part of the reason I love brands is because I studied them at the Irvington Country Store. When I was 15, in 1979, my father bought a country store in Irvington, Virginia on the Northern Neck. It was a cool country store, and he did the right things with it,MORE HERE
TOLEDO – In a box of fabric, we found a little label for a dress store called Lamson Brothers. Every town used to have a Lamson Brothers, a stylish local department store that not only sold national labels, but stitched a few of its own labels into wholesale garments toMORE HERE
HOFFMAN ESTATES – As the most iconic and historic retailer in the U.S. and owner of some of America’s greatest brands, Sears, Roebuck & Co. made a major jump into social media with the launch of MySears.com last spring. It now has 1.9 million monthly unique visits; (the Sears.com siteMORE HERE
In the UK, companies are fighting over the legacy of Woolworth’s, which was thought to be dead. Not only has the name brand Woolworth’s been purchased by the British online retailer Shop Direct, but a number of companies have purchased individual stores and redone the Woolworth’s concept, with a slightlyMORE HERE
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Illinois – Sears Holdings (SHLD) announces earnings today; turns out their second-quarter loss is $94 million, or 79 cents a share, with revenue falling to $10.55 billion from $11.76 billion. I could have guessed it going into their Westfield Sarasota Square store. On our visit, the clerks wereMORE HERE