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
There are a large number of helpful websites that detail retail history. While Wall Street has finally understood the dangers lurking in American retail, these websites have been detailing what has been happening, some of them for the last decade. Many of them also have ideas and answers and solutions, shouldMORE 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
The site received this comment on a story of the value of the Carroll Reed brand, and we saved it as it related to the state of retail in the U.S. Carroll Reed, now owned by TJ Maxx, was one of the great catalog and sportswear brands, and it isMORE 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
CINCINNATI – This May, Procter & Gamble is offering limited edition, retro-packaged versions of Tide, Bounce and Downy, only available at Target. It’s an amusing promotion that helps to educate younger consumers about Tide’s legacy, while giving older consumers a bit of nostalgia. “Technology has changed how we wash andMORE 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
We heard from the Woodbine blog a question about brands that might be able to be revived, but be online only. The Woodbine Blog, part of the snazzy little Woodbine Agency in Winston-Salem, asks the question: Q: In the absence of any offline marketing support — no print, no TV,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