NEW YORK – Each year, as part of Christmas, we pull out a box of Shiny Brite glass ornaments. But each time, there are fewer and fewer. But we keep the box, as it reminds us of another era, when Americans actually made things. Eckardt was a German immigrant whoMORE HERE
PHILADELPHIA – A study released today on mall shoppers by Wharton’s Baker Retailing Initiative makes the case that malls need more interesting stores and better restaurants. The results seem obvious, but retailers have been missing major opportunities, and driving away customers at a time they can’t afford it, says PaulaMORE HERE
LONDON – Decades of missteps and a brutal retail recession have hurt the British retailer Woolworth’s, which was one of the few surviving legacies of the giant F.W. Woolworth Co., a company that closed in the U.S. in the late 1990s. In mid-November, the stock price was less than £2.MORE HERE
This morning, The Wall Street Journal reported that the company was considering liquidating inventory and was looking at debtor-in-possession financing. They have also hired FTI Consulting and Kmart’s Chapter 11 firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. It now appears that dire things are on the table. But theMORE HERE
We thought that the discount store layaway was gone. But this season, Kmart is pushing it in a new series of ads. In fact, in the small print on the ads, Kmart announces that they are the only major national retailer that does it. Good idea. While cannot predict whatMORE HERE
The new edition of the FAO Schwarz catalog is out. Read our analysis of the revived FAO brand at the post on our new website. It’s called Muppetational FAO Schwarz Catalog. Visit our main site for all the posts atwww.brandlandUSA.com Questions? E-mail Garland PollardMORE HERE
NEW YORK – The FAO catalog is out. Christmas is coming. Sure as the turn of leaves along the Taconic Parkway, the iconic New York toy retailer FAO Schwarz has released its fall offerings, this year with the Muppets on the cover. No matter the misery on Wall Street, atMORE HERE
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Whether a brand is new or old, you need a process for turning it around. So says Bobby Riley, CEO and Creative Director of Boston-based Soldier Design. Riley founded his own retail store Concepts and held an executive position at Burton Snowboards. Today his independent brand developmentMORE HERE
We ran across these in the Esquire 35th anniversary edition published in October 1968. They are the L.L. Bean “Double L” moccasins. Basically, they are Bean lace up bluchers with boat soles. Detail oriented preps will of course buy a pair of regular mocs and take them to the cobblerMORE HERE
Radio Shack, Reuters reports, has had an excellent quarter, in a time when other retailers have not. Wow. But let’s digress into nostalgia. It’s much more fun. As a child and as a devotee of brands, I shared a love (and frustration) with the Radio Shack (NYSE: RSH) of theMORE HERE