Many companies, large and small, are faced with the idea that a brand name might die off, might have died off or be struggling. At right, the logo for the venerable department store Abraham & Straus. The original A&S store in Brooklyn is still open, but it is now aMORE HERE
How about a hopeful story of a brand that came back? Reader Brian Stevens of Indiana writes to us that the L. S. Ayres & Company was a fixture in Indianapolis (along with department stores like Block’s, Wasson’s, and L. Strauss) from 1872 until it was swallowed up by whatMORE HERE
Man, if you are anywhere near Florida, pick up some Gilda Crackers. Gilda’s are dry, non-salty crackers about the circumference of a mini-bagel. They are actually Cuban crackers. We were alerted to these wonderful baked crackers by Leorah Solomon, a South African-born, British educated soap maker and entrepreneuse in Sarasota,MORE HERE
The question for companies with long established brands is always how to keep a brand fresh for new consumers all the while keeping old consumers happy. That question is sometimes asked wrongly; sometimes it is better to keep a product fresh for current consumers who have grown tired of aMORE HERE
The news that Sears wants to buy Restoration Hardware shows that the venerable retailer is in desperate search of growth after its merger with Kmart. While merging the two retailers might not be a bad idea, the reality is that Sears Holding Corp. (Nasdaq: SHLD) needs its current crop ofMORE HERE
Give the Lady What She Wants. Are you listening, Macy’s? You heard a protest of 200 folks, telling you that they loved your store. While it might not seem like alot to you, the reality is that if 200 people would dress up on a Sunday afternoon in odd costumeMORE HERE
In our modern age, one of the biggest legacies we will leave is our products and services — the thousands of consumer items and corporate names that run through our lives: the Ukrop’ses and Capital Ones, the Reynolds Wraps and ChapSticks. Those names have evolved through the years. Indeed, theMORE HERE