Monthly Archives: May 2009

Our Retailers are Better than Yours

By editor | May 27, 2009

The age old battle between the Brits and their distant American cousins rears its head again.  This time it’s not cookies versus biscuits, it’s retail design. 
American retailer Forever 21 is planning to launch in the UK market, reportedly on London’s Oxford Street. Falling real estate prices are encouraging some retailers to open up in markets that [...]

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Things Will Never Be the Same

By editor | May 20, 2009

It seems that retailers are making adjustments to the consumers new state of mind with the expectation that it will last beyond the end of the year.  One of those new mind states is what’s being called big box fatigue.  Shoppers are exhausted with huge, crowded, hard-to-navigate stores with little to no customer service.  So [...]

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Hot Retailers Offer Personalization and Simplicity

By editor | May 19, 2009

The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) recognized their list of the top retailers of 2009 today at the RECon convention in Las Vegas, Nevada.  This wasn’t the usual suspects – Walmart, Whole Foods, Urban Outfitters, etc.  ICSC highlighted boutique owners who provide a unique customer experience that draws shoppers to retail centers.  This is of special note [...]

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Forbes Echos Miller Zell’s Thoughts on the Future of Retail

By editor | May 14, 2009

Over and over in this blog we have warned that retailers must focus on enhancing the in-store customer experience or risk closing their doors.  Wednesday, Forbes ran an article echoing that very argument. John Karonis and Madison Riley even went so far as to suggest that this trend started well before the recession and has only [...]

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Rise of the Discount Store

By editor | May 12, 2009

Miller Zell’s January survey of shopper behavior found that 51% of shoppers said they were trading down from premium to discount grocery due to the economy. 45% were trading down from premium mass merchandisers to value mass merchandisers. This adjustment to new budget constraints is working in favor of discount retailers like Family Dollar, Dollar [...]

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