The Power of Retail

Sears is working hard to change its image and has teamed up with MTV to create a new back-to-school movie and will be adding to its line of street clothing and accessories that are designed by LL Cool J. The company has been redoing its image for quite some time now, trying to change people from thinking that all it sold was hardware, but sales have not been all that great and the so the company is trying to woo the young and the urban hip with this new line of clothing and branding.

According to Sears CMO, Richard Gerstein, “While mom may decide what the acceptable place is to shop, the kids are deciding what clothes they want and what places have it. If we come out of our season with much more relevance with this group, and improving our sales and profitability with this group, we think it’s a big win.” No one is sure whether these new initiatives will turn the tide for the company and rejuvenate its image and it will be interesting to watch.

…Some industry observers said they don’t believe Sears has the credibility to compete in the increasingly crowded teen market. Nor are they sure whether this latest effort will yield more success than previous initiatives aimed at bringing back shoppers.

“Trying to be everything to everybody is difficult because consumers have so many choices,” said Morningstar analyst Kim Picciola. “If they can manage to reinvent themselves, I think it will be a big win for them. But I think that’s going to be a challenge in this current environment.”

There are a lot of reasons to go on a diet and the biggest and most popular ones are usually to do with the summer season and looking good in a bikini. That’s the number one reason that people go on a diet as it starts getting warmer. There are a lot of new products on the market that promise you the perfect weight loss plan and one of the ones that has been getting a lot of notice is Phentermine. As with any weight loss plan or diet or pill, it is essential to do all the necessary background checks before you start off on it. Meeting with a doctor is always a good idea since you will be better placed to know how your body will respond to stress and strain. So, be smart and lose weight with caution.

Steve & Barry’s clothing company will likely be filing for bankruptcy this week itself. The company has been trying to raise finances in the past few weeks but has not been able to do so and will not have to sell its assets. The company has been discussing with Sears regarding a partial sale or a bail out. If the stores close, it will be a huge blow to the hundreds of mall owners who paid the company to move into empty spaces in their properties. If all of their 275 stores close, it will be the end of all 17,000 employees as well.

Steve & Barry’s has an annual turnover of $1.1 billion, but has been severely affected by its policy of keeping a razor thin profit margins. The company also makes a practice of opening stores in run-down and distressed locations on getting special payouts from the landlords, which has become unsustainable as the economy has weakened. Besides selling sports logo products, the company has become famous for its tie up with Sarah Jessica Parker for her Bitten line of clothing.

There are two types of people, those who dive head first into planning their funeral and those who avoid it like the plague. The fact of the matter is that no matter which way of thinking you have, it is important to plan for the future, whether you do it yourself or get someone to take care of it for you. Getting funeral insurance is actually not morbid at all, but it definitively is being organized and planning well into the future. What ever you decided to do, you have to remember that someone or the other will have to take care of the arrangements, so why not you. This way you can organize it the way you want to at least.

Walmart is no longer Wal-Mart! Yes, that’s right, the hyphen is gone, as is the star in the middle and it has been replaced by an organic looking flower at the end instead. Walmart has changed its logo several times before as well, and the last time was in 1992. This change was long overdue, since it had started looking very dated. The new logo will appear on stores by the fall, but is already coming in new print advertisements and TV commercials so consumers are getting quite familiar with it already.

The options for TVs can be quite confusing and add in the options of TV placements and you can be quite lost. It’s not all that complicated, it’s just that the variety of choices can be rather confusing, that’s all. I personally think that being able to use a LCD mount is a great way to save space and maybe even put a TV where it would not have been possible before. They are a really great way to utilize narrow spaces and turn them into a effective entertainment centers and even the focus of a room. I can’t imagine why someone didn’t think of this option earlier, since it really is a great way to take full advantage of your space.

Furniture and home giant Ikea is keen to focus on developing markets such as Russia, China and Eastern Europe after the cut down in spending in some of its major markets. At the opening of its 35th store in the US, located in Brooklyn, NYC, Anders Dahlvig the company’s chief executive stated that the housing downturn in the US had led to the slowdown in its global sales and did not expect a recovery for at least two years. He added that growth in many European countries was slowing down and that “A lot of things are going in the wrong direction.”

Besides the US, countries like the UK and Germany have been badly affected and even strong markets such as Spain have been effected with the downturn. The company’s outlets in Spain and Portugal had a record turnover of GBP1.19 billion this year, an increase of 42% over last years figures. So far the company has 11 stores in Spain and will be opening additional stores in Jerez, Granada, La Coruna, Valladolid and Madrid, aiming for a total of 40 stores by 2020. In total Ikea has 279 stores in 36 countries and hopes to reach 300 by the year end.

I’ve always been fond of jewelry and over the years have built up a nice collection of both costume and authentic jewelry. The two things that I must wear at all times are earrings and bracelets or bangles. I just feel too bare without them. Mind you, I’m not into wearing anything too jingly-jangly, it needs to be elegant and understated, and sometimes just something fun and bold. Since the gold here is so famous, I’ve been looking to get a nice gold bangle or two, something that I can wear almost on a daily basis, without looking like a Christmas tree. If you get the right carat of gold, it is sure to look really refined and classy instead of bold and brassy. I’ve already looked at options in a couple of places, but still haven’t found the kind that I’m really looking for, the kind that I will be happy to wear everyday. The hunt is always fun though!

Since I’m in retail, I do try to visit new malls and get a perspective of the shoppers and tores there. It’s not strictly business and is something that I do for my own research and writings, but since I’ve started taking photographs on a serious basis, I have enjoyed taking photos of different malls as well. Here is one of my favorite malls in terms of architecture and public space. It has been designed very differently from the regular malls and if you go there in the mornings, you will be sure to get some really great photos of the magnificence of the building. If you think it is a bit silly calling the architecture of a mall as magnificent, then you have to see it and really take it all in for yourself and you’ll know what I’m talking about. Read more about it and see more pictures here at the site for Dubai Festival City.

The upside of taking so many photographs is that it has really opened up a whole new world for me, but the downside is that I’m running out of memory! Thankfully, this problem is easily fixable and something that is also rather affordable. It would be nice if other problems had such simple and accessible solutions too, wouldn’t it? Oh well, that is the way it is I suppose. When it comes to memory, one always thinks that the space is enormous and one will never manage to fill it up, but with media files and photographs the space fills up surprisingly fast. I do enjoy taking pictures a lot, so this is something that I have to take care of as well!