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	<title>Business &#38; MoneyCategory: Future of Retail &#124; Business &#38; Money &#124; TIME.com</title>
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		<title>Business &#38; MoneyCategory: Future of Retail &#124; Business &#38; Money &#124; TIME.com</title>
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		<title>How &#8216;Extreme Couponing&#8217; Is Ruining Coupons</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/05/23/how-extreme-couponing-is-ruining-coupons/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/05/23/how-extreme-couponing-is-ruining-coupons/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 23 May 2013 09:45:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Future of Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[couponing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[coupons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[double coupons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[extreme couponer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[extreme couponing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[grocery store]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jill Cataldo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kroger]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kroger's Ralphs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[supermarket]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Walmart]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=80453</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It always seemed mind-bogglingly difficult to achieve the kinds of savings portrayed on the TLC show &#8220;Extreme Couponing.&#8221; Thanks to tougher supermarket policies and the proliferation of less valuable coupons, extreme savings through coupons seems downright impossible. The best coupons have two key features: They offer discounts on the products you like and would be buying anyway, and the discounts are substantial enough to justify the time required for clipping them. Increasingly, however, American consumers are coming across coupons that have neither of these features. A NCH Marketing report released earlier this year indicated that there was a 17% drop in coupon redemption in 2012. Among consumers who used fewer coupons last year, the most popular explanation given for the decreasing in couponing was this: “I can’t find coupons for the products I want to buy.” (MORE: Former Extreme Couponer Admits: &#8216;It&#8217;s a Waste of Time&#8217;) What&#8217;s more, it&#8217;s getting more difficult to find coupons that save the shopper a decent chunk of change. In early May, Kroger, one of the world&#8217;s largest supermarket companies, lowered prices on thousands of items in its stores in Virginia, North Carolina, West Virginia, and elsewhere in the Mid-Atlantic region. You&#8217;d expect that news like that would be greeted with applause and gratitude from consumers. Instead, many shoppers have been grumbling that recent changes at Kroger will make them more likely to frequent dollar stores and Walmart—because Kroger&#8217;s price drops were accompanied by a ban on double couponing. The company had previously pulled the plug on double coupons in Texas and California, and spokesman Carl York told the Charleston (W.V.) Gazette that shoppers shouldn&#8217;t expect any stores to double coupons—turning 30¢ off coupon instantly into 60¢ off at the register—down the line. &#8220;I think double coupons is something that&#8217;s going to go away at some point,&#8221; York said. &#8220;The industry is moving away from that.&#8221; Regardless, shoppers have created a Bring Back Doubles Facebook page, and online commenters have been chiming in with observations comparing the move to JC Penney&#8217;s much-hated decision to scale<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=80453&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Saving</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/saving-saving-spending/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/bu002306-e13426289177591.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Coupons</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>For JC Penney, the Right Direction May Be … Reverse</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/05/17/for-jc-penney-the-right-direction-may-be-reverse/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/05/17/for-jc-penney-the-right-direction-may-be-reverse/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 May 2013 13:00:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Advertising]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Future of Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Apple Store]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[coupons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[discounts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fake prices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[J.C. Penney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[JC Penney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[JCP]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[logos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mike Ullman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ron Johnson]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=80187</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[JC Penney has its old CEO, Mike Ullman, in charge of the company again. Abundant sales and coupons have returned, as have brands that disappeared for a spell. In many ways, the JC Penney of old is back. Whether this is a good thing for the company remains to be seen. About month ago, within days of Ron Johnson being fired as CEO and Mike Ullman retaking his former position at the helm of JC Penney, Ullman quoted in the Wall Street Journal saying that there were no plans to bring back the old JC Penney. &#8220;I wouldn’t recommend that we go back to the way J.C. Penney was when I left,” he said. “Things change.” Still, JC Penney has essentially done a huge about-face in recent weeks, and it&#8217;s understandable why: The short-lived Johnson era, with its no-coupons stand and new focus on hip boutique brands, alienated customers and damaged sales badly. For the three-month span ending May 4, JC Penney reportedly lost $289 million, with sales decreasing 16.4% compared to a year ago &#8212; which was itself an awful period for the retailer. To bring back customers, JC Penney has been bringing back its traditional, pre-Johnson pricing and discount strategies. This week, jcpenney.com was littered with old-school discounts—for instance, 50% to 60% off patio furniture, and 30% to 40% off clothing with the St. John&#8217;s Bay label, the retailer&#8217;s exclusive brand that disappeared during the Johnson era and was brought back in March. (MORE: Splurge Surge! Luxury Spending on the Rise) Of course, there are those who view such discounts are straight-up frauds, based on artificially inflated list prices. Johnson himself would be in this camp. In January 2012, Johnson, the retail superstar who had helped turn Target and the Apple Store into huge success stories, promised to get rid of such &#8220;fake&#8221; prices and summarily slashed original prices by 40% or more. Shoppers weren&#8217;t crazy about the newly cheap list prices—because their arrival prompted the end of sales and coupons—and so in recent weeks the retailer has<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=80187&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Retail</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/retail-big-companies/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>The Hot New Online Retail Strategy: Pushing More In-Store Purchases</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/05/14/the-hot-new-online-retail-strategy-pushing-more-in-store-purchases/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/05/14/the-hot-new-online-retail-strategy-pushing-more-in-store-purchases/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 14 May 2013 13:00:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[E-commerce]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Facebook]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Future of Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[apparel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Banana Republic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cartwheel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[clothes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[drugstores]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gap]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Impulse Buy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[impulse purchase]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[in-store pickup]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[in-store reservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[online shopping]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rite Aid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Target]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=79879</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[You&#8217;d think that when retailers enhance their online shopping options, the goal would be increased online sales. Not so with Target, Gap and Rite Aid — which are adding new online tools with the hopes of boosting in-store sales. During the recent winter-holiday shopping season, retailers like Kohl&#8217;s, JCPenney and Sears were actively blurring the lines of online/off-line shopping with a mix of promotions — some meant to entice in-store shoppers to visit the store website, others intended to attract Web shoppers into physical stores. The offers represent the latest example of how we are living in an omnichannel &#8220;bricks and clicks&#8221; retail world, where shoppers are comfortable hunting for deals and making purchases in virtually every manner possible — and where retailers are therefore trying to reach shoppers everywhere they&#8217;re willing to spend. Even so, while retailers aren&#8217;t going to turn away online sales, it&#8217;s clear that they prefer shoppers to be walking among the aisles of tempting merchandise inside physical stores. Why? It&#8217;s assumed that consumers who make the effort to visit real-life stores are more serious about their intent to spend. The online experience is perfectly suited for quick, easy browsing. But all too often, the browsing doesn&#8217;t translate into actual purchases — hence the better-than-average chance of so-called shopping-cart abandonment. There are plenty of looky-loos in real-world stores as well, but the need for immediate gratification, and the way that holding an item, seeing it in person, or trying it on can push a shopper over the edge with desire, means that the in-store shopper is generally quicker to pull the trigger on purchases than his online counterpart. (MORE: Is Retail Therapy for Real? 5 Ways Shopping Is Actually Good for You) There&#8217;s also the impulse-purchase factor: consumers are more likely to make unplanned purchases in actual stores. According to a survey conducted last year by Dimensional Research and Wanderful Media, 65% of consumers who use their mobile devices to shop had made an impulse purchase online during the previous month, compared with 74% who had made<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=79879&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Future of Retail</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/future-of-retail/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>Forget &#8216;Buy American&#8217;? U.S. Retailers Push an &#8216;Imports Work&#8217; Campaign</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/05/13/forget-buy-american-u-s-retailers-push-an-imports-work-campaign/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/05/13/forget-buy-american-u-s-retailers-push-an-imports-work-campaign/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 13 May 2013 13:00:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Asia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy & Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Emerging Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Future of Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Manufacturing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[World Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[apparel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Buy American]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[china]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[imports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Made In America]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Made in China]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Made in the USA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[National Retail Federation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[socks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TAP America]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tariffs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trade Partnership Worldwide]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=79685</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Wanna support American workers? Buy imports. So says a new report, which claims that a cheap, robust imports marketplace not only helps American workers and families, but local farmers, manufacturers, and small businesses as well. You may not have noticed, but last week was promoted as something called &#8220;Imports Work Week.&#8221; The celebrate the importance of imports in the U.S., a group of business associations led by the National Retail Federation (NRF) has released a study showing the many ways that imports benefit American consumers and businesses alike. Cheaper prices are the most obvious benefit. &#8220;In the past decade, the price of television sets sold in the United States has dropped 87 percent. Computers have gone down 75 percent, toys 43 percent and dishes and flatware by a third,&#8221; the NRF&#8217;s Jon Gold explains in a blog post. &#8220;Why? The answer is easy – imports.&#8221; (MORE: Bangladesh Factory Collapse: Is There Blood on Your Shirt?) But the benefits don&#8217;t stop there, according to the study, which runs down how imports also help farmers, mom-and-pop businesses, working-class Americans, and even U.S. manufacturers. Here are a few of the groups that should love what imports do for them, per the report: • Imports improve American families’ standard of living. They help families make ends meet by ensuring a wide selection of budget-friendly goods, like electronics we use to communicate and many clothes and shoes we wear, and improve the year-round supply of such staples as fresh fruits and vegetables. • Imports support more than 16 million American jobs. A large number of these import-related jobs are union jobs, held by minorities and women, and are located across the United States. • More than half the firms involved in direct importing are small businesses, employing fewer than 50 workers. • American manufacturers and farmers rely on imports including raw materials and intermediate goods to lower their production costs and stay competitive in domestic and international markets. Factories and farms purchase more than 60 percent of U.S. imports. (MORE: Patriotic Consumer&#8217;s Dilemma: Hard to<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=79685&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Economy &amp; Policy</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/economy-policy/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/108000176-e1368115358271.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Detail of Made in China label on shirt</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Video: Sorry eBay &#8212; Turns Out Some Small Businesses Support the Marketplace Fairness Act</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/05/09/video-sorry-ebay-turns-out-some-small-businesses-support-the-marketplace-fairness-act/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/05/09/video-sorry-ebay-turns-out-some-small-businesses-support-the-marketplace-fairness-act/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 09 May 2013 20:30:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[E-commerce]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economics & Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy & Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Future of Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tax Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology & Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[War for the Web]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[eBay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Internet sales tax]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[loophole]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Main Street]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketplace Fairness Act]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[online sales tax]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[online shopping]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sales tax]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=79702</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Online giant eBay is leading the charge against legislation that would require sales tax to be collected on Internet sales. The mandate would be an unfair burden on small businesses, eBay says. And yet who are among the bill&#8217;s strongest supporters? Yep, small businesses. For years, online sellers have benefitted from what brick-and-mortar retailers call the &#8220;internet sales tax loophole.&#8221; For the most part, e-retailers are only required to charge customers sales tax if the vendor has a physical presence in the state where the purchase is being made. Consumers are supposed to pay the appropriate sales tax when they file their annual federal and state income taxes, but almost no one does. The situation gives e-commerce businesses an obvious pricing advantage over brick-and-mortar stores and online retailers with a physical presence in the state, which must always tack on sales tax. The Marketplace Fairness Act, which passed in the U.S. Senate and is now being considered in the House, would close this loophole. The legislation would allow states to require out-of-state vendors to collect sales taxes just like the physical stores at the customer&#8217;s location. (MORE: 5 Ways to Save Money Shopping Online, Regardless of New Internet Sales Tax Legislation) Amazon, the world&#8217;s largest e-retailer, has voiced support for online sales tax collection initiatives in recent years. The only big company that&#8217;s actively fighting the legislation today is eBay. Company CEO John Donahoe was quoted on NPR this week arguing that the law would hurt small businesses: If it&#8217;s allowed to play out things will still sell in eBay marketplace, but it will be larger and larger sellers that are doing the selling and the small guy will, over time, slowly be squeezed out. Currently, the Marketplace Fairness Act would exempt retailers with less than $1 million in annual revenues. Instead, eBay wants the exemption pushed to the $10 million revenue mark, which Donahoe pointed to as one of the criteria used in Obamacare to define a small business. &#8220;All we&#8217;re saying is an exemption at $10 million &#8211;<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=79702&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>E-commerce</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/e-commerce-companies-industries/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>JC Penney Reintroduces Fake Prices (and Lots of Coupons Too, Of Course)</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/05/02/jc-penney-reintroduces-fake-prices-and-lots-of-coupons-too-of-course/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/05/02/jc-penney-reintroduces-fake-prices-and-lots-of-coupons-too-of-course/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 02 May 2013 09:45:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Future of Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Odd Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Psychology of Money]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[anchoring]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[coupons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[discounts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[J.C. Penney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[JC Penney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[JCP]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[jcpenney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[online coupons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[price anchoring]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[promo codes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ron Johnson]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=79069</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In early 2012, JC Penney promised the end of &#8220;fake prices&#8221;—ones that were inflated just so that shoppers could be tricked into thinking the inevitable discounts represented amazing deals. Well, it&#8217;s already time to welcome back discounts and inflated prices alike. Among other reasons, JC Penney CEO Ron Johnson lost his job recently because customers seemed to hate the no-coupons, no-discounting &#8220;fair and square&#8221; pricing that was a core part of the retailer&#8217;s dramatic 2012 makeover. In a new ad, JC Penney is apologizing for the changes made under Johnson. &#8220;It&#8217;s no secret. Recently, JC Penney changed,&#8221; the ad&#8217;s voice-over states. &#8220;Some changes you liked and some you didn’t, but what matters from mistakes is what we learn. We learned a very simple thing, to listen to you.&#8221; &#8220;Come back to JCPenney,&#8221; the ad implores customers &#8212; especially the ones who were turned off by Johnson&#8217;s initiatives, one assumes. Nothing is specifically mentioned regarding pricing, coupons, or sales. And yet the ad, and JC Penney&#8217;s overall effort to woo back customers, has a lot to do with pricing, coupons, and sales. Soon after Johnson stepped down as JC Penney CEO, analysts began anticipating the return of &#8220;sales galore&#8221; as a magnet to win over alienated shoppers. Indeed, at first glance, it appears as if the sales are back in a big way. A recent JC Penney brochure lists dozens and dozens of items on sale for Mother&#8217;s Day, and an online-only coupon (promo code: DEAL4ME) offered shoppers 15% off on purchases of $100 or less, and 20% off orders over $100 made by May 2. (MORE: The 5 Big Mistakes That Led to Ron Johnson&#8217;s Ouster at JC Penney) But JC Penney&#8217;s changes of late aren&#8217;t limited to an uptick in sales and coupons. As Reuters reported in late March, even before Johnson was fired, the retailer had quietly started raising its &#8220;everyday&#8221; prices—mainly so that stores could regularly put them on sale and hope that more shoppers bite. &#8220;Under the strategy, an Arizona crewneck T-shirt that had an &#8216;everyday&#8217;<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=79069&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://business.time.com/2013/05/02/jc-penney-reintroduces-fake-prices-and-lots-of-coupons-too-of-course/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Smart Spending</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/saving-spending/smart-spending/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/jc-penney-new-branding1.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">JC-Penney-New-Branding</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Efficiency Backlash: Businesses Find Too Much Downsizing Can Hurt the Bottom Line</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/04/23/overdoing-efficiency-when-businesses-discover-they-cant-keep-downsizing-the-workforce/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/04/23/overdoing-efficiency-when-businesses-discover-they-cant-keep-downsizing-the-workforce/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 23 Apr 2013 09:45:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Careers & Workplace]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food and Beverage Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Future of Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Job Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Management & Leadership]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Work/Life Balance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Costco]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Darden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[darden restaurants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dining Out]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[efficiency]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fast food]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[JC Penney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[McDonalds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MIT]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[red lobster]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[restaurants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trader Joe's]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wages]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[waiters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Walmart]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=78213</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One national restaurant chain realizes that overburdening its employees hurts sales, as well as the company brand. Will more businesses follow its lead? In the business world, efficiency is king. The corporate quest to cut salaries and get more out of employees, thereby maximizing profits, is never-ending. At some point, however, increasing the workload on employees backfires. The burden becomes too much for workers to bear, and when employees are overwhelmed and can&#8217;t keep up with their duties, it&#8217;s just plain bad for business. Last week, Red Lobster basically admitted that it had crossed the line with the introduction of a policy aimed at increasing efficiency and lowering restaurant costs. In July 2012, the restaurant chain, owned by Orlando-based Darden Restaurants, eliminated the busboy position, demoted many waiters to lower-paid status as &#8220;service assistants&#8221; and forced the remaining full-fledged servers to increase the number of tables they handled from three to four. At the time, Red Lobster said the changes were being made after testing showed that diners and restaurant employees alike approved of the new policies. An Orlando Sentinel story published at the time of the switch offered some other perspectives: &#8216;We&#8217;re going to be completely worn out,&#8217; said Bob Meehan, a longtime server at Red Lobster in Lake Worth. &#8216;It&#8217;s definitely going to hurt service.&#8217; Chris Muller, dean of Boston University&#8217;s hospitality school, said worker morale will likely suffer. &#8216;If you don&#8217;t like the people you&#8217;re working with and for &#8230; it&#8217;s going to show,&#8217; he said. (MORE: Why Restaurants Have Been Holding Back on Hiking Menu Prices) Lo and behold, it appears as if Red Lobster is now acknowledging that these critics may have been on to something. Less than a year after the four-table policy was launched, the company announced it is reversing the decision, and waitstaff will go back to serving three tables at a time. A Red Lobster spokesperson told the Orlando Sentinel that while some customers liked the four-table policy, once it was introduced around the country, &#8220;far more folks told us that<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=78213&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://business.time.com/2013/04/23/overdoing-efficiency-when-businesses-discover-they-cant-keep-downsizing-the-workforce/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Retail</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/retail-big-companies/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/152362094-copy.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Pedestrians walk by a Red Lobster restaurant in Times Square in New York City on Sept. 19, 2012.</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f8de938518e7b986d552694ed99aa54d?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Social Media Manipulation? When &#8220;Indie&#8221; Bloggers and Businesses Get Cozy</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/04/22/social-media-manipulation-when-indie-bloggers-and-businesses-get-cozy/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/04/22/social-media-manipulation-when-indie-bloggers-and-businesses-get-cozy/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 22 Apr 2013 11:00:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Future of Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bloggers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blogs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chipotle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[endorsements]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Inner Circle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Neiman Marcus collection]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[social media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Target]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Target Inner Circle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[twitter]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=78055</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Brands have sought to partner with influential bloggers for nearly as long as there have been blogs, with ads, sponsored posts, and more. Lately, however, a new relationship between brands and popular social media practioners is emerging: It&#8217;s not a traditional endorsement deal, and yet an &#8220;independent&#8221; endorsement for the brand is all but guaranteed. So how exactly does that work? Well, for the companies involved, there is a simple two-step approach to establishing such relationships: 1) Locate people who love your brand and hold influence in the social media world; and 2) give these people even more reason to love your brand, so that they&#8217;ll use their influence to somehow help promote that brand. Chipotle is following such a strategy by giving free burritos for life to pro athletes. Free burrito cards aren&#8217;t being handed out willy-nilly to every well-known athlete, of course. Instead, the criterion is pretty obvious: The freebies are given to athletes who have already stated publicly (via Twitter, most likely) that they love Chipotle. [CLARIFICATION: A firm representing Chipotle reached out and clarified that these cards don't guarantee free burritos for life. Instead, cardholders get one free burrito per day for one year, with the opportunity to renew when the 12-month period is over.] The fast-casual chain is banking on the strong likelihood that if these athletes are munching on its burritos for free regularly, they&#8217;ll plug the brand occasionally. The athletes aren&#8217;t official spokespeople and aren&#8217;t featured in company ads. But in essence, they are endorsing Chipotle, and they&#8217;re being &#8220;paid&#8221; for their endorsement in the form of free burritos. (MORE: Stealth Celebrity Endorsement: No Money Changing Hands, Just Free Burritos) Popular bloggers, on the other hand, often agree to relationships with brands that might include official sponsorships, invitations to focus groups on products in the works, or special perks such as freebies or sneak peeks at merchandise before it&#8217;s in stores. In 2009, the FTC released guidelines that require full disclosure of &#8220;material connections&#8221;—sponsorships, free products and perks, and any money changing hands<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=78055&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://business.time.com/2013/04/22/social-media-manipulation-when-indie-bloggers-and-businesses-get-cozy/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Smart Spending</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/saving-spending/smart-spending/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/24006341.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Target Corp. Reported A 4 percent increase in second-quarter profits</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f8de938518e7b986d552694ed99aa54d?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Tale of Two Supermarkets: Why Fresh &amp; Easy Flopped and Fairway Flies High</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/04/18/tale-of-two-supermarkets-why-fresh-easy-flopped-and-fairway-flies-high/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/04/18/tale-of-two-supermarkets-why-fresh-easy-flopped-and-fairway-flies-high/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 18 Apr 2013 09:45:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food and Beverage Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Future of Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aldi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Arizona]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[california]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fairway]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fairway Market]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fresh & Easy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[groceries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[grocery store]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[las vegas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nevada]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New York]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[supermarket]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tesco]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trader Joe's]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Whole Foods]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=77975</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This week, the death of one high-profile grocery chain, and the ascendancy of another, tells us a lot about what Americans want in a supermarket—and what we&#8217;re just not buying. On Wednesday, Fairway, the beloved New York-centric supermarket chain, went public, and shares of the company quickly shot up 39%. Born as a produce stand on Manhattan&#8217;s Upper West Side, Fairway now has a dozen locations, and it plans on opening as many as 300 stores around the country. Also on Wednesday, news spread that Fresh &#38; Easy, the supermarket brand launched in the U.S. five years ago by Tesco, Britain&#8217;s biggest grocery company, was officially a failure. Tesco announced it would cut its losses on Fresh &#38; Easy, taking a write-off of roughly $1.8 billion. The 200 existing Fresh &#38; Easy stores, all in the American West, are up for sale. Most would agree with Philip Lempert, editor of Supermarket Guru, who said in a phone interview, &#8220;Tesco is one of the smartest retailers on the planet. They&#8217;re not a dumb company at all.&#8221; And yet, as Burt Flickinger III of the retail consulting firm Strategic Resource Group put it in a Los Angeles Times article, &#8220;Tesco&#8217;s failure will rank as one of the biggest among food retailers in modern supermarket history.&#8221; (MORE: The 5 Big Mistakes That Led to Ron Johnson&#8217;s Ouster at JC Penney) What happened? And what has Fairway done differently that has it headed in exactly the opposite direction of Fresh &#38; Easy? While both are in the same business, Lempert said, &#8220;They really represent the two extremes of what&#8217;s going on in grocery retail.&#8221; Here are a few of areas where the differences are readily apparent. Understanding Customers &#38; Locations The first Fresh &#38; Easy opened in the U.S. in 2007. Tesco originally planned on having 200 stores by the end of 2009, and upwards of 400 locations by early 2013. Instead, by the fall of 2010, when the total stood at 168 U.S. locations, the company announced it was &#8220;mothballing&#8221; 13 stores, including<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=77975&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Food and Beverage Industry</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/food-and-beverage-industry/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/166829339.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Fairway Group Jumps in Trading After Pricing IPO Above Range</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f8de938518e7b986d552694ed99aa54d?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Attention JC Penney Shoppers, Look Out for the Return of &#8216;Sales Galore&#8217;</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/04/16/attention-jc-penney-shoppers-look-out-for-the-return-of-sales-galore/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/04/16/attention-jc-penney-shoppers-look-out-for-the-return-of-sales-galore/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 16 Apr 2013 09:45:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Apple]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Future of Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Odd Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Psychology of Money]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[coupons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[deals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[discounting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[J.C. Penney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[JC Penney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[JCP]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[jcpenney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[markdowns]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mike Ullman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ron Johnson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sales]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=77832</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[After months of abysmal sales tallies, the Ron Johnson era is over at JC Penney. Now that Johnson&#8217;s &#8220;fair and square&#8221; no-coupons pricing policies have proved to be a failure, the department store will have to try something else to win back customers and stop the bleeding. But what? Mike Ullman, who was replaced as CEO when Johnson took over at JC Penney in 2011, and who began serving again as top executive when Johnson was pushed out, told the Wall Street Journal that he wasn&#8217;t planning on reverting to the old business model. &#8220;I wouldn&#8217;t recommend that we go back to the way J.C. Penney was when I left,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Things change.&#8221; And yet, in some ways the department store is clearly trying to resemble the JC Penney of old. Management has already announced that newspaper ads will feature coupons once again. Johnson seemed to find coupon usage distasteful and silly, likening it to a drug that consumers needed to be weaned off. A little over a year after JC Penney went &#8220;drug-free,&#8221; so to speak, coupons are back. (MORE: The 5 Big Mistakes That Led to Ron Johnson&#8217;s Ouster at JC Penney) Some retail experts think that the return of coupons is just the tip of the iceberg. John Sculley, former CEO of Apple, said on Bloomberg TV that it was absolutely essential for JC Penney to &#8220;get the cash flow of those old customers back into the store. And how did they do it before?&#8221; Sculley asked, before answering his own question. &#8220;They did it with sales.&#8221; A new study indicates that JC Penney&#8217;s shoppers are older, poorer, and more price-sensitive than the average customer at, say, Target or Macy&#8217;s. It&#8217;s assumed that an announcement of major markdowns is the quickest (and perhaps only) strategy to bring these customers back to JC Penney. Martin Sneider, a retail professor at Washington University, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he anticipates a flood of deals and discounts, at least in the short run while JC Penney is desperate<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=77832&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Smart Spending</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/saving-spending/smart-spending/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/jc-penney-new-branding1.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>The 5 Big Mistakes That Led to Ron Johnson&#8217;s Ouster at JC Penney</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/04/09/the-5-big-mistakes-that-led-to-ron-johnsons-ouster-at-jc-penney/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/04/09/the-5-big-mistakes-that-led-to-ron-johnsons-ouster-at-jc-penney/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 09 Apr 2013 15:50:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Executive Pay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Future of Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Leadership]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Management & Leadership]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bill Ackman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[coupons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fair and square pricing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[J.C. Penney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[JC Penney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[JCP]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[jcpenney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mike Ullman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ron Johnson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sales]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=77302</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In the fall of 2011, Ron Johnson was appointed not just as CEO of JC Penney, but as the savior responsible for breathing new life into one of the dowdiest dinosaurs in American retail. Seventeen months—and many, many mistakes—later, he&#8217;s out of a job. What happened? Let&#8217;s just point this out upfront: By most accounts, Johnson was trying to accomplish the seemingly impossible with a radical reinvention of the JC Penney brand. Many thought that if anyone could do it, it was Johnson, the retail superstar credited for making Target hip and turning the Apple Store into a monster success story. His plans were bold—too bold, virtually everyone now agrees. Correspondingly, he was removed as CEO not because he came up a little short of the goals set for the company. He was ousted because he failed in spectacular fashion. The superlatives used to describe Johnson&#8217;s failures surfaced long before he lost his job. Customer Growth Partners analyst Craig Johnson (no relation to Ron, we hope) told MarketWatch in February that Ron Johnson seemed bound for the &#8220;consumer hall of shame.&#8221; Last month, one retail expert weighed in with this brutal assessment of Johnson in the New Yorker: &#8220;There is nothing good to say about what he’s done,” Mark Cohen, a former C.E.O. of Sears Canada, who is now a professor at Columbia, said. “Penney had been run into a ditch when he took it over. But, rather than getting it back on the road, he’s essentially set it on fire.” (MORE: JC Penney Ousts CEO Ron Johnson) Bill Ackman, the hedge-fund tycoon who recruited Johnson to take over at JC Penney in 2011, and who has defended Johnson several times in the months since, recently turned on him, using the phrase &#8220;something close to a disaster&#8221; to describe Johnson&#8217;s impact on the company. So what did Johnson do that was so bad? He Misread What Shoppers Want In early 2012, Johnson announced a major overhaul of the way JC Penney does business, with a new &#8220;fair and square&#8221; everyday low<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=77302&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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	<primary_category>Retail</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/retail-big-companies/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Can the Boutique &#8216;Store-Within-a-Store&#8217; Concept Save Big Box Retailers from Extinction?</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/04/08/can-the-boutique-store-within-a-store-concept-save-big-box-retailers-from-extinction/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/04/08/can-the-boutique-store-within-a-store-concept-save-big-box-retailers-from-extinction/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 08 Apr 2013 12:00:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Future of Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Apple]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Apple Store]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Best Buy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[boutique]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[designers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[electronics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[JC Penney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[JCP]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[jcpenney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Missoni]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Neiman Marcus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ron Johnson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Samsung]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Samsung Experience Shops]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shops at Target]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[store within a store]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Target]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=76954</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Last week, Best Buy introduced the Samsung Experience Shop. It&#8217;s a kiosk, or a &#8220;store with the store&#8221; that&#8217;ll feature only Samsung products, located inside Best Buys around the country. By the end of May, Samsung Experience Shops will be installed in 900 Best Buy stores, and 500 more are planned. Best Buy may be launching one of the biggest store-within-a-store initiatives, but it&#8217;s not the only retailer that&#8217;s experimented with the concept. Why are major chain retailers drawn to the idea? Forrester Research&#8217;s Sucharita Mulpuru says that if a store within a store is done well, the host retailer gets to enjoy a boost in foot traffic (and sales) without the usual amount of legwork. &#8220;The retailer no longer has the burden of managing inventory and managing the appearance of the display,&#8221; says Mulpuru. &#8220;They become a &#8216;landlord&#8217; of sorts.&#8221; When successful, a store within the store will also improve the appeal of both brands among consumers and other businesses alike. Any retailer would love that. But for a struggling retailer such as Best Buy, the store-within-a-store operation could be critical. The Associated Press quoted Morningstar analyst R.J. Hottovy saying that the Samsung partnership shows that &#8220;a very high-profile consumer electronics vendor still finds Best Buy a relevant distribution outlet.&#8221; (MORE: I Bought Something from a Best Buy Vending Machine and It Didn&#8217;t Go So Well) Likewise, the hope is that JCPenney&#8217;s store-within-a-store concept, which has been in the works for more than a year now, would breathe new life into a brand that some feel is on its deathbed. When CEO Ron Johnson announced a dramatic makeover of the JCPenney brand in early 2012, one of the key components of the plan was the introduction of boutique-style &#8220;Shops&#8221; within the larger store, with each section focused strictly on Levi&#8217;s, Liz Claibourne, Joe Fresh, or another brand. So far, the concept has mostly seemed successful for JCPenney. Some of the first minishops have been outselling the rest of the store by 20%, and most retail analysts say that the<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=76954&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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	<primary_category>Retail</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/retail-big-companies/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Beyond Showrooming: 3 Quirky Ways Smartphones Are Changing How We Shop</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/03/29/beyond-showrooming-3-quirky-ways-smartphones-are-changing-how-we-shop/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/03/29/beyond-showrooming-3-quirky-ways-smartphones-are-changing-how-we-shop/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 29 Mar 2013 09:45:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kit Yarrow</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Future of Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Odd Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Psychology of Money]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Publishing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[candy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[checkout line]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gum]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[impulse buys]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[impulse purchases]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iPhones]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Magazines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[showrooming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[smartphones]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=75965</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When shoppers met the smartphone, they quickly learned that the device was ideal for shopping around &#8212; while shopping in person. They could do things like check Kelley Blue Book prices at car dealerships, or see if a dress in a store was being sold for less at the shop down the street—or online. More than half of Americans now own smartphones, and it&#8217;s this practice of &#8220;showrooming&#8221;—touching and feeling merchandise in stores before consulting the smartphone for a better deal—that seems to have most changed how consumers shop lately. But there are other, quirkier and somewhat unexpected ways that smartphones are affecting the retail scene. Here are three: Fewer Impulse Purchases in Checkout Lines The people waiting in a store checkout line are considered a captive audience—one that might be tempted into buying candy, soda, celeb magazines, and any number of goods, without thinking much of it. But smartphones seem to be more interesting than the magazine cover featuring Kim Kardashian’s latest antics. Single sale copies of magazines, largely purchased while waiting in line at the grocery store, are down 8.2% from last year. Sales of gum have taken a hit, too, declining 5.5% last year. Evidently, instead of amusing ourselves examining new gum flavors, we’re checking our emails or playing Angry Birds. (MORE: Why We&#8217;re So Irrational When It Comes to Tax Refunds) More Shopping Collisions In my research, I speak with lots of consumers, including Brett, who has been a weekly regular at San Francisco’s popular Saturday morning farmers market since it opened. Not anymore, though. “It’s always been crowded but now it’s impossible,&#8221; Brett told me. &#8220;Everyone’s looking down at their phone, blocking passageways, walking right into you sometimes. It’s rude.” Another shopper named Julie feels the same way about shopping at Ross. “I was trying to make my way around this rack and there’s this girl just texting away, oblivious,” she said. It&#8217;s not just consumers who tell me there&#8217;s an epidemic of smartphone-distracted shoppers out there, some who obliviously bump into strangers while staring<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=75965&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Odd Spending</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/saving-spending/odd-spending/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/143174930-e1364416548141.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Young couple shopping at supermarket</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">TIME.com</media:title>
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		<title>Hey Walmart, It&#8217;s Hard to Make Sales When Store Shelves Are Empty</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/03/27/hey-walmart-its-hard-to-make-sales-when-store-shelves-are-empty/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/03/27/hey-walmart-its-hard-to-make-sales-when-store-shelves-are-empty/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 27 Mar 2013 15:39:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Careers & Workplace]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Future of Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Job Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[restocking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[understaffing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wal-Mart]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Walmart]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=75846</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One way that Walmart keeps prices low is with minimal staffing levels in stores. But shoppers and workers alike are complaining that Walmart is understaffed, and the results include annoyingly long checkout lines and shelves that are barren—because there&#8217;s no one available to restock them. A new Bloomberg News article lays out the argument that Walmart stores just don&#8217;t have enough employees on the job: In the past five years, the world’s largest retailer added 455 U.S. Wal-Mart stores, a 13 percent increase, according to filings and the company’s website. In the same period, its total U.S. workforce, which includes Sam’s Club employees, dropped by about 20,000, or 1.4 percent. It&#8217;s not surprising that the story features plenty of anecdotal evidence from customers relating their frustrating experiences dealing with Walmart workers, who seem overburdened and/or inept. “You wait 20, 25 minutes for someone to help you, then the person was not trained on mixing paint,” said one customer, a father of six from California who was trying to buy wall paint. &#8220;It was like, you have to help them help you.” (MORE: Is Walmart&#8217;s Buy American/Hire Veterans Initiative Anything More Than a PR Stunt?) What may be surprising, however, is that Walmart employees feel strongly enough about understaffing that they&#8217;re talking to the press about it. “The merchandise is in the store, it just can’t make the jump from the shelf in the back to the one in the front,” a meat and dairy stocker who works at a Walmart in Erie, Pa., said. “There’s not the people to do it.” Other workers say that stores miss out on sales because there aren&#8217;t enough employees to answer customer questions and get items out from behind jewelry counters. Walmart workers also claim that store managers get bonuses partly by keeping employee payrolls down. The story comes one month after another Bloomberg News piece featured the minutes of a Walmart meeting, in which executives reportedly said stores were &#8220;getting worse&#8221; at restocking shelves, and that &#8220;self-inflicted wounds” represented the &#8220;biggest risk&#8221; to<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=75846&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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	<primary_category>Retail</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/retail-big-companies/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/walmartoutside1.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Walmart</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>The Bigger Box Store: Home Improvement Stores That Are Double the Size of Home Depot</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/03/19/the-bigger-box-store-home-improvement-stores-that-are-double-the-size-of-home-depot/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/03/19/the-bigger-box-store-home-improvement-stores-that-are-double-the-size-of-home-depot/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 19 Mar 2013 13:30:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Future of Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Home Improvement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[big box retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[DIY]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Home Depot]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lowe's]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Menards]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[midwest]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[St. Louis]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=74828</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The average grocery store in the U.S. measures under 50,000 square feet. Home Depots average about 100,000 square feet, and the typical Costco or Walmart Supercenter—generally considered the biggest of all big box retailers—runs 100,000 to 150,000 square feet. But a new breed of home improvement store in the Midwest blows them all away. Menards, a Wisconsin-based home improvement chain founded in 1958, has been introducing a new store model throughout the Midwest that measures well over 200,000 square feet. In 2011, the company opened a revamped, dramatically expanded two-floor, 235,000-square-foot store in Eden Prairie, Minn., that &#8220;makes a Costco or Wal-Mart Supercenter look modest by comparison,&#8221; according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. In addition to a huge selection of home improvement DIY supplies, the store also stocks groceries, stuffed animals, clothing, jewelry, and drugstore staples. Another mega-Menards opened in Golden Valley, Minn., last year with, for instance, 41 different full kitchens on display for customers. With 5-pound vats of Cheetos and 17 shades of black spray paint among the options in aisles, the 250,000-square-foot store is &#8220;everything both mesmerizing and horrifying about our consumer culture,&#8221; in the words of an MSP Magazine editor who toured the place after it opened. (MORE: Are We Witnessing the Death of the Big Box Store?) Two more 200,000-plus-square-foot Menards will be opening this spring in the St. Louis area, each complete with &#8220;a full-service lumberyard and warehouse that shoppers can drive into,&#8221; reports the Post-Dispatch. While it wasn&#8217;t particularly surprising when Menards launched its first supersized store in the pre-recession, bigger-is-always-better mid-00s, it&#8217;s definitely against trend to be opening new megastores—and larger ones at that—lately. For years, observers have been postulating that the big-box store model is dying, thanks to factors including the struggling economy, the growth of online shopping, and rising real estate costs. Instead of pushing for bigger and bigger locations, chains such as Best Buy, Cabela&#8217;s, Office Depot, and Walmart have been more likely to be introducing smaller &#8220;express&#8221; stores with less merchandise—and less costly overhead. What makes Menards think it<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=74828&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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	<primary_category>Retail</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/retail-big-companies/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/891356-001.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Forklift in warehouse</media:title>
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		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f8de938518e7b986d552694ed99aa54d?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Amazon Prime: Bigger, More Powerful, More Profitable than Anyone Imagined</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/03/18/amazon-prime-bigger-more-powerful-more-profitable-than-anyone-imagined/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/03/18/amazon-prime-bigger-more-powerful-more-profitable-than-anyone-imagined/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 18 Mar 2013 12:00:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[E-commerce]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Future of Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology & Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Amazon Prime]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[College Students]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Free]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[free shipping]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jeff Bezos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[same-day delivery]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=74847</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Amazon’s competitors — a group that basically includes every retailer under the sun nowadays — have more reasons than ever to fear the world&#8217;s largest e-retailer. Membership in Amazon Prime, the service that includes unlimited free two-day shipping and tends to boost customer spending at Amazon dramatically, has doubled in less than two years. Analysts predict it&#8217;ll easily double again by 2017. Last week, a report from Morningstar and Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) estimated that there are now 10 million subscribers to Amazon Prime, which offers free streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows and, most important, free two-day shipping on most Amazon purchases. The service usually costs $79 annually, though it&#8217;s cheaper for college students ($39 annually, after six months free). It&#8217;s unclear exactly how many Prime subscribers there are at any given time (Amazon doesn&#8217;t make this info public), but it sure looks like membership soared. It&#8217;s been estimated that there were fewer than 7 million subscribers at the start of 2012 and about 4 million members in the fall of 2011. The numbers have likely been boosted by Amazon including free Prime trials with sales of the Kindle tablet, but even so, the increases are impressive — and are presumed to keep occurring with regularity. The Morningstar report predicted that there could be 25 million Prime members by 2017. (MORE: Is There a Future for Same-Day Delivery? How About Online Grocery Shopping?) Even more interesting than the growing Prime ranks is what Prime seems to do to subscribers. A 2010 Businessweek story stated that Amazon Prime broke even within three months of launching, not the two years predicted by its creators. That&#8217;s because customers spent as much as 150% more at Amazon after they became Prime members. Subscribers not only ordered more often, but after paying the $79 fee, they started buying things at Amazon that they probably wouldn&#8217;t have in the past. Since shipping was always speedy and free, members saved themselves a trip to the store for things like batteries and coffee beans.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=74847&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Amazon</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/technology-media/amazon/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/amazon1.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Amazon.com</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f8de938518e7b986d552694ed99aa54d?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Online Shoppers: Meh, Same-Day Shipping Isn&#8217;t That Big a Deal</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/03/12/online-shoppers-meh-same-day-shipping-isnt-that-big-a-deal/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/03/12/online-shoppers-meh-same-day-shipping-isnt-that-big-a-deal/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 12 Mar 2013 16:28:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[E-commerce]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Future of Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Google]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology & Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[deals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[eBay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[free shipping]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Google Express Shopping]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[millennials]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[online shopping]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[same-day delivery]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[same-day shipping]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shutl]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Steve Jobs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Walmart]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=74097</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Same-day delivery is being pumped up as a major step for e-retail—the service that&#8217;ll boost online shopping sales into the next stratosphere. There&#8217;s one minor problem, though: Shoppers don&#8217;t seem to want it all that much. Last week, TechCrunch reported that Google is getting ready to launch a same-day shipping service called Google Shopping Express. The move will put Google into what&#8217;s quickly become a crowded field of services offering speedy and same-day delivery, including web titans Amazon and eBay, the world&#8217;s biggest retailer Walmart, and smaller upstarts such as a UK upstart called Shutl. Big money is being spent developing same-day delivery services, so the players involved obviously think that there is big money to be made down the line. But will that actually happen? According to a survey of shoppers conducted by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), the idea of same-day shipping doesn&#8217;t get consumers particularly excited. Shoppers are far more likely to buy online due to factors that have been boosting e-sales for years: cheap prices and free shipping. According to the press release announcing the survey results: Only 9 percent of the 1,500 U.S. consumers surveyed cited same-day delivery as a top factor that would improve their online shopping experience, while 74 percent cited free delivery and 50 percent cited lower prices. (MORE: Office Depot/OfficeMax Merger Another Nail in the Coffin of Traditional Retail) Same-day shipping will be merely &#8220;a niche service in the near future,&#8221; BCG partner Rob Souza said. Today&#8217;s wealthy urban millennials (household income of $150K+) are the group most likely to want the service—and be willing to pay $10 or so for it. Most other consumers, however, say they&#8217;d pay $6 tops for same-day delivery. That&#8217;s cheaper than what the service typically costs in test markets, and at that kind of price point it may be difficult if not impossible to be profitable. &#8220;Retailers may choose to offer it to build customer loyalty, enhance brand awareness, or keep up with the competition,&#8221; Souza concluded in the BCG press release. &#8220;But it is<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=74097&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Future of Retail</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/future-of-retail/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Amazon Gets More Same-Day-Delivery Competition: Shutl Coming to 20 Cities</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/03/01/amazon-gets-more-same-day-delivery-competition-shutl-coming-to-20-cities/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/03/01/amazon-gets-more-same-day-delivery-competition-shutl-coming-to-20-cities/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 01 Mar 2013 19:59:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[E-commerce]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Future of Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology & Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[online shopping]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[same-day delivery]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[same-day shipping]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[shipping]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shutl]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=73382</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Do you want some stuff, but don&#8217;t want to leave the couch? A new same-day delivery service promises near-instant gratification for millions of online shoppers all over North America. This week, a UK-based company called Shutl announced that it will begin offering its same-day delivery services next month in Chicago, New York City, and San Francisco. Shoppers will be able to purchase goods online from three as-yet-unnamed major U.S. retailers, and delivery within 90 minutes of the order will cost around $10. After the initial rollout, Shutl has plans to expand to a total of 20 North American cities—those above, as well as Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle, Tampa, Washington, Montreal, and Toronto. Shutl, which was founded in London in 2009, currently operates in 60 cities in the UK, serving 75% of the population. The company claims that one-third of its orders are delivered within an hour. Customers will have the option of placing orders 24/7, and in situations when a retailer isn&#8217;t open for pickup at, say, 2:30 a.m., shoppers can specify a one-hour time window the following day when they&#8217;d like to accept delivery. Even so, what makes this upstart operation think it can compete with Amazon.com, which is the world&#8217;s largest e-retailer and has been increasing same-day delivery options over the years? (MORE: Is There a Future for Same-Day Delivery? How About Online Grocery Shopping?) Well, Shutl maintains that it can offer same-day delivery in a smarter, faster, more cost-effective way than Amazon or any other same-day shipping service. (It&#8217;s assumed that Amazon, eBay, and others testing same-day delivery are losing money with their services, at least for the time being.) Shutl keeps costs low because it doesn&#8217;t hire drivers or own trucks. It&#8217;s merely a software company that coordinates orders with local retailers and courier companies. Speaking to Wired, Shutl CEO Tom Allason explained that its model, which arranges pickups only for customers who live within 10 miles of a store accepting the order, has an<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=73382&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>E-commerce</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/e-commerce-companies-industries/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Groupon Fires CEO Andrew Mason: The Rise and Fall of Tech&#8217;s Enfant Terrible</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/03/01/groupon-fires-ceo-andrew-mason-the-rise-and-fall-of-techs-enfant-terrible/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/03/01/groupon-fires-ceo-andrew-mason-the-rise-and-fall-of-techs-enfant-terrible/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 01 Mar 2013 13:00:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sam Gustin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Future of Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Groupon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Management & Leadership]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Silicon Valley]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology & Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wall Street & Markets]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=73411</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It was only a matter of time. Groupon fired its charismatic CEO Andrew Mason on Thursday after a tumultuous tenure pockmarked by accounting gaffes, sophomoric stunts and a whopping 77% decline in the company&#8217;s share price. Mason&#8217;s firing, which was expected, came one day after Groupon delivered a net loss of $81 million for the previous quarter, sending its stock price down a vertigo-inducing 24% in one day. &#8220;I was fired today,&#8221; Mason wrote in a letter to employees. &#8220;If you&#8217;re wondering why &#8230; you haven&#8217;t been paying attention.&#8221; He cited the company&#8217;s controversial accounting techniques, its failure to meet its own financial projections, and its deep and dramatic stock decline. &#8220;The events of the last year and a half speak for themselves,&#8221; Mason wrote. &#8220;As CEO, I am accountable.&#8221; Mason, 32, who is worth more than $200 million, wrote that he is &#8220;O.K. with having failed at this part of the journey,&#8221; and compared Groupon to the 1990s-era video game Battletoads, writing, &#8220;It would be like I made it all the way to the Terra Tubes without dying on my first ever play through.&#8221; (See this explanation of that reference.) Mason then went on to say that he is &#8220;looking for a good fat camp to lose my Groupon 40, if anyone has a suggestion.&#8221; (MORE: The Social-Media-Tech IPO Boom: An Insider’s Game?) Groupon&#8217;s board statement was more conservative. &#8220;On behalf of the entire Groupon board, I want to thank Andrew for his leadership, his creativity and his deep loyalty to Groupon,&#8221; said Groupon executive chairman Eric Lefkofsky, who has been appointed to the newly created office of the chief executive, along with vice chairman and veteran tech entrepreneur Ted Leonsis. Groupon&#8217;s board had weighed showing Mason the door since late last year. Mason&#8217;s firing pushed Groupon shares 4% higher, but it by no means solves the company&#8217;s problems, even if it removes a source of investor concern. &#8220;Mason&#8217;s departure is largely symbolic,&#8221; wrote Rakesh Agrawal, a tech consultant and prominent Groupon critic who is short the company&#8217;s stock. &#8220;[The] company has huge structural challenges that his ouster<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=73411&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Technology &amp; Media</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/technology-media/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/131401263.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Andrew Mason, chief executive officer of Groupon Inc., center, speaks at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York on Nov. 4, 2011.</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">shgustin</media:title>
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		<title>Office Depot/OfficeMax Merger: Another Nail in the Coffin of Traditional Retail?</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/02/21/office-depotofficemax-merger-another-nail-in-the-coffin-of-traditional-retail/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/02/21/office-depotofficemax-merger-another-nail-in-the-coffin-of-traditional-retail/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 21 Feb 2013 16:10:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Christopher Matthews</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Future of Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retail]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=72560</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The strong start to 2013&#8242;s M&#38;A market continued yesterday, with Office Depot announcing it would acquire its rival OfficeMax in a $1.17 billion deal. Despite the heavy press coverage, investors greeted the announcement with a collective &#8220;meh,&#8221; as Office Depot shares fell 16.73% in trading yesterday, while OfficeMax&#8217;s shares fell 7%. (Although OfficeMax shares did rise when rumors of the merger leaked earlier in the week). This indifference should tell us a number of things. The first is that Office Depot and OfficeMax are far less efficient enterprises than their larger office-superstore rival, Staples. As Morningstar analyst Joscelyn MacKay wrote in a research note, the merger between Office Depot and OfficeMax will make the company the largest office superstore by store count with roughly 2,000 domestic locations compared with Staples&#8217; 1,900. But even with that store advantage, the combined company&#8217;s revenue is just 70% of Staples top line. In other words, the combined company will have a lot of catching up to do. But it&#8217;s not like Staples has been knocking the cover off the ball the past few years, either. Office supply superstores have been struggling to stave off competition from online retailers, while also dealing with the slow decline of paper products as offices become increasingly digitized. (MORE: Best Buy Swears Shoppers Don’t Have to Bother Showrooming Anymore) There is irony, however, in the fact that as recently as 1997 the Federal Trade Commission and a Federal District Court &#8212; in awe of the power of the big-box business model &#8212; refused to sanction a merger between Office Depot and Staples. The FTC argued then that despite the fact that office supplies were sold by a diverse group of vendors like grocery stores, drug stores and other retailers like Target or Kmart, the sale of office supplies by a superstore constituted a distinct market with only three competitors. The FTC claimed that superstores offer a unique set of products and services &#8212; specifically the ability to do all your office-supply shopping in one place &#8212; and that this made<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=72560&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Future of Retail</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/future-of-retail/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">christopherrmatthews</media:title>
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