First in maybe a weekly column? Hopefully.
Some quick retail notes for this lazy Sunday:
I hear that the new Abrecrombie & Fitch Back To School Preview floorset is this week. The seasonal transition at A&F is very impressive and seamless. Sales will be strong but it will be tough for A&F to compete with themselves and the high comps they had with BTS 2005 (June, July & August had comps of 38%, 22% & 24% in 2005). Look for solid increases in the gross margin with decreases in markdowns and sales for this upcoming season. This will be another great season for A&F.
Two quickies from the Loss Prevention blog: Cop kills man in grocery store shoplifting and Kroger manager jumps on hood of shoplifters car. I have nothing to say about the unfortunate shooting, but Im sure Krogers corporate management doesnt look fondly on employees jumping on cars to apprehend shoplifters. There has to be more to the story than that.
Last week, the Chicago Sun-Times ran an article showing where some of the former Sears executives have gone: Life After Sears.
And finally, a story from Starbucks showing how a good idea from worker, combined with the support of co-workers, the corporate office and customers can lead to a very positive outcome: Starbucks worker brews plan to get java to GIs in Afghanistan. A Starbucks employee from Maine organized a campaign where her co-workers donated their weekly bag of coffee they recieve as a benefit and, with corporate approval, solicited donations from customers. The result? 106 pounds of coffee sent to troops in Afghanistan. [via Starbucks Gossip]