It is the new “in” thing. Celebrity chefs are doing it, big city newspaper food columnists are writing about it, Hollywood stars are bragging about doing it, and even ordinary people here in the Midwest are doing it. As a result, it has become the new hot trend in food retailing. “It” is buying food locally. Some of the nation’s largest grocery chains are falling all over themselves to brag about how fresh and locally produced their produce is. The Marsh chain is branding some of their stores as (more…)
Archive for July, 2009
Going Local, A Chance That Must Be Cultivated
Tuesday, July 28th, 2009Values, Not Value, First
Monday, July 13th, 2009As some independent natural products retailers react to recession-driven declines in customer traffic counts by offering discounts, a new nationwide consumer survey from Bellevue, Washington-based Hartman Group and National Research Network offers two cautions: One, shoppers tend to think the new, economic-downturn discounts mean the retailer has been gouging them with high prices all along and/or, two, the new lower prices mean lower quality. The survey finds that retailers who have started dis (more…)
Time to Hop on the Twitter Train, or has it already passed?
Thursday, July 9th, 2009“Follow me on Twitter!” Who hasn’t heard it before? And for that matter, who isn’t “Tweeting?” And for good reason, as Twitter is much more than just an instantly updated, 140 character limit, networking ‘soapbox.’ The microblogging service has actually produced tangible results for both individuals (i.e. Demi and Ashton) and businesses alike, and it’s time for the food world to embrace it.
Take Whole Foods for example, whose main Twitter account has just under 1,000,000 followers – we are (more…)
Do you know a rock star butcher?
Thursday, July 9th, 2009IF chefs were rock stars, they would be arena bands, playing hard and loud with thousands cheering.
ANCIENT SKILL, NEW FANS Ryan Farr takes a pig apart before a cocktail-drinking crowd at a bar in San Francisco.
Farmers, who gently coax food from the earth, are more like folk singers, less flashy and more introspective.
Now there is a new kind of star on the food scene: young butchers. With their swinging scabbards, muscled forearms and constant proximity to flesh, butchers have the raw (more…)
New Retail Study Finds Not All “Great Shopping” Experiences Drive Shopper Loyalty
Thursday, July 9th, 2009Only certain “WOW” shopping experiences will bring customers back
Over 50% of all shoppers have experienced truly great “WOW” shopping experiences, according to “Discovering WOW – A Study of Great Retail Shopping Experiences in North America,” a new study examining the loyalty dynamics of outstandingly positive shopping interactions. But the study – released today by the Jay H. Baker Retail Initiative at the Wharton School, the Verde Group and the Retail Council of Canada – establishes that n (more…)
The Truth about Teens, Social Networking and Technology
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009“Kids don’t follow, what you’re sayin’
We can’t hear, what you say
Not tomorrow, not today” – Paul Westerberg
We’ve been encountering a lot of misconceptions recently regarding the subject of teens, technology and social networking. Namely, there seems to be this widespread belief that in order to keep one’s product, service or brand relevant in the future, it is mission critical to understand how teenagers are utilizing technology in social networking behaviors today. “So what’s the deal w (more…)
