There’s a big reason why the Internet has come along and so easily taken 10 – maybe 20 – percent of overall retail sales in many individual product categories, including a whole bunch in home. Because traditional in-store retailers let them. You can offer all sorts of reasons why online has been so successful and … More »
Ladies and gentlemen, in the blue corner, hailing from Seattle—American champion online retailer Jeff Bezos of Amazon. In the red corner, traveling all the way from Hangzhou, China—Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba. This future heavyweight retail contest of epic proportions is not farfetched, at least not for the distant future, as Ma flexes his muscles … More »
By Duke Ratliff As I’ve mentioned here before, HFN has an editorial policy prohibiting the phrase “cautiously optimistic.” The phrase is such a perfect description for our recent, cautiously optimistic times that it could’ve been used way too often to describe far too many things: Retailers were cautiously optimistic heading to trade shows; vendors were … More »
By Duke Ratliff “Trendy” just might be a dirty word when it comes to home furnishings. As retailers head to the New York Tabletop Show and the High Point Market this month for two of the year’s most important product-procuring events, it’s more than a little interesting to note that consumers are not big on … More »
The popularity of noncompete agreements ebbs and flows. Businesses laud them. Employees shirk them. Legislators’ views change depending upon which party is in control. Consider, for example, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which is one of two states yet to adopt the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (see September 2013 HFN article concerning the federal government’s possible … More »
By Deborah A. Little Although some product hazard warnings are so obvious they make us chuckle (such as “coffee is hot”), failure to include proper warnings on products can expose a company to legal risks that are no laughing matter. Blame the lawyers, but the fact is that ours is a very litigious culture, and … More »
By Deborah A. Little Over the past several years, companies have capitalized on various technological advancements that have routinized customer service and, some may argue, made it more efficient and cost-effective. But these practices should not be a substitute for personalized customer care, nor should they become a substitute for prudent risk management. To leverage … More »
Pity the home furnishings industry exec on a long summer vacation—he or she will return to work with a whole new landscape of retail leaders. For those keeping score at home (along with the imaginary, anachronistic exec who could actually take vacation all summer), here’s a brief rundown on the recent CEO shuffle: Target named … More »
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