Missing the Boat

| Roger Sklar

Karie Shu would be any U.S. retailer’s dream consumer. A recent graduate of the University of Chicago, Karie is a fashion-conscious young professional,

Sugar & Spice

| Linda Water Nelson

But is everything nice? Your multichannel customer service offerings need to be as splendidly complete and as thoroughly organized as Wolfgang Puck’s

Talking Heads

| MCM staff

The smart company lays out strategic planning in a way that’s visible to everyone: For example, if we do this, X will happen, if we don’t, Y will happen.

The Value of Terror

| MCM staff

We know that some people try to make money out of everything. Given half a chance, they would sell their own families down the river if they thought they

Slim, Fast

| D. Douglas Graham

Few of us can remember the number of times we’ve resolved to lose weight, or the number of times we’ve gone off a diet. For companies, however, the current

Flour Arrangement

| MCM staff

Rarely does everything come up roses in a warehouse expansion. Most likely, the bouquet of equipment, systems, and layouts that started out fresh and

Overstocks Not a Problem

| MCM staff

Fears that January would find catalog warehouses brimming with unsold merchandise have been mostly unfounded. Even San Francisco-based Rochester Big &

Storehouse: Bottomed Out

| Roger Cunningham

If good sales cover a world of evils, then perhaps falling sales reveal myriad opportunities for today’s retailer. Or so we tell our clients who perceive