Tea shopping with no sympathy

| MCM staff

Everybody wants to provide good customer service, but sometimes overattentive and know-it-all salespeople can be annoying. Blogger Michael DiMarco (aka

More Store, Staff Cuts for Pier 1

| Jim Tierney

Home furnishings and decor retailer Pier 1 Imports will cut 10% of its full-time staff and possibly 125 underperforming stores, according to a Feb. 3 filing with the Securities Exchange Commission.

Reorg, Layoffs for Macy’s

| MCM staff

Department store chain Macy’s said Monday it is cutting 7,000 jobs–about 4% of its total current workforce–in its stores, distribution centers and offices. The company is reorganizing, eliminating its Macy’s division structure and integrating all functions into a single organization.

Retail marketing strategies

| Francey Smith

It’s been more than 20 years since the customer information revolution began, most visibly in retail loyalty programs Neiman Marcus InCircle and American