Brent Felgner
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Tales From the Secret Shadow MarketMarch 11, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (3) The story used to be, "Take me to your factory," when retailers wanted to bump their U.S. middlemen and go direct to the source, usually in China or India. The result was something out of a soap opera love triangle, with the U.S. supplier in the role of the spurned lover as the retailer and factory hopped into bed together (or bath or windows or whatever). Sometimes it even happened as the supplier watched. The hurt of it all. While that scene still happens, it has evolved into something out of Desperate Housewives, with off-shore manufacturers who have successful and profitable U.S. retail programs through their relationships with U.S. vendors, appearing at this market all gussied up mostly in temporary showroom space — and looking to sell direct. They were hiding in plain sight, but they acted like none ...Read More Recent Posts
Overcoming the FearMarch 9, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (3) For years, we’ve been writing about the unique challenges faced by an industry in transition. They’ve often been excessively painful, and they’ve certainly been tumultuous. And for months, we’ve been writing about an economy in crisis. No one is even willing to guess where the bottom is.
For retailers, in particular, it’s become something of a siege mentality. When you look at the store closings and bankruptcies — some estimates place the destruction at about 15% of all retail locations just vaporizing by the end of 2009 — you can understand why. (By the way, we’ve...Read More Recent Posts
Learning CurveDecember 16, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0) Learning CurveIt was a rare moment, but Lowe’s didn’t have what I was looking for, so I went to Home Depot again today — for the first time in, I don’t know, six months — and of course, I was disappointed again. I’m learning. Sooner or later I will get it right and no matter what the circumstance, I’ll know not to waste my time by going there. It’s not just the out-of-stocks, it’s the HD key guy who calls me “chief” or the department manager who tells me he doesn’t have what I’m looking for before I finish telling him what it is. It’s the all ’round crappy experience. It’s the “forget you” attitude, if you get my drift.A...Read More Recent Posts
SustainabilityDecember 7, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0) Sustainability
Here’s President-Elect Barack Obama on NBC's Meet The Press this morning: |
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