Wegmans, arguably the finest grocery retailer the United States has to offer, opened its first supermarket in New York City late last month, a 74,000-square-foot store in Brooklyn. So significant was the opening that The New York Times, often referred to as America’s newspaper of record, devoted the back page of its first section to
Lots going on in the mass retailing community these days — as is usually the case. With the holiday season fast approaching, mass retailers are sharpening their games, extending their reach, unveiling some dramatic new concepts and honing their basic skills. With all the activity, the editors of MMR have arbitrarily selected five must-visits in
Amid all the activity that promises to characterize mass market retailing this fall, one name stands out above the rest when it comes to innovation: Walmart. With the usual group of pundits and soothsayers once again predicting the demise or minimization of brick-and mortar retailing, and with online shopping threatening to crowd out the traditional
Doug McMillon, chief executive officer of Walmart, was in the news recently for all the right reasons. Bucking traditional business wisdom, he announced new restrictions on Walmart’s program around gun sales. No longer, he announced, would the nation’s largest retailer sell certain types of ammunition. More than that, customers would be discouraged from entering Walmart
Autumn is here — and with it, the critical fourth calendar quarter, that make-or-break period that separates the golden performers from the rest of the retailing community. This year, in particular, change has been the retailing constant, but in many quarters of the retailing community things have been remarkably consistent, with many companies doing very
Suddenly, without warning, mass retailing is experiencing a transformation without precedent — or, at the least, without precedent in this century. Within the space of days, Amazon.com Inc. has purchased Whole Foods Market Inc., an alliance that brings together two of the most fascinating retailers currently vying for business in America, while Walmart has entered
The fallout from Amazon.com Inc.’s agreement to acquire Whole Foods Market Inc. is just beginning. But the implications are already clear: This transaction, if completed, will shake up the mass retailing community as nothing has done in years, if not decades. Parallels do not come readily to mind. Walgreen Co.’s merger with Alliance Boots GmbH
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.’s (WBA’s) plan to acquire Rite Aid Corp. in its entirety is, for now, dead. For some, it was an inevitable conclusion to a strategy that was full of holes. For others, by far the majority, it was a surprising conclusion to a well-conceived plan to increase the already dynamic presence of
It begins to look like the chain drug industry will toil through 2017 much as it did last year. In other words, Walgreens Boots Alliance’s acquisition of Rite Aid Corp. will likely not happen. This comes as a surprise to many industry people, despite overwhelming evidence that the federal government has long viewed this alliance
There’s been a pickup in retail activity and energy, perhaps a result of the optimistic performance reports a few leading retailers have posted of late. Suddenly, major companies that appeared to be daunted by even minor challenges are responding more positively — and more aggressively — to the stresses of doing business. Leading the way
The quiet year continues. Mass retailing has changed, but only insofar as new faces have replaced the old and new formats have come along to challenge existing ones. The major players remain in place, and new retailing forms have thus far not disturbed the balance of power. This is not to say that retailing is
For many executives, this year’s National Association of Chain Drug Stores Annual Meeting could just as easily be labeled a weeklong First-Timers Reception. So dramatic has been the turnover of staffers at some of America’s leading mass retailers that many of the attendees at the 2017 event in Scottsdale, Ariz., have never been to an