November 2007

Marks & Spencer have recently announced a major new environmental sustainability strategy designed to transform every part of the business and establish it as the UK’s leading “green retailer”. This five year plan, entitled ‘Plan A’ (there is no plan B) pledges A$452 million to become fully carbon neutral, ensure no waste goes to landfill, […]

Time Magazine readers will be aware that in the Best Invetions of 2007 edition (19 Nov 07) there was a mention of an ATM for books which would be ideal for libraries. This machine has been developed by On Demand Books.com The Espresso book machine will produce a 300 page book with a colour cover

By John Stanley Independent retailers had a “heyday” during the 1970’s and 1980’s, then “box stores” saw the opportunity to make a commodity offer and as a result gained market share with the result that independent retailers that did not know how to compete, disappeared from the marketplace. We are now in a new era.

By John Stanley To be a successful hardware retailer in today’s competitive market, I believe, you need to get three categories correct in your store, gardening, paint and power tools. In my previous article I concentrated on the garden category; in this edition we will concentrate on the paint category. Don’t Sell the Paint The

By John Stanley Big is better, this was a call to action as recently as a few years ago, it is rarely used in the marketplace today. New “buzz” words have arrived like, sustainability, carbon footprint and community retailing, these are the new words being used at conferences and in the press. These are not

Thanks to Keith Turbett at Scheurich for discovering this gem. Movers in the USA spend on average $7,300.00 in new products and services in the first 90 days after the move. How do they do their research? 67% ask new neighbours 61% use the internet 23% email people Ref: Clickz.com 10.2.07

By John Stanley At the recent H.T.A Conference, Charles Notcutt gave a passionate speech – “If mankind’s existence was condensed into the average life of a business, 30 years, then in customer terms the business would expect a customer count increase of 35000% in the next two years”. At present the first world needs three

The Business Life 2007 Salary Survey for the UK was published in the October edition of the British Airways Business Life Magazine. It makes some interesting comparisons: UK Average Wage – £29,331 National Minimum Wage – £11,481 Premier League Footballer – £676,000 Chief of Defence – £219,834 Prime Minister – £188,849 Senior Retail Buyer –

by John Stanley If I had suggested that paint suppliers were leading the way in horticultural marketing a few years ago, you wouldn’t have taken me seriously, but times change. Monrovia Nurseries, the leading plant brand in the USA now has a marketing director who originates from the paint industry and garden centres are now