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Hundreds of shoppers patiently waited for the doors of a brand new 7,000-square-foot M&S Outlet store to open at Atlantic Village in England recently. The Mayor of Bideford, Councillor Caroline Church, did the honors for what M&S management hailed as one of its best-ever store launches, with targets reportedly exceeded by more than 100 percent in the first weekend.

The M&S Outlet store opening comes on the heels of other successful launches that have included Asda and Past Times in 2008, and Yeomans Outdoor this past March.

“We’re bucking the trend with these exciting new store openings and helping to keep shopping local, which is important to our region,” said Jane McLeod, center manager.
“Our [traffic] figures have risen 33 percent year-on-year to date.” Read more »

Sally Leeds was one of the five lucky moms to be singled out for their shopping wisdom when Lake Elsinore Outlet Center ran a Mother’s Day contest.

The California center invited customers to write a brief essay, detailing their mother’s best savings advice, be it a shopping tip or where to find the best brand name retailers. April 20 to 30, participants could drop off their entries at Customer Service, in the hopes of earning a prize pack comprising of a $95 Anne Klein watch, courtesy of Arbi Jewelers; a $10 gift card from Koret and a rose. Read more »

By John Stanley

Successful retailers take consumers on a journey. In the next series of articles I will explain the journey to you giving you examples on how to implement it in your business along the way.
The Four Steps:

1. Journey of Discovery
2. Journey of Inspiration
3. Journey of Excitement
4. Journey of Trust
   

Read more »

By Wendy Liebmann

The Shopper Backlash Begins: Where’s My Brand of Tea?

When the bottom suddenly dropped out of retail sales last fall, the precipitous degree of the drop took everyone’s breath away. So no one was surprised when retailers began to slash their inventories. Retailers, from mass merchants to high-end department stores, advised vendors they would be cutting orders, eliminating SKUs and deleting brands.

At department stores, management was faced with first having to clear out their fashion merchandise to make way for the new season’s offering. That’s why we saw such gob-stopping sales pre- and post-Christmas. These retailers then took a “less is less” approach, reducing the selection of brands,  sizes and colors. Read more »