  | Global retail industry news |  |
- Starbucks to add 5,000 UK jobs
Starbucks plans to build about 200 new drive-through locations in the UK, an expansion slated to create about 5,000 jobs during the next five years. The global coffee chain derives about 20% of its sales from outside the US and already operates nine UK drive-through stores. Bloomberg Businessweek (01 Dec.)       | What if there was a gold mine of data that was going untapped by your data decision-making programs? Today, the role of video can extend far beyond security. Data gathered from video surveillance can now help decision makers actually grow a business rather than just protect it. Download this free white paper and learn how video analytics can translate to competitive advantage. |
 - Warm weather boosts Kingfisher's third-quarter sales
Kingfisher cut its sales decline in half and beat analysts' earnings estimates in the third quarter, as warm end-of-summer weather boosted sales of outdoor furniture, the company said Thursday. Sales of outdoor furnishings rose 12% in the three-month period. Bloomberg (01 Dec.) - Karstadt CEO sets out to modernize the store
German department store chain Karstadt has weathered bankruptcy reorganization, and now it's time to modernize the 86 namesake stores and give the brand a personality suited to the 21st century, says Andrew Jennings, who became CEO 10 months ago. "There has to be a Karstadt personality so people come in and say this is different. It's too similar to one of our major competitors." Women's Wear Daily (subscription required) (30 Nov.)  | Improve Holiday Sales Results with Tools from Akamai!
Now is the perfect time to ensure your website will hold up to the rush of holiday shoppers headed your way. With the challenges facing retailers this holiday shopping season, it's never too soon to focus. Download Akamai's Holiday Toolkit now! |
 | Retail in Asia |  |  | | - More luxury retailers cater to China's big-spending men
China's men outspend women when it comes to shopping for designer apparel and other luxury goods, spurring some merchants to find new ways to cater to the country's wealthy males. Landmark Men, which opened in Hong Kong in October, is a 60,000-square-foot men's-only mall that sells brands including Valentino Men, Gucci and Louis Vuitton. CNBC (29 Nov.)  - British to spend less, Irish to spend more this season, eBay says
The average British consumer will spend slightly less on the holidays this year than last, while shoppers in Ireland are expected to spend more per person than the UK average, according to a new survey from eBay UK. Nearly three-quarters of UK consumers will shop online this season, and Dec. 4 is expected to be the online retailer's busiest day. AuctionBytes (30 Nov.)  | Enterprise Resource Planning automates many aspects of an organization's operations, cascading across traditional boundaries of operations, finance, manufacturing and more. As such, changes in the ERP market can cause a ripple effect in your business. Get ahead of the changing tide and trends by downloading this free whitepaper. |
 | Spotlight on Consumer Electronics | | | | - Toshiba to shutter 3 chip plants on slowing demand
Toshiba Corp. will close three of its six discrete chip-making plants in Japan next spring and slow production of certain kinds of chips as European and US demand for PCs and TVs slows, the company said Wednesday. "There is the high yen, cutbacks by domestic setmakers, especially Sony and Panasonic, and PC sales are weak around the world," said J.P. Morgan analyst Yoshiharu Izumi. Reuters (30 Nov.), The Wall Street Journal (30 Nov.) | NRF News | | | | - 5 reasons to monitor competitors' pricing
Understanding one's retail competitors requires regular and accurate pricing, promotion, and assortment monitoring. In a recent addition to the Shop.org white paper library, executives from Ugam Interactive outline how to monitor competitors most effectively, including instituting reporting regularity, understanding the frequency, depth and length of competitors' promotions, reviewing historical data in order to forecast future pricing moves, and selecting the right tools to gather and analyze the data. Download the white paper.
| SmartQuote | | | |  | A failure is not always a mistake, it may simply be the best one can do under the circumstances. The real mistake is to stop trying."
--B.F. Skinner,
American psychologist, inventor and author  |
| | This SmartBrief was created for cpgbrokers.data@blogger.com
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Most end-of-year performance reviews are a massive waste of time and energy -- and that's a problem leaders should make it their business to tackle, writes Mike Figliuolo. Feedback should be continuous, and neither praise nor criticism should be couched in meaningless metrics and appraisal processes. "How failed is our leadership culture that we have to sit around and wait for HR ... to dictate when and in what form we must critique the people on our teams?" Figliuolo asks. 
