IKEA's thrifty nature spells success for chain

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February 25, 2011 News for the retail industry   Industry Watch    Sources: Delia's may be up for sale Teen-apparel retailer Delia's is reportedly exploring buyout opportunities, including with private-equity firms, DealBook reports. The company, launched by two Yale University graduates in the 1990s as a direct-mail business boasting catalogs that mimicked popular teen magazines, operates 115 mall stores that face stiff competition and suffered during the downturn as mall traffic waned. NYTimes.com/DealBook blog (2/24) Fewer credit card write-offs boost profits at Target Target reported a 10.5% fiscal fourth-quarter profit increase Thursday, boosted largely by a significant drop in write-offs of credit card debt as the economy improved. The chain reported profits from its credit card business of $151 million, a fourfold increase over the same period a year earlier. Financial Post (Canada)/Reuters (2/24) Wal-Mart to open Neighborhood Market in Chicago's West Loop Wal-Mart plans to open its smaller grocery concept store on the ground floor of a high-rise apartment building in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood. Plans for Wal-Mart's first Neighborhood Market store in Illinois came as rival Target said it will debut its smaller urban concept in the city this year, on a site about half a mile away. Chicago Tribune (2/23) Petco rolls out multichannel campaign to promote pet food Petco has launched an advertising and marketing campaign aimed at raising the profile of its branded pet-food offerings through direct mail, e-mail and traditional print and broadcast pieces, the company said this week. The move marks the chain's first TV campaign since the 2007 holiday season. DMNews (2/24) IKEA's thrifty nature spells success for chain Privately owned IKEA posted a 6.1% increase in net profit last fiscal year, and consumers around the world are drawn to the company's low-priced-yet-stylish furniture. The company has come under scrutiny recently from critics who say the company's tightly controlled ownership structure limits taxes and shields the company from takeover attempts, while IKEA says the structure and tax efficiencies allow it to keep prices low. The Economist (2/24) Other News Bergdorf Goodman promotes 3 execs to fill merchandising posts Women's Wear Daily (subscription required) (2/24) California's No Fear Retail Stores files for bankruptcy reorganization Los Angeles Times/Money & Company blog (2/24) True Religion taps Guess exec as new senior VP American City Business Journals/Los Angeles (2/24) To become a top-performing distributor, you must: • Achieve 98% inventory accuracy. • Reach 95% on-time and complete shipment rates. • Maintain 12-hour order-to-shipment cycle times. • Achieve 13% cycle-time reductions from ERP use. Distributors, how do you stack up against top performers? View the Aberdeen webcast to find out.   Retail trends    Tailors see bigger demand for custom-made clothes Custom-clothing houses weathered the downturn fairly well and say they're seeing stronger business as the economy recovers. Custom suits from European tailors, which were the norm until the 1960s brought ready-to-wear retailers, can range in price from $550 to several thousand dollars. The Wall Street Journal (2/25) Stores selling organic and gluten-free food see growth The market for specialty-food stores is expanding in the Pittsburgh region, with places such as Sunny Bridge Natural Foods experiencing growth and more Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe's locations. Traditional grocery chains are stocking more organic and specialty items. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (2/24) How can you control your largest source of shrink... if it can't even be seen? Learn how top retailers such as Vitamin Shoppe find, track, and stop employee theft. Our free White Paper explains key loss prevention facts and trends that you need to know, and how exception reporting - properly executed - can dramatically increase your profits and deliver big ROI! Get your copy now!   Retail Technology    Macy's spring line comes with mobile bar codes Many of Macy's new spring lines will come complete with customized QR codes -- also known as mobile 2-D bar codes -- that smartphone owners can scan to view videos of fashion advice, trend stories and other style tips. The "Macy's Backstage Pass" campaign is an extension of a holiday promotion that let consumers take photos of a bar code and text it to access video content. MediaPost Communications/Marketing Daily (2/24) Fraudsters find Shopkick check-ins are easy to fake Fraudsters have revealed flaws that make it easy to fake Shopkick check-ins at high-profile retail chains including Target, Macy's and Crate & Barrel, without actually going to the stores, writes StorefrontBacktalk's Evan Schuman. "All of these mobile approaches have key security weaknesses, and the only way those weaknesses can be fully identified is to launch the services and let cyberthieves do their stuff," he writes. StorefrontBacktalk (2/24) You're Up To Date On Industry News, But What About Life Insurance? Did you know that MetLife Life Insurance premiums can be as low as $12 per month for $250,000 of coverage? Or, as low as $18 per month for $500,000 of coverage. Stay on top of very affordable rates with America's #1 Life Insurer – MetLife. Request a Free, No-Obligation Life Insurance Quote Now   Sponsored Content    5 Useful iPhone Apps for Analyzing Your Website's Success On the Go Amy-Mae Elliott 5 Ways to Generate a 7 Figure Income Katie Morell Small Business Week in Review Tara Fuller Passion Play: 5 Ways to Get Rid of the Business Blahs Rieva Lesonsky How to Get New Employees Off to a Great Start Mike Michalowicz   NRF News  NRF's technology division launches new website A recently finished face-lift has NRF's ARTS website looking and functioning like new. Aside from a new, easy-to-navigate homepage, the ARTS site now has onsite members-only collaboration areas where members can share files, start forum discussions, or even create personal notes as they explore or work on the site. Learn more. NRF SmartStat: Feb. 25, 2011 Almost half of retailers surveyed will make offering customer-specific product recommendations a priority over the next 18 months. Source: Retail Horizons 2011   Tablet shopping: What works and what doesn't Tablet devices like the iPad are impacting a variety of industries, but e-commerce may stand to gain the most from this game-changing development. In an upcoming INNOVATE 2011 session, Like.com CEO and co-founder Munjal Shah will discuss how to execute a tablet consumer experience for maximum effectiveness. INNOVATE 2011, the Retail Innovation and Marketing Conference, will be held March 8-10 in San Francisco. Standard registration ends today. Learn more. Learn more about NRF -> Join NRF  |  Govt Relations  |  NRF Events  |  STORES  |  NRF Foundation   Chain Restaurant News  Carrols Restaurant Group's Hispanic Brands to be separate company Carrols Restaurant Group will spin off its Hispanic Brands division into a separate, publicly traded company by the end of the year, while retaining its 305 franchised Burger King locations, the company said Thursday. The new company will operate Carrols' Pollo Tropical and Taco Cabana businesses, two concepts that saw growth last year as Burger King's same-store sales waned. Reuters (2/24) Tim Hortons CEO says prices will rise this year Tim Hortons took advantage of its buying power to lock in sweeter deals on sugar, coffee and other commodities, but rising costs will likely force many of the chain's franchisees to raise prices at some point this year, said CEO Don Schroeder. In this interview, Schroeder also talks about the reasons behind the chain's strong sales growth, plans to leverage the Cold Stone Creamery brand in Canada and the opportunities it sees for growth in the Persian Gulf. Financial Post (Canada) (2/23)   Report: Applebee's had biggest online casual-restaurant buzz Applebee's introduction of three new Weight Watchers entrees last quarter helped win the casual chain more online exposure than its peers in the three-month period ending Jan. 31, according to a report from General Sentiment. Mentions in online media outlets and social sites added up to exposure that would have cost about $9.5 million in paid media, the report says. Denny's, Chili's, IHOP and Olive Garden rounded out the top five. MediaPost Communications/Marketing Daily (2/24) The Buzz(CORPORATE ANNOUNCEMENTS) Research from GroupM Search and comScore Sheds Light on the Role Search and Social Media Play in the Consumer s Path to... 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