Attitudes: Retailers

A recent national study of 400 consumers conducted by TRD Frameworks showed an overwhelmingly positive response to Tanimura & Antle Artisan Lettuce, a variety of mature petite head lettuces (Petite Tango, Petite Gem and Petite Oak) that are conveniently sold together in a four-pack.

Supermarket industry sales increased 5.2 percent in 2008, and identical-store sales rose 4.5 percent, but these gains were offset by the 5.7 percent food-at-home inflation rate last year, according to “2009 Food Retailing Industry Speaks: Annual State of the Industry Review,” released late last week by the Food Marketing Institute (FMI). Adjusted for inflation, sales declined 0.5 percent and identical-store sales fell 1.2 percent.

A new white paper revealing previously unpublished strategies for succeeding at consumer centricity was released this week by Toronto-based retail advanced analytics firm Precima. The paper, “Winning at Consumer Centricity: 10 Tips for Retailers and Manufacturers” is available now for a free download at precima.com/10tips.

The vendor and retail communities require clarity to see beyond the economic climate of today and embrace the silver lining of the changing behaviors of consumers. That was the key takeaway after 24 hours of in-depth sessions at The Nielsen Company’s Consumer 360 Conference in Orlando, Fla. Attendees were handed the tools to succeed. They’ve discovered those tools will be used to reconstruct their relationships with their customers.

After a decidedly grim couple of months, it looks like there may finally be a light at the end of the tunnel for retailers, reports Sales and Marketing Management. Despite the fact that retail sales are down a sobering 13 percent from where they were a year ago, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, the numbers have jumped 0.2 percent since January.

To coincide with the publication of our annual State of the Industry report in the May 2009 issue, Progressive Grocer is conducting a survey on the pulse of retailing today.

2,000 Food Bloggers Flock to Foodbuzz, Fueling 1000% Annual Growth and Creating the Third Largest Online Food Property

Things are finally looking up for the battered peanut butter industry, which suffered through a massive recall earlier this year after salmonella was linked to a single peanut-processing company and maker of peanut butter for bulk distribution to institutions, foodservice industries and private label food companies, the Peanut Corp. of America (PCA).