Attitudes: Retailers

AUSTIN, Minn. -- In an effort to help raise awareness of and fight hunger in its home state, Hormel Foods Co. here will host the first-ever Minnesota Hunger Summit next week.

BOISE, Idaho - Dismissing speculation among some industry observers that Albertsons LLC here will follow the divestment of its Northern California division with further store sales, c.e.o. Bob Miller told Progressive Grocer yesterday that there are "no other ongoing discussions about selling more stores."

NEW YORK -- With the pressures of the holiday season upon them, Americans say they'll punish retailers that are naughty when it comes to service -- and spend more with the nice ones, according to a random-digit-dial survey of more than 1,000 consumers commissioned by Katzenbach Partners LLC, a management consulting firm based here.

CHICAGO - Market research firm Information Resources, Inc. last week published a new report to serve as a guidebook for retailers looking to boost the performance of their private label offerings.

WASHINGTON -- Barbie still ranks as the No. 1 toy for girls, while the hard-to-find TMX Elmo comes in on the top of boys' wish lists, according to the National Retail Federation 2006 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey.

NEW YORK -- When asked to name which major store or retailer does the best job of catering to the Hispanic or Latino consumer, Hispanic Americans who participated in a recent survey named Wal-Mart most often, according to GfK Omnibus Services, a division of GfK Custom Research North America. The research group released results from its Hispanic OmniTel Retail Study yesterday.

What's it take for buyers and sellers to get along better?

CHICAGO - Consumer affection for private label products in U.S. supermarkets, drug stores, and mass merchandisers is at its highest level ever, according to research underwritten by the Private Label Manufacturers Association.