Attitudes: Retailers

WESTPORT, Conn. -- After focusing for the last decade on cost-cutting, productivity enhancements, and mergers and acquisitions to help spur growth, retailers and marketers now agree they need to make top-line sales growth the top priority in order to build profits, according to a recent study from the GMDC Educational Foundation.

CHICAGO -- Two major unions representing 3.2 million workers defected from the AFL-CIO yesterday, dealing a severe blow to the 13 million-member labor organization that is holding its annual convention here this week.

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Employee courtesy is the most important of the essential elements in the total customer experience, a poll of professional shoppers attending the Mystery Shopping Providers Association (MSPA) Educational Conference for Shoppers, held here July 15 to July 17, has found.

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. -- Retailers and manufacturers say category management is still "critically important," but that doesn't mean they are applying the discipline as much as they once were, new research from ACNielsen U.S. indicates. Category management is in the throes of a transition, as traditional ways of applying the practice are apparently losing favor with the industry, according to the marketing information firm's 14th Annual Trade Promotion Practices and Emerging Issues Study, released yesterday.

NEWARK, Del.-- New consumer research conducted by the Produce Marketing Association indicates that just about half of the primary shoppers for households have a clear understanding of the 2005 Dietary Guidelines.

CINCINNATI ¿ Kroger Co.'s stock price was whipped about by the market yesterday, after a financial analyst from J.P. Morgan said the chain's reported gains for the first quarter could not be sustained, and its strong outlook on the rest of the year was probably too ambitious.

CHICAGO -- The Network of Executive Women (NEW), a nonprofit industry group that advocates corporate diversity, has issued a new report urging corporations in the consumer products and retail industries to promote more women of color to top slots.

WASHINGTON, DC -- The Food Marketing Institute has issued a call for entries for the Fourth Annual Maximizing People Potential Award, also known as the "Maxx" Award. The awards recognize exceptional training and human resources initiatives in the food retail industry.