Tuesday, April 20th, 2010
Below is an article about our president, Rick Hill, reprinted from the Courier-Journal.
Run or draw.
That was a decision Rick Hill had to make as an undergraduate at the University of Kentucky nearly 40 years ago. A native of Bardstown, he wanted to be an architect but when he signed up for classes and found that mandatory studio times conflicted with running, he picked running.
“I made a career decision right there,” he recalled.
Maybe not so much.
Despite a long career in marketing shopping centers from his base in Charlotte, N.C., and a lifelong interest in running, Hill never lost his urge to design. He just reinvented himself as a real estate strategist and designer.
(more…)
Tags: design, marketplace crafting, Real Estate, Retail Changes, Rick Hill
Posted in Company News, Industry News, Real Estate, Retail, Shopping Centers, Specialty Retail | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 7th, 2009
Starbucks Experience
In order to differentiate itself from McDonalds and Dunkin Donuts, “The Starbucks experience will now include the whir of the grinder and the smell of the aroma all day”, according to new written procedures for the 7000 units of the U.S. chain. According to the Wall Street Journal, Starbucks Coffee, “will now grind beans each time a new pot is brewed”. Seems like telling the baker to vent his fresh baked goods into the shop than out the back. But, something does not smell right when the most basic of assumptions must be converted into a manual. Sounds more like a statement in a failure of a corporate culture than a lesson in process management?
Best Buy
Facing a number of challenges including new competition, Best Buy reported a 15% drop in earnings for the first fiscal quarter of 2009. While the company is projecting cautious numbers for the balance of the year, officials are upbeat with recent increases in market share and increases in margins. After the closure of Circuit City, the firm’ overall market share increased to 21% of all consumer electronics, about 2% higher than 2008, reflecting gains in a computer notebooks, flat panel televisions and mobile phones. Likewise, the company’s gross margins improved from 23.7% a year ago to 25.3% in 2009. However, new competition from Wal-Mart, Amazon and regional players such as HHGregg have also taken market share away from Best Buy. One other challenge is the lack of consumer stimulus checks for 2009 to match those given out in 2008 unless Congress caves into to fund another rounds of consumer confidence for 2009.
(more…)
Tags: Retail, Retail Changes, shifting retail trends
Posted in Retail | No Comments »