Nikki Baird

I'm with Ben Ball on this one -- EDLP isn't new or radical, except maybe in the department store format. My problem with EDLP is that it's very difficult to maintain the discipline needed to stay true to the model. It's so tempting to offer that one promotion or...

I think a lot of the assumptions that retailers make about store labor no longer apply -- or at a minimum are in flux. All of the assumptions that retailers make about labor today are based on an old way of working smushed up against a new way of...

I was shocked to see the news this morning too. I haven't been tracking the merchandise strategy or the financial results too closely, but have been watching their technology strategy -- probably one of the more publicly scrutinized tech strategies out there -- and Mr. Senk has been one...

I sincerely hope that mobile loyalty takes off -- it would certainly make my wallet thinner and my purse lighter. But I have my doubts that this is the year for it. I think that retailers' back-end systems for loyalty are too ugly to make mobile loyalty easy to...

I think I do agree. One, it's a lot harder for a smaller chain to match the EDLP prices of the economies of scale of Walmart. Two, it requires a lot more discipline to maintain an EDLP strategy -- there is always the temptation to promote something, anything, if...

Frankly, I'm amazed that it has taken this long for the market to catch on. I agree that 120 stores is nothing for a retailer this size - in fact, I would argue that 2012 will be the year of announced store closings as retailers shift their assets in...

Yes, retailers could be doing more to tap into the season of giving. No, they shouldn't. This is wonderful and heart-warming because it is spontaneous and authentic and has nothing to do with retail. It has to do with spreading kindness and giving to people who could use a...

I think there is also room for "assists." It requires rethinking some of the way the commission is structured, because you don't want to just arbitrarily increase the payout pool, but if employees had the option of awarding an assist to someone who helped them out, it will also...

Well, one of the major assumptions is that households would rather work an extra hour and just pay to eat out, but that assumes that the household is actually able to turn that extra hour into work that pays, and I think that's a big assumption.

Personally, I haven't...

I don't think the differences are enough to segment devices. But I thought electronics retailers figured this out a long time ago: men tend to purchase based on feature/function, and women tend to purchase on how they will use the device in their lives. It still means the same...