What Do 35-Year-Old Women Want?

As other stores stumble, Bloomie's Quotation boutiques are going after these busy shoppers

BusinessWeek, April 2, 2007 — Bloomingdale's Inc. (FD ) is pursuing "yummy mommies." That's what the chain has dubbed the stylish 35-to-45-year-olds it's courting with a store-within-a-store boutique called Quotation. These women may have gone up a size post-baby but are adamant that motherhood is not synonymous with looking matronly. Other retailers have tried and failed to win over this elusive demographic. In January, Gymboree Corp. (GYMB ), known for its children's clothing, shuttered Janeville, its brand for women in their mid-30s and older. Soon after, Gap Inc.

Using technology to improve in-store marketing

McKinsey Quarterly, April 1, 2007 — Rather than use slow, expensive, and risky pilot projects to assess in-store marketing programs, one consumer goods manufacturer is taking advantage of shopping-simulation technology to test ideas more rapidly.

A Way to Fight Big Rivals: Play Up Style and Service†

Wall Street Journal, March 27, 2007 — When Samsung went searching for a U.S. retail partner to showcase one of its two specially made 80-inch, $150,000 plasma TVs, it didn't tap any of the big national names like Best Buy Co. or Circuit City Stores Inc. Instead, it picked a family business with a single suburban Chicago store: Abt Electronics.

Hospitals Build A Better 'Healing Environment'†

Outdated Facilities Redesign Patient Areas To Lift Quality Of Care

Wall Street Journal, March 21, 2007 — At Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, Ill., the neonatal intensive-care unit's open-plan nursery is being transformed into a series of private "pods," with glass walls that allow staff to observe infants, but privacy curtains and reclining chairs for moms to be alone with their babies. The aim: to sharply reduce noise, harsh lighting, and other environmental stresses that can spike blood pressure, interfere with breathing and heart rate, and worsen sleep for newborns.

In Aisle Three, Couch Potatoes Trying the MP3s

New York Times, March 18, 2007 — FOR its first store in the United States, Samsung, the Korean electronics company, took an unconventional route: it refused to sell anything. Having leased 10,000 feet of astoundingly expensive real estate in Midtown Manhattan, it instead encouraged customers to commune with its products — to check e-mail on Samsung computers, watch reality shows on Samsung flat-screen televisions and make long-distance calls on Samsung cellphones.

Heineken Hopes Branding Will Fly at Airport Bars†

Heineken wants to bring the Starbucks Coffee experience to beer.

Wall Street Journal, March 16, 2007 — A new bar at Hong Kong's international airport serves up as much Heineken NV branding as it does beer. Bar stools reflecting green neon match the Heineken-logo T-shirts for sale. TV screens show Heineken ads and sports events sponsored by the company. While the bar sells other beers as well as wine and spirits, only Heineken-owned brands are available on tap.

Tesco May Change American Idea Of Convenience Stores

MediaPost Publications, March 16, 2007 — WHILE FOOD RETAILERS AREN'T ANY closer to knowing exactly what British supermarket giant Tesco has planned for the U.S. when it begins opening stores here later this year, some observers expect it to hit a sweet spot.

AT&T Megastore Aims to Make It Fun to Buy a Phone

New York Times, March 13, 2007 — With the opening yesterday of its first megastore, AT&T is trying to do the seemingly impossible: make buying cellular service an almost entertaining experience. The 5,000-square-foot store in the Compaq Center complex in Houston is the first of 11 AT&T Experience stores planned for opening this year with the aim of making shopping for communications equipment less daunting and, perhaps, more fun.

How Starbucks Strayed†

Case Study: Automatic Espresso Machines, Day-Old Food and Plastic Chairs

Advertising Age, March 5, 2007 — In the wake of the Starbucks "Memo Shot Round the World" from Chairman Howard Shultz on the looming commoditization of its brand, we asked the experts how they would restore the mythical Starbucks Experience.

Departments of Energy†

Brandweek, February 26, 2007 — When one big retailer acquires another big retailer, replacing the name over the front doors in locations across the country, maybe it's big news for employees and shareholders, but you can't expect dancing in the streets. Yet, if that retailer is Macy's parent Federated Department Stores, which absorbed 400 May Co. stores, maybe you actually can.