Retail

Once upon a time, distributors, and their dealer and vendor partners, were content with their traditional role as two-step suppliers, valued more for their...

On a periodic basis a former Zenith president, Walter Fisher, used to lecture his dealers on the importance of the retail sales floor. He...

While I work here at TWICE and know much of the industry, I don’t claim to be our publication’s expert on HDTV and related...

E-tailers must be doing something right. While traditional retail was handed its worst Christmas in thirty years, cyber stores managed to overcome the economy,...

While consumer anxiety and a sputtering economy may be taking a toll on regional and national CE chains, the 46 high-end A/V dealers that...

It sometimes seems to me that since the mid-1960s what I’ve done the most is chronicle the vanishing of leading industry manufacturers, dealers, distributors,...

A soft economy can be scary for retailers, especially small- to medium-sized chains. Consumers get very price-sensitive, which often benefits national superstores that have...

Tom Edwards (NPD Group): In the fourth quarter retailers and manufacturers drove consumers into the stores by advertising low prices, which, unfortunately, came out...

The fourth annual TWICE Retail Roundtable was held here last month during CES. An edited transcript of the discussion follows. TWICE: What lessons can...

TWICE: What’s become of home audio? Jeff Stone (Tweeter): General audio, such as home speakers and receivers, has been soft for a couple years...

Tom Edwards (NPD Group): Another issue is the number of stores out there where people can buy CE. This year, we saw product not...

TWICE: RadioShack is a company in transition. Has the renewed focus on your core accessories, parts and battery businesses helped cushion you during the...

Buffeted by a weaker-than-expected holiday selling season, and troubled by an uncertain economy and the specter of war, retail CEOs and top executives have...

When it comes to selling desktop computers, manufacturers and direct marketers have the edge over stores. That’s the word from Consumer Reports — or...

Despite the worst holiday selling season in a generation, extended service providers (ESPs) made it through the fourth quarter of 2002 largely unscathed. In...

The 2003 International Consumer Electronics Show, the 59th CES (or the 60th if you count the Orlando Disaster In Disneyland, which is something we...

Sony, Panasonic, JVC, RCA and Sharp, in that order, are consumer electronics brands with the highest rate of brand penetration at top retailers nationwide,...

Following a trying year marked by weak sales and the departure of its second-largest dealer, The Progressive Retailer Organization (PRO Group) is welcoming 2003...

CE and appliance emporium Fry’s Electronics opened the doors to its first Nevada location here earlier this month, raising the store count of the...

One of the very best things about being is journalist is the fact that you get to meet some fascinating people. As anybody who...

New York – CE retailers posted poor sales results for December, citing weak consumer demand and diminished store traffic. Bucking the trend was Best...

GERS Retail Systems introduced a host of enhancements across its product line at CES. The San Diego-based retail systems software provider unveiled the next...

Faced with mounting losses in its Musicland business and poor fundamentals going forward, Best Buy shut 107 Sam Goody and Suncoast stores, eliminated president...

Most entrepreneurs do not need a consultant or anyone else to tell them where they are going. “Making a profit” is still a worthwhile...

In the year after 9/11, the nation, and consequently the nation’s consumer electronics retailers, are still feeling the aftershocks of the terror attacks. Despite...

Ultimate Electronics is resigning from the Progressive Retailers Organization (PRO Group), the high-end dealer consortium that it helped found 17 years ago. The departure...

Maytag plans to nearly double the size of its 2-year-old Maytag Store appliance chain to at least 49 units next year. The retail stores,...

Of all the investments a retailer can make to improve the profit picture of his business, none can be more productive than the time...

Despite a slew of grim economic indicators, all is not doom and gloom for holiday CE sales. While acknowledging the “very tough selling environment,”...

Kmart has completed work on a new prototype store that was designed to address some of the problems plaguing the bankrupt discount chain. The...

The unique set of circumstance facing retailers this quarter — economic uncertainty, the threat of war, seaport logjams — has cast the outlook for...

The industry’s three largest music retailers and five biggest record companies are paying $67.4 million in cash and $75.7 million in CDs to settle...

“Home entertainment” is increasingly becoming a commodity business. National chains are buying up independent specialty retailers. Hard drive music servers, home networking, and Internet-provided...

A new survey by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) suggests that providing shoppers with more information about products, either before purchase or at the...

The list of the departed and walking wounded consumer electronics retailers in my home area — generally referred to in the media as “affluent...

In a previous column I made reference to the fact that each year in this country we sell or lease almost as many new...

To provide a more comprehensive service offering to customers — while enhancing their recurring revenue streams — RadioShack and Best Buy have expanded their...

Last spring Tweeter Home Entertainment Group began a sweeping reorganization that, by year’s end, will have fully integrated the management and chief merchants of...

Energy efficiency has been a focus of the consumer electronics industry for many years. As our country looks for ways to conserve energy, companies...

The news from the NECO Alliance, the Northeast buying group organization, is similar to other groups of independent retailers: business remains strong and the...

The recent downturn in discretionary consumer spending sent September and quarterly comp sales skidding for national CE and general merchandise chains. The weak comparisons...