It might have been awkward listening to Wal-Mart’s Lee Scott talk politics in his speech at the NRF’s Big Show Monday. Listening to the guy that many blame for putting little guys out of business may be hard enough, but hearing him tell Democrats and Republicans to get along? Strange.

Photo of Lee Scott courtesy of Wal-Mart.

And although Scott says that...

My biggest worries in 2009:

1. I worry that only the big department stores (like Macy’s, Nordstrom), single branded stores (like Gap, J.Crew) and discount stores (Wal-Mart, Target) will survive the coming year.

2. That young men have no memories of going with their fathers to nice independent men’s specialty stores where service is a priority—like Sims...

As I sit in front of my laptop in St. Paul, Minnesota in the house I grew up in, scouring the wires for news to write up, I started putting together a timeline of Twin Cities retail. Initially, I was trying to get a better grasp of the history of the dearly departed Dayton’s department store chain here.

I was inspired by Minneapolis Star Tribune columnist...

Last week our associate editor Elise Diamantini and I spent a while at the cologne counter at Bloomingdale’s SoHo, and we were dazzled by the skills and charisma of a saleswoman named Leslie. (Elise wrote about it here.) What we learned at Bloomingdale’s was that a good salesperson can focus you. Her stories gave the fragrances a depth that made them more...

If you read our coverage of the vendor roundtable MR Magazine organized earlier this week, you heard Allan Ellinger giving some pretty tough advice on retail and vendor survival.

He suggested making targeted cuts in inventory and people. He warned that too many businesses have been focusing on the top line, and that it’s time to worry about the bottom...