Marketing Tactics

Meijer plans to address the need many consumers have for more information about the health insurance exchanges that are part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

George Taylor, a University of Pennsylvania Wharton School professor, came up with a theory called The Hemline Index in 1926. The theory identifies women’s hemlines as a leading economic indicator. Rising hemlines indicate that stock prices will begin to rise in the not-to-distant future. Falling hemlines indicate the falling stock prices and economic decline.

Serta Simmons Holdings has announced that Bob Sherman, CEO of National Bedding Company (doing business as Serta International), has decided to leave the company to pursue other interests, effective immediately.

The company stated that during his 25-year tenure, Sherman drove a combination of groundbreaking product innovation, strong customer relationships and operational excellence that led Serta to become the top mattress brand in the United States. 

Washington, D.C. – The National Retail Federation welcomed a new study that shows retailers have passed along the majority of the savings from debit card swipe fee reform to their customers, and that the resulting increase in consumer spending has boosted job creation across the country.

But the study also shows that benefits for consumers and the economy could have been much larger if the Federal Reserve had set its cap on debit swipe fees lower as directed by Congress.

New York -- Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th plans to open a second store in Orlando, Fla., on Oct. 3. On the same date, the retailer plans to open its newly relocated store at Potomac Mills in Woodridge, Va.

ECRM compared retail circular advertising in September 2012 versus September 2013 and noted trends occurring across top retail chains. Home Depot continued to cut circular pages, down 80% year-over-year to only four for September. Despite this, it has continued to dramatically increase the density of its circular, with a 180% increase in ad blocks per page. On the other hand, Lowe’s saw only minor year-over-year changes, with 25% increases in ad blocks per page and per circular.

Lewisville, Texas – Consumers prefer prepaid cards that can be used anywhere to gift cards from specific retailers and physical cards to digital cards.

According to the new “People Prefer Prepaid Rewards” study from Parago, more than half of shoppers prefer prepaid cards over gift cards from Amazon, iTunes, Target, Walmart, Home Depot and more. In addition, two out of three shoppers prefer physical cards over digital cards.

New York -- Steven Newman, CEO of Loehmann’s, will appear on CBS's popular television show, "Undercover Boss," on Friday, Oct. 4 (8 p.m.-9 p.m., ET/PT).

The executive of the original off-price retail chain, with 39 stores in 11 states, went undercover in a few stores around the country in a variety of roles, including order processing at the Loehmann's distribution center, visual merchandising, personal shopper, and sales associate.