Research Topic

Old Bridge, N.J. — The retail vacancy rate along central New Jersey’s major shopping corridors increased to 9.8% this summer, according to R.J. Brunelli & Co.’s 24th annual study of the central New Jersey market.

The disappointing upward spike follows a major decline from a 10-year high of 10.5% to 9.1% between 2011 and 2012. R.J. Brunelli attributed the change to growing closures of smaller ships overcoming progress in re-tenanting big-box spaces larger than 20,000 sq. ft.

Dr. Mehmood Khan, EVP and chief scientific officer for PepsiCo, has been appointed to the CTO Forum Advisory Board. The CTO Forum brings together senior technology executives and business leaders to discuss and collaborate on key technology issues facing the industry and to accelerate innovation across organizations.

Mountain View, Calif. -- Best Buy was the most effective retail brand overall during the 2013 back-to-school advertising season for the second year in a row with an average Ace Score of 561, performing 15% higher than its retail peers, according to TV and video advertising data from Ace Metrix.

Office Depot was the second most effective back-to-school retail advertiser with an average Ace Score of 540.

New York - The importance of brand has increased tenfold for consumers in the past 17 years, currently standing at 30%. When the first wave of the Brand Keys Fashion Index was conducted in 1996, only 3% of U.S. apparel buyers felt fashion brands and their associated logos were of increasing importance to consumers.

SPARKS, Md. — McCormick is appealing to football fans who enjoy tailgating, and identified the Top 10 Tastiest Tailgate cities in the U.S. to promote its Grill Mates seasoning.

In a joint venture with Bert Sperling, a leading "Best Places" researcher, McCormick Grill Mates analyzed 31 cities in the U.S. with professional football teams to identify the Top 10 in the country.

Minneapolis -- Christopher & Banks Corp. reported a loss of $265,000 for the quarter ended Aug. 4, narrowed from a $2.2 million loss in the year-ago period. Sales edged up 1% to $104.2 million from $103.4 million, and same-store sales climbed 7.7%.

Under the leadership of CEO LuAnn Via, the company is in the early stages of a turnaround, with store openings on tap for both fiscal 2013 and a longer-term three-year period.

An article that recently caught my eye adds more evidence to my growing suspicion (and I know I am far from alone in this) that the near-term to mid-term retail outlook might not be quite as positive as we may have thought just a few months ago. The piece, “Gap Stands out Among Retailers in Tough Quarter,” in Women’s Wear Daily highlighted the sobering second-quarter numbers from a long list of big retail brands. As the title implies, Gap, Inc.

ECRM compared retail circular advertising in August 2012 versus August 2013 and noted trends occurring across top retail chains. A home improvement promotional arms race between Home Depot and Lowe’s appears to be taking place: Lowe’s saw year-over-year increases of 100%, 75% and 184.4% across circular page count, ad block per page count and ad block per circular count, respectively. Despite these large gains, Lowe’s still appears to be playing catch-up to Home Depot, which continued to run more ad blocks per page and per circular than Lowe’s.