Now this is an interesting development: Walmart is more “likeable” than Kim Kardashian? Well that’s what WSL/Strategic Retail found when it surveyed some 1,796 shoppers recruited from an online panel of consumers ages 16 and over.

Apparently, brands and retailers have the most followed or “Liked” pages on social media, according to the report from WSL/Strategic Retail, a New York-based company that follows shopper behavior and retail trends.

The report broke it down like this:

Nearly two-thirds (61 percent) of users who “Fan” social media pages are choosing to follow brands and retailers—beating out celebrities and TV shows, which are followed by just more than half of users. Continue reading →

For Halloween last year, my sister dressed up as Taylor Swift. She had long flowing blonde curly hair (thanks to extensions) and a plastic guitar that my 3-year-old nephew now plays with. People immediately recognized her and at one point in the evening, she danced around the entire bar lip-synching one of Swift’s most popular songs, “Love Story.”

Since then, Taylor Swift’s fame has risen to unimaginable heights. So, it only makes sense that at some point she was going to have her own store within a store.

Walgreens recently launched its “The Taylor Swift Store at Walgreens,” filled with more Taylor Swift-branded merchandise than any one celebrity should ever have. Continue reading →

It’s not very often that a retailer gives me chills.
But then again, I haven’t been spending much time with Burberry—until now that is.

The 156-year-old retailer is set to wow us all when it opens its 27,000-sq.-ft. London flagship store. Oh, and did we mention that the store is completely digitally enhanced? Sort of like the Burberry site (which is pretty fabulous) in bricks-and-mortar store format. Um, yeah—it’s that good.

It’s so good that full-length, high-def screens encompass the entire store offering live-stream, audio-visual segments and mirrors. And if it’s your lucky day, you may also see models walking between the screens, much like this. Continue reading →

Given that many department store chains around the globe are celebrating 100-plus year anniversaries, I suppose my 25 years of retail industry experience makes me a Monday morning quarterback. In spite of that, designing retail environments has shown that while many retailers are trying to push the “cool factor” by implementing new technologies, linking with bloggers and plugging into social networks to reach new target audiences, they’re still looking at their new store construction costs on a dollar per sq. ft. basis. I think it’s time we push that outdated thinking aside, and figure out what better meets the expectations of today’s consumers. Continue reading →

We love a good ad campaign just as much as the next diva. But, U.K.-based Harvey Nichols may have taken things a bit too far with its June advertisements.

In the adverts, stoic models in elegant clothes stare off into the distance. There’s just one small problem. It appears that the models have wet their pants. “Try to Contain Your Excitement” appears in the copy next to the photo.

Yep. Models wetting their pants. From apparent excitement over a Harvey Nichols sale.

Only, here’s the thing— if a model (or anyone) had wet their pants, I doubt they would have their hands on their hips in stoic seriousness. Continue reading →