When you go into a store, whether it’s a Safeway, a Macys or a Trader Joe’s, the signage immediately sets the tone. Is the place fun? Is it formal? Is it “hip”? And lastly, does this place communicate that they have what you want? Beneath the simplicity of hanging signs or shelf talkers can be [...]

The motivation to protect what’s unique to a specific community, a region, or a particular street has come as a reaction to the mass influx of chain stores in the last 30 years.

I don’t think all multiple store chains are killers of authenticity. Fundamentally, what do they provide that’s not being served to the consumer? And is it real in how it connects to consumers’ experience?

Target’s entry with P-Fresh will add substantially to the already glutted grocery store square-footage in the United States where more and more retailers are competing for the same number of consumer dollars.