My business is coming up the ramp;
Some other business is dead.
The other business that is dead is, unless you are speaking to a very depressed person, not the one he or she is in.

So it depends on who you are speaking to, or to whom you are speaking, depending on whether that grammar stuff matters to you.

Following are the businesses that are dead, if you hang around with enough bullsh**ters in a wide enough range of fields:

• The theater
• Movies in movie houses
• Public schools
• Radio, because of satellite radio,
• Satellite radio, because of Internet radio and ITunes
• Broadcast television, because of cable and Internet video
• Cable television, because of satellite TV and Internet video
• Satellite television, because of digital television conversion and Internet video
• Internet video, because of digital television conversion and downloading
• DVDs, because of downloading
• Downloading, because of the ubiquity of broadband streaming
• Personal computers with hard drive capacity, due to cloud computing
• Land-line telephones, because they’re so 20th Century
• Any internet company that is not Google (GOOG), for obvious reasons
• Google, because, well, how long can they keep THIS up?
• Books, of course
• Magazines, except the ones that we’re on the cover of, and…
• Newspapers

The only one that everybody agrees about right now, among the b.s.-ing class, is newspapers. Newspapers are dead. Dead dead dead. Yes, Rupert Murdoch doesn’t seem to believe so, but he is incorrect in this, or doesn’t see the truth right now, or whatever. Because you know newspapers? They’re dead.

This is not helped at all by the appearance of Sam Zell, who bought Tribune (TXA), and whose chief operating officer recently announced they would begin to judge the value of journalists by the column inches they produced in a year. This is sort of like saying that Chichi’s is the best restaurant in America because it serves the greatest weight in nachos.

That aside, however, everybody does agree: they’re dead. One day there will be no newspapers, because No Young People Read Newspapers. Is this true? My kids are of sentient age. They read newspapers. In fact, they’re both knee deep in Obamamania right now, and read everything they can get their hands on. I see people reading newspapers on the street, in parks, on subways and buses… when you get a bad story in the newspaper it still ruins your day…

But no. They’re dead. Know why? Because Advertising is Down in newspapers. Now of course, advertising is sort of down across the board, and actually MUCH more disappointing on all those social networks everybody loves so much… and newspapers still attract a HUGE proportion of total advertising…

But no. Newspapers are dead. And advertisers read that and, timid little lambkins that they are, cut their budgets even more, because after all who wants to advertise in a dead medium?

Finally, newspapers are, you know, dead because they Haven’t Changed With The Times and News Is A Commodity That You Can Get Just As Well Online.

Except guess what. It’s not. I’ll just say what I think and get out of here. As always, if you agree, lob something in.

• I like newspapers. I look at a few every day and even read some of each;
• I don’t believe everything I read in the paper, but I’m interested in what they think is interesting;
• Newspapers have been around a long time, from medieval days through the time of Horace Greeley (above) and beyond. Radio didn’t kill them. TV didn’t kill them. The internet will not kill them;
• If there were no newspapers, all we’d have is the Internet, whose capacity for the promulgating and dispensation of bulls**t is unparalleled;
• I am NOT interested in a PERSONAL, daily e-mail informing me only of the stuff I pre-select as of interest to me. What’s the pleasure in that?
• If we all had a euro for every article in some medium that declared another medium dead, we’d all be Europeans;
• Aggregators can only aggregate content if there is content to aggregate. No content, no aggregators;
• Contrary to popular belief, journalism is an actual profession that takes training, talent and skill, and one of the most rigorous and necessary places in which it’s pursued is in newspapers;
• 89% of all citizen-journalists are just full of it.

Now you guys in newspapers could probably help a little, going forward. Why not stop writing pieces every day about how dead every other industry is? Just a thought, tough guys.

Of course, this is no ordinary downturn. Yes, tax rebates from the federal government pushed retail sales higher in May than many economists had expected. But consumers will be paying lofty prices at the gas pump and supermarket long after the stimulus checks stop arriving. That leaves less for discretionary buying. “Moms who used to buy every member of the family their own brand of shampoo are buying one big cheap one,” says Sheila McKusker, who notes that, in 20 years of tracking the retail industry for market researcher Information Resources, she’s never seen such a profound or sudden shift in shopping behavior. In May, consumer confidence hit its lowest level since 1992.

Cutting prices may not be enough to get people into stores. So while Lowe’s is offering low-cost versions of Shop-Vacs and air purifiers, the home-improvement chain has also launched an advertising campaign to reposition itself as something that looks a lot like the local hardware store (the very mom-and-pop shop that Lowe’s and Home Depot helped drive out of business). In one TV commercial, a father and his sons marvel as a Lowe’s employee cuts duplicate house keys.

In many cases, retailers are going after a different customer altogether. Earlier this year, Gap’s troubled Old Navy chain began pitching trendier clothing at twentysomethings. Sales continued to tank, and the retailer is refocusing its message on price. Now the ideal customer is the budget-conscious mom shopping for herself and the family. Unlike this spring’s safari- and surfer-themed clothes, the fall line will include more basics, and TV ads now emphasize price over style.

Saks Fifth Avenue, too, is focusing more on value. This fall, the upscale department store will reintroduce a private-label line for women in their 40s and 50s. Called Real Clothes, the skirts, blouses, and dresses will be priced 20% below the store’s average brand-name items. “For a high-end customer, it’s not about a trade-off between food [and] gasoline,” says Saks CEO Stephen I. Sadove, “[but] how they feel about their net worth.” He also notes that, during tough economic times, consumers expect better service, too. That’s why Saks is putting more of its sales staff on commission—the better to compete for shoppers’ affections.

As they seek to hang on to existing customers and attract new ones, retailers are teaming up. In May, Macy’s announced it would partner with FAO Schwarz to bring toys back to its stores. Over the next two years, Macy’s will put an FAO Schwarz inside 685 of its locations. “If gas prices continue to rise, being in Macy’s is a really smart move,” says FAO Schwarz CEO Edward M. Schmults. “Customers aren’t going to want to drive to five different places looking for products.” The partnership also allows Macy’s to lease excess space and gives the toy retailer access to millions of new shoppers.

J.C. Penney is using an existing partnership with Sephora USA , the cosmetics and fragrance merchant, to go after freer-spending consumers. Sephora has opened boutiques inside 72 (of 300 planned) Penney stores, catering to 18- to 35-year-old women who typically spend more per item than Penney’s traditional base of middle-aged moms. Penney CEO Myron E. Ullman III says he’s discounting to keep his regulars buying while Sephora lures those willing to pay full price for new products.

Even as stores scramble to broaden their appeal, they are minding their core customers. Rite Aid is offering a $30 gift card and a chance to win a year’s worth of free gasoline to customers who transfer their prescriptions to the chain . Target is pushing its cheaper private-label food and beverages. And Saks in April rolled out no-interest loans on top-drawer jewelry. As Saks CEO Sadove says: “The high-end consumer likes a deal like everybody else.”

by Jane Porter and Burt Helm

With up to 56 percent of the EU community now making purchases using the web, the Commission believes that confidence must be heightened to cross borders and embrace e-tailing at an international level.

The lack of confidence in cross border e-commerce is evident by the fact that only 16 percent of consumers have made international purchases over the web, a very small rise from 15 percent the previous year. With many well known retailers now beginning to embrace e-commerce, the potential of the online market to deliver a wide variety of product choice at lower prices is significant.

Unfortunately, many sites are still not equipped to handle this kind of global functionality. If companies are going to be able to deliver their goods and services to broader audiences and take advantage of larger market opportunities, it is crucial that companies ramp up their efforts to traverse borders and cultures. At present, in many cases users are either blocked when attempting to access foreign portals or are redirected to a local homepage of their own nation.

John Stroshal, VP of Europe at Digital River – a provider of global e-commerce solutions, comments on what companies can to do to extend online shopping borders beyond home markets and encourage consumers to take better advantage of the web:

“Businesses can do a lot more to generate e-commerce activity on the web, encouraging users to move out of their comfort zone and shop beyond the borders of their home town. Potential customers are often concerned about whether cross border purchases will actually be successful and companies are unsure about how to provide the best cross e-commerce experience. They often settle for not having a global online presence, missing out on a valuable opportunity to increase productivity and grow.”

“What businesses need is an uncomplicated web site that is optimised to cater to cosmopolitan customers. Users the world over have come to expect a functional web experience that saves them valuable time and effort, so it is vital that companies look at potential service barriers like language, currency, tax and shipping regulations. By providing a solution to these common cultural stumbling blocks, companies will be able to create the kind of online experience that is built to encourage diverse users to shop abroad.”

Whilst it is proving difficult to continue growing sales from their existing core businesses, I think there is evidence of some good examples of retailers broadening their horizons beyond their traditional markets and areas of expertise.

Expansion into new business areas is hardly a new phenomenon but as the market has toughened it has become more of an imperative for many companies. The search for new revenue streams has led more retailers into the area of ‘venturing’, which can take a variety of forms: from the setting up of a formal joint venture company with a third-party, through to the simple creation of a revenue-sharing arrangement where a retailer sells products in their store or on their website using another company’s recognised brand name.

As with many initiatives in the retail sector, it is the supermarkets that have led the way, setting up joint venture businesses that have taken them into new areas, such as financial services.

Tesco and Sainsbury’s were the front runners into this sector when they teamed up with big banking names to provide their own services just over a decade ago. The former linked with the Royal Bank of Scotland to set up Tesco Personal Finance, and the launch of a combined debit and loyalty card was swiftly followed by credit cards and insurance policies. RBS recently agreed to sell its 50 per cent stake in the venture to Tesco for £1 billion.

The key to success with such ventures is ensuring that each partner’s skills are complementary and that they have the same objectives for their businesses and for their brands. There are plenty of learning points, such as making sure that the culture of both organisations are aligned, and it crucial that control of the joint venture entity is shared, with a clear understanding of who is the dominant party.

As well as joint-ownership venture arrangements, some retailers have taken stakes in other businesses to extend their reach. A good example is Ocado, in which the John Lewis Partnership, Waitrose’s parent company, has a share. Again, the objectives of the parties involved are firmly aligned, which in this case centres on the fundamental aim of delivering food with a high level of customer service.

Joint venture deals are also being used to drive revenue growth through entry into emerging markets. Over the past year or so, we’ve seen UK retailers announce a series of joint ventures in India. Earlier this year, Hamleys announced a joint venture with Reliance Retail, one of India’s largest industrial conglomerates and this has followed the likes of Marks & Spencer, which currently has 14 stores in India with Planet Retail; Wal-Mart, set to open its first cash-and-carry with India-based Bharti by December 2008; and Giorgio Armani, which has entered into a joint venture with real estate developer DLF to open stores which will sell and distribute various Armani brands.

And it’s not just UK companies looking overseas for new opportunities – businesses here have plenty to offer in terms of market knowledge and expertise. Carphone Warehouse recently announced a joint venture worth £1.1 billion with American electrical giant Best Buy, which will see the two businesses open ‘electricals supermarkets’ in the UK and across Europe from next year.

As times become ever-tougher for high street retailers the need to look outside their core businesses for new opportunities will become stronger, so we may well see more innovation through venture type activities in the future.

Article by Helen Dickinson

Starbucks announcement that it will close 600 stores in the U.S. is a long-overdue admission that there are limits to growth.

In February 2007, a leaked internal memo written by founder Howard Schultz showed that he recognized the problem that his own growth strategy had created: “Stores no longer have the soul of the past and reflect a chain of stores vs. the warm feeling of a neighborhood store.” Starbucks tried to add value through innovation, offering wi-fi service, creating and selling its own music. More recently, Starbucks attempted to put the focus back on coffee, revitalizing the quality of its standard beverages. But none of these moves addressed the fundamental problem: Starbucks is a mass brand attempting to command a premium price for an experience that is no longer special. Either you have to cut price (and that implies a commensurate cut in the cost structure) or you have to cut distribution to restore the exclusivity of the brand. Expect the 600 store closings to be the first of a series of downsizing announcements. Sometimes, in the world of marketing, less is more.

Schultz sought, admirably, to bring good coffee and the Italian coffee house experience to the American mass market. Wall Street bought into the vision of Starbucks as the “third place” after home and work. New store openings and new product launches fueled the stock price. But sooner or later chasing quarterly earnings growth targets undermined the Starbucks brand in three ways.

First, the early adopters who valued the club-like atmosphere of relaxing over a quality cup of coffee found themselves in a minority. To grow, Starbucks increasingly appealed to grab and go customers for whom service meant speed of order delivery rather than recognition by and conversation with a barista. Starbucks introduced new store formats like Express to try to cater to this second segment without undermining the first. But many Starbucks veterans have now switched to Peets, Caribou and other more exclusive brands.

Second, Starbucks introduced many new products to broaden its appeal. These new products undercut the integrity of the Starbucks brand for coffee purists. They also challenged the baristas who had to wrestle with an ever-more-complicated menu of drinks. With over half of customers customizing their drinks, baristas hired for their social skills and passion for coffee, no longer had time to dialogue with customers. The brand experience declined as waiting times increased. Moreover, the price premium for a Starbucks coffee seemed less justifiable for grab and go customers as McDonald’s and Dunkin Donuts improved their coffee offerings at much lower prices.

Third, opening new stores and launching a blizzard of new products create only superficial growth. Such strategies take top management’s eye off of improving same store sales year-on-year. This is the heavy lifting of retailing, where a local store manager has to earn brand loyalty and increase purchase frequency in his neighborhood one customer at a time. That store manager’s efforts are undercut when additional stores are opened nearby. Eventually, the point of saturation is reached and cannibalization of existing store sales undermines not just brand health but also manager morale.

None of this need have happened if Starbucks had stayed private and grown at a more controlled pace. To continue to be a premium-priced brand while trading as a public company is very challenging. Tiffany faces a similar problem. That’s why many luxury brands like Prada remain family businesses or are controlled by private investors. They can stay small, exclusive and premium-priced by limiting their distribution to selected stores in the major international cities.

During the event, about 60 retail jewelers from around the country discussed best practices in areas such as marketing, operations and training. In addition, 31 couture-level retailers were recognized as the first class of America’s Best Jewelers.

America’s Best Jewelers is a program launched by NJN this past spring. The program includes an online survey that asks retailers about their best practices in customer service, financial management, marketing, operations and staffing/human resources.

Shaker Heights, Ohio-based MPI Group conducts and analyzes the survey to determine whose business practices are the best and, thereby, a winner of the America’s Best Jewelers designation.

A total of 264 jewelers completed the survey, 93 percent of which are independent retailers.

In addition to the survey and America’s Best Jewelers designation, the program also contains a conference component, which brings these jewelers together with their peers to share best-practice tips.

Areas covered during Saturday’s conference included customer service, financial metrics, marketing, operations and staffing/human resources.

Some of the tips shared included:

—Write a weekly column or appear on a regularly broadcast radio show to get your store’s name out in the community.

—Use a mobile billboard or strategically place your billboard near a business where people are more likely to spend longer amounts of time, such as a car wash.

—Hire a firm to conduct “video mystery shopping” in your store to see how your salespeople stack up.

—Conduct some form of employee training on a daily basis.

—Add a handwriting-analysis segment to your hiring process.

For a complete list of the couture-level retailers chosen as America’s Best Jewelers, and for more information about the program, visit its Web site, NationalJewelerNetwork.com/NJN/Resources/ABJ.jsp.

The Independent cites TNS data that shows Asda boosted its first-quarter online sales by more than 70% compared to the equivalent period last year.

The performance catapults Asda over its UK rival to become the second-largest online retailer after Tesco.

The news will be regarded a blow to Sainsbury’s, which has wrestled with a number of technical issues over its website in recent weeks, causing the temporary closure of the site.

“United Supermarkets is excited to offer North Texas and the Frisco community a shopping experience unlike any other,” said United Supermarkets CEO Dan Sanders. “Our Frisco store will have something for everyone. For the gourmet chef in you, we offer the finest produce, meats and cheeses to make those meals shine. For that individual-on-the-go, he/she can utilize the drive-thru convenience of ‘A Taste of Market Street’ and pick-up a delicious meal and a few other items without having to get out of the car. We’re going to see a lot of smiling faces enter this grand store, and we’re going to do our best to make sure those smiles savor the moment and enjoy all that Market Street has to offer.”

Market Street is a unique market that combines the everyday groceries store guests need with the specialty items, whole-health/gourmet products and pre-prepared foods they want. The first store opened in Wichita Falls in 1998, and other stores followed in Amarillo and Lubbock.

The Frisco Market Street location will be the anchor tenant for Eldorado Market Place, a 400,000-square-foot shopping center at the northwest corner of Eldorado Parkway and Dallas North Tollway. It is the fourth Metroplex location for Market Street and second of three new stores to open this year. The Allen location opened Feb. 29, and the Coppell store is slated for completion in early November. Other Metroplex Market Street locations are located in Colleyville and McKinney and have been in operation since 2003 and 2004, respectively.

To highlight its arrival in Frisco, Market Street will be hosting a series of events throughout the following week. On Friday, renowned calligraphy expert and master engraver Ken Brown will engrave purchased wine bottles for in-store guests, free of charge, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. On Saturday, Market Street welcomes the Disney Summer Games, featuring Hannah Montana’s Cody Linley, who plays “Jake Ryan” on the hit show. Radio Disney will be onsite from 1-3 p.m. featuring contests to coincide with Disney’s Summer Games Promotion, and Linley will be on-hand to participate in the games and greet fans.

On Sept. 6, Market Street presents “Back-to-School Bash” – a celebration for the Frisco community featuring Cajun swamp rock band L’Angelus. The event, which goes from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., will have BBQ Semi Grill serving complimentary hamburgers and hot dogs. The band will perform from 2:30 to 6 p.m., with Bill Mack emceeing the day’s festivities.

“We wanted to roll out the ‘red carpet’ to welcome all Frisco and North Texas residents to our newest Market Street location,” said Robert Bollinger, store manager at Frisco’s Market Street. “This is a great opportunity for our community to experience Market Street and have a grand time in the process.”

Among Market Street’s other features are:

A full-service meat-seafood counter
An extensive array of fresh produce (including a large organic complement)
A whole-health center stocked with natural, organic and bulk foods, as well as the leading supplement brands
Full-service floral department
An extensive selection of wine and beer from around the world
Dish Kitchen Store
Fresh sushi bar
Peet’s Coffee and Tea shop
Keva frozen drink/smoothie bar
A large bakery emphasizing made-from-scratch pastries, desserts and artisan breads
A wide variety of great foods from several in-store restaurants available for dine-in or take-out, with seating to accommodate more than 125 people for in-store dining

About United Supermarkets

United Supermarkets, LLC, is a Texas-based, family-owned retail grocery chain with stores in 27 markets across North and West Texas. A self-distributing company with its headquarters and distribution center in Lubbock, United operates 47 stores under three distinct formats: United Supermarkets, Market Street and Amigos United.

Now in its 92nd year of operation, the company is noted for its customer service and community involvement, having been named the inaugural winner of Supermarket News’ Community Service Award in 2003 for its innovative concept of UCrew community volunteer teams. UCrew organizes volunteer team members to provide community service in every United neighborhood.

In 2001, United Supermarkets was named winner of the Better Business Bureau’s National Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics. Most recently, United Supermarkets has been named one of the “Best Companies to Work for in Texas” the past three years, one of only 20 companies named to the list every year since its inception.

The two notebook and two desktop PCs are the first Dell models designed especially for emerging markets, said Steve Felice, the U.S. computer maker’s president for the Asia-Pacific.

They are meant for small-business users and are to be sold in 20 countries across Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Strong sales in Asia helped Dell turn in better-than-expected results in the last quarter despite a slowing U.S. economy. It is due to report its latest quarterly results after the U.S. markets close Thursday, and analysts are watching whether it can maintain its growth pace.

“Our success is going to be largely dependent on our ability to expand globally,” Felice said in an interview.

Dell and rivals Hewlett-Packard Co., Taiwan-based Acer Inc. and China’s Lenovo Group are expanding aggressively in emerging economies as sales growth in the United States and other developed markets slows.

Dell’s first-quarter sales in China, India, Russia and Brazil — markets known collectively as BRIC — grew by 58 percent, about 10 times the U.S. rate, Felice said. He said Dell expects 20-30 percent annual growth in those markets in coming years.

Prices for the new Vestro notebooks will start at 3,299 yuan ($475) and for the desktop PCs at 2,999 yuan ($440).

Dell, based in Round Rock, Texas, broke with its usual development and marketing strategy for its latest products, Felice said.

“We used to design products for global requirements and distribute the same product globally,” he said. “In this situation, we started with talking to emerging country customers, designing a product for emerging countries, and our initial launch of the product is only in emerging countries. That’s a big departure in our strategy.”

The new Dell models were created by a Shanghai design center set up to focus on emerging markets, Felice said.

The move reflects a growing focus by global computer, automobile, consumer goods and other companies on creating products for increasingly prosperous customers in China, India and other emerging economies.

Beijing-based Lenovo, which acquired IBM Corp.’s PC unit in 2005, is targeting China’s vast but poor rural market with a basic PC released last year and priced as low as 1,499 yuan ($220).

According to Felice, industry forecasts say China’s computer sales should grow from 50 million units last year to 500 million by 2015, or double that year’s projected U.S. sales.

Dell built its U.S. business with Internet- and phone-based direct sales but has added retail distribution in China and elsewhere to reach more buyers.

In China, its computers are sold in 2,700 outlets of the Gome and Suning electronics store chains, which Felice said account for about half of Dell’s Chinese sales. He said Dell has a total of about 13,000 retail outlets worldwide.

“These economies are growing so fast that we don’t want to miss out on the opportunity,” Felice said. “But if we just use the direct model, it might take too long to get there.”

Dell is trying to expand its presence in China outside Beijing, Shanghai and other big eastern cities and sees 50 percent of potential sales in small, inland cities, Felice said.

“We’re getting out there as fast as we can,” he said.

Wines from South Africa grew by 13% by volume, against a total market growth of 1.1%. South Africa’s value sales also grew by 13%. South Africa’s current market share is 9.1% percent by volume and it is the fifth largest producer country in the UK market.

Global exports of South African wine are up 31% by volume from January to July 2008, when compared to the same period in 2007. The UK, South Africa’s number one export market, has seen an increase of 26% during this period, giving the UK a 27% share all South African wine exports.

Jo Mason, UK market manger, Wines of South Africa, said: “It is fantastic to see South Africa performing so well in one of its most established export markets. The country enjoys an enviable image in the minds of UK consumers and the quality and value for money the country offers is clearly having an impact.

“The major South African brands have been successful this year, Kumala is back in growth, Namaqua and First Cape have delivered excellent results and Arniston Bay has also put in a strong performance,” she said.

“In addition we are selling more wines above £5, as South Africa is increasingly viewed as a producer of premium wines with distinctive regional characteristics.”