...

Opportunities usually come with challenges, but rarely are the two so linked as they are in Big Data. Everything about this emerging topic is outsized. Even if you can comprehend what it means to store exabytes of data, it’s almost impossible to...

It’s not just candy bars and cereal in the pharmacy anymore. It’s mac and cheese with gruyere and white truffle oil. It’s fresh salad bars. It’s hot soup.  As reported on in the SN story “Duane Reade digs deeper into fresh,” pharmacies such as t...

Wouldn’t it be nice to begin each year with real information on what lies ahead? If that were the case, a year ago we already would have known about the unprecedented rush of retail mergers and acquisitions to come in 2013. That would have been ...

At the tail end of a year when the genetically modified labeling debate spilled over to GM-containing products that make natural claims, the Food and Drug Administration has again been petitioned to clarify which products can be designated “natur...

One of the most widely anticipated developments heading into 2013 a year ago was the pending sale of Albertsons and its sister banners. Popular supposition at that time was that Supervalu would be acquired and broken up into pieces, most likely ...

What keeps you up at night? Ask that question to food retailers, and you’ll get a long list. One concern in particular is how their organizations are being perceived by consumers, especially in the wake of growing debates in the media about food...

While retailers have been doing a great job of helping make cooking easier for customers — by offering meal ideas, demos and value-added products — there’s room to focus more on making the actual shopping experience more pleasant. For instance...

They are two European-based retail companies, headquartered in different countries, with varied go-to-market strategies. What they have in common is that both operators, Ahold and Tesco, have made big forays into the U.S. market. One succeeded...

Everyone in our industry is talking about the opportunities in health and wellness, but we should be working on programs that focus on the prevention of obesity, which may well be the more serious issue. And I believe this should be our industry’...