Page 1 Retail Education Today Volume 29 No. 3 Feb 2009 Retail Education Today www.acraretail.org President’s Corner Inside this If you missed the ACRA (January 2010) for the location, including Toys R Winter Conference, you final meeting in New Us, M&Ms, and Her- issue: missed an excellence con- York. shey’s. ference which included 16 ACRA paper presenta- Change The changes in retailing tions and the last public have not been limited to President’s Corner 1 Next year will be my talk by Lee Scott as presi- Times Square. Many re- twentieth year at the tailers, such as J. dent of Wal-Mart. The NRF convention. (That Sunday evening reception Peterman's, the original Call for Papers 3 sure makes me feel old). FAO Schwarz, and the was as extravagant as Since my first ACRA usual, including a per- A&S Plaza (formerly Winter Conference/NRF Gimbals) no longer exist. formance by the Con- Convention in 1991 ACRA / ICSC Conference 4 tours. Even 125 th Street in Har- (actually it was NRMA at lem is undergoing change. The ACRA tour this year that time and the conven- My first visit to the area Position Openings 6 (organized by Barry Ber- last year as a part of the man) involved the Chel- ACRA tour was both very sea Market and the Meat- interesting and informa- Executive Board Meeting 6 packing district, includ- tive. The western portion Minutes ing visits to Stella of the shopping district McCartney and other up- reminded me of down- ACRA Contacts 8 scale retailers. The tour town shopping from the director was exceptional. 1950s – mostly local Next year’s tour has not stores located in well- yet been finalized, but preserved older buildings may involve Greenwich featuring a myriad of Village and Soho. Next “angled” entrances. The year, prepayment will be coming of national and necessary to participate international chain stores in the trip. Information (e.g., H&M, Staples, Lane will be made available Bryant, Champs, Foot next fall around the time tion was located in the Locker, Marshalls, Old that paper acceptances New York Hilton and the Navy, and even a Mar- are announced. Make New York Sheraton), the riott Courtyard Hotel) in plans to take part! changes which have oc- response to significant ACRA Winter Conference curred in retailing in gen- federal money is pres- Retail Tour Next year will mark the eral and retailing in New ently raising rents to final year that the NRF York are nothing less such a level that many of will be meeting in New than phenomenal. The the local businesses are York! Beginning in 2011, revitalization of Times being forced to move. the NRF convention will Square is one such exam- Indeed, several successful be held in Washington ple. The adult theaters retailers visited last year DC. So, make your plans and adult book stores are (e.g., Yarra) are being today to attend the NRF long gone as are concerns forced to leave the area. Convention/ACRA Winter for safety. Times Square In a few more years, will Conference next year is now a “family-friendly” Page 2 Retail Education Today Volume 29 No. 3 Feb 2009 President’s Corner, Continued For instance, Circuit City has recently just begun liquida- 125 th Street be distinguishable from other shopping loca- tions in Manhattan? tion. Although the downfall of Circuit City has surprised many of our students, ask to see how many of them were Changes are occurring in many other regular customers of Circuit City (which areas of New York as well. The revitali- are very, very few) and ask them why zation of the Meatpacking District and they weren’t customers. Discuss other the development of the Chelsea Market retailers which do not possess a com- from a former Nabisco plant have oc- petitive advantage and for which there curred during just the past decade. The is not a viable reason for their continua- transformation from a declining indus- tion (e.g., Sears, Kmart). What strate- trial district to a trendy area has oc- gies would they suggest to make Macy’s curred with lightning speed. Even Or- a viable shopping option again for cus- chard St. is undergoing change with new tomers between 25 and 55? What about construction, which is changing the look traditional suburban shopping malls? of this lower east side street. Is there a place for them in the retailing environment of the future? Upcoming ACRA Conferences Although it is not the best time to be in As you are making plans for the future, Pictures from the Retail Tour (NYC), the job market, this is an ideal time to don’t forget about the ACRA spring con- Compliments of Bob Robicheaux be a student of retailing. “Down times” ference which will be held in conjunction are always more educational than the with ICSC. Due to ICSC procedures, “good times” since students have the registration will be due much earlier opportunity to directly see the ultimate than usual (March) to obtain the lower effects of poor strategy and/or retailers rate. Please plan ahead. and vendors who are unwilling or un- able to make the changes necessary to The triennial AMS-ACRA conference also truly cater to the needs of their custom- looks to be great! Located in New Or- ers. Hence, don’t ignore the retail fail- leans, Mike Pearson has been actively ures in your classes; instead let them involved in the planning, using his con- play a central role! Students need the tacts to ensure a memorable conference. tools to be able to examine and com- Those of you who were able to participate pare job opportunities now and in the in the ACRA Spring Conference in New future and they need to be equipped Orleans in 1996 (which was organized by with the tools necessary to play critical Mike) can remember the activities that roles in the success of the firms with he had planned for us. This year looks to which they will ultimately be associated. This point was be no different. Mike is arranging a number of interesting made plain to me in two circumstances. First, the majority activities and venues which will give us a good “taste” of of my retail experience was at a retailer which really didn’t New Orleans. Make plans to attend today! As an added have any idea of what they were doing. Although the re- plus, the top 6-8 papers from the conference will be consid- tailer is long gone, the experience for me has been the best ered for a special issue of Marketing Planning and Intelli- lesson of my life – it clearly showed me what was necessary gence . to exceed in retailing, the true role of the customer, and what will happen if a retailer does not do what it needs to As we are looking toward the future, the location of future in order to be competitive in the marketplace. Secondly, ACRA spring conferences is an important matter. Loca- when Phar-Mor went under many years ago, a large num- tions which have been discussed for the 2010 conference ber of my former students found them themselves at best include Arizona (as a part of UA’s Global Retailing Confer- unemployed, and at worst with legal problems. Although ence) around April 8-9 and Florida (as a part of UF’s Retail- the business concept behind Phar-Mor was viable at the ing Smarter Conference) around 6/22. For future years, time of its demise (and may still be viable today), the issues suggestions have included Cincinnati, Boston, and Nash- which ultimately led to its downfall were not a total sur- ville. If you have opinions, comments, or have thoughts of prise and were rumored to exist long before its downfall. In hosting an ACRA Spring Conference, please let me know. other words, take advantage of this opportunity to prepare Teachable Moments our students to be successful retailers of the future! As we (and our students) are watching the retail scene, the Continued on page 4 number of important teachable moments is innumerable. Page 3 Retail Education Today Volume 29 No. 3 Feb 2009 Call For Papers Conference or Due Description Contact Publication Date March The theme is “How will retail transforma- See www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/oxirm 5th Conference on Re- 1 tion in the countries of Asia Pacific and www.hkrtia.org tailing in Asia Pacific achieve the full potential benefits and Hong Kong efficiencies? The conference will bring Aug. 25-27, 2009 together industry, academic and govern- ment representatives to discuss the theme. Full papers submission to apre- [email protected] Atlantic Marketing Asso- Papers will be reviewed using a blind Dr. Ismet Anitsal, Program Chair ciation 2009 Annual Con- evaluation process. Contact information Tennessee Tech University ference April for the Retailing and Retail Management College of Business Salem, MA 21 Track: [email protected] Dr. Ugur Yucelt Sept. 30—Oct. 3, 2009 The Pennsylvania State University Conference Website: at Harrisburg School of Business Administration http://www.atlanticmarketing.org/ 777 W. Harrisburg Pike index_frameset.htm Middletown, PA 17036 Phone: 717-948-6168 Email : [email protected] Retailing 2009: Strategic June Each track chairperson will recommend Barry Berman, Hofstra University, Challenges and Opportu- 1 on to three papers in his/her track as [email protected] nities in Uncertain Times suitable for inclusion is a special issue on Retail Strategy in Marketing Intelli- Charles McMellon, Hofstra Univer- Sponsored by ACRA and gence and Planning . Six to eight papers sity, [email protected] the Academy of Market- will be selected for inclusion.