Greetings;

Flat panel displays are popping up all around us as corporations begin to make big investments in digital in-store media. “Good news” you might say, with Forrester forecasting screens in 90% of US retailers by 2011, but the problem is that many of these investments in hardware have not been accompanied by appropriate investments in software. Since hardware represents the lion’s share of the cost, this approach baffles me. Many of the screens at retail are still harnessing the digital world’s equivalent of a horse-drawn carriage -- DVD players. It makes me want to yell out, “Why bother!!”

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Shoppers Consumed by CROCS

By now, you've probably heard the unlikely story of Crocs - not the rugged-skinned reptiles, but the shoes that have become a global phenomenon.

It all started when three Boulder, CO based founders decided to develop and market an innovative type of footwear. Originally, Crocs shoes were intended as a boating/outdoor shoe because of their slip-resistant, non-marking soles. By 2003, Crocs footwear had become a bona-fide phenomenon, universally accepted as an all purpose shoe for comfort and fashion.

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WIMPY Gets Wired

Few people know that the Wimpy brand was born out of a tea room established in 1894 called Lyons in the Piccadilly area of London. Lyons Tea Rooms and the Lyons Corner House were successful full service restaurants that thrived and expanded throughout the London area. In 1954, they decided to try a new and revolutionary concept of food-to-go by adding a quick pick-up bar in the corner of one of the Corner House locations; they called this new concept “the Wimpy Bar”. Wimpy, whose name came from the Popeye character Wellington Wimpy, famous for his love of hamburgers, quickly became a success. Before long there were more Wimpy Bars than Lyons and Corner House restaurants combined. By the 1970’s, the Wimpy chain had expanded to more than a thousand locations in twenty-three countries.

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