Flash in the Pan

According to Reuters, a Noweegian food retailer is apparently making news for providing a refund if customers don't like something they've purchased. Have I walked into the Twilight Zone, or hasn't this been the standard operating procedure at American stores for, oh, decades? Certainly places like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's do this, but I've also seen supermarkets that have taken back product when there's any kind of problem. Then again, it's probably a calculated move. If somethings returned, the store can get credit from the distributor, and it's probably unlikely that people will bother to go back to the store. I still don't see how this became an interntional story, other than smart PR on the part of someone or other.

Labels: groceries, PR

Domestic diva and sharp businesswoman Martha Stewart is going to deliver "good things" to the masses by lending her name to Costco. The warehouse retailer will put her image on fresh and frozen foods. As the New York Times article notes, the company had a first quarter loss evne larger than the same time last year. Revenues went up, but so did spending to launch Blueprint and to renovate the company web site. What's coming from Martha's kitchen? No one is saying, yet, but I'm betting that it comes with a built in clock and that it nags you if you are late to put it on the stove.

Labels: Costco, food, groceries, Martha Stewart