“Retail is an industry in decline — but only for traditional retailers,” Rick Newman reports for U.S.News & World Report. “For companies that have become successful doing something else, opening a chain of stores can bring millions of new customers and the profits that go with them.”
“This paradox of the retail marketplace is evident in some of the biggest names at the mall. Traditional retailers such as Best Buy, J.C. Penney, Sears, and Kmart are struggling to reverse losses, turn themselves around and give shoppers new reasons to think they’re relevant,” Newman reports. “Yet Apple, a technology company and newcomer to the retail scene, operates a network of more than 200 U.S. stores that have created a new paradigm for brick-and-mortar success.”
Newman reports, “Data on corporate reputations shows how trust relates to success in the modern marketplace. In the latest survey of corporate reputations by Harris Interactive, Amazon, clearly the most successful online retailer, came in first. Apple — which runs the most profitable stores, in terms of sales per square foot — came in second. Struggling retailers, meanwhile, have been falling in the Harris ratings. Best Buy fell from 27th in 2011 to 41st this year. J.C. Penney dropped three spots to 37th. Sears, which lacked the visibility to make the list in 2011, did make the rankings in 2013 — but came in 46th with a score indicating its reputation is ‘poor.'”
Read more in the full article here.
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