Industry Watch

• Walgreen innovates to stay profitable
  Walgreen President Gregory D. Wasson talks to The New York Times about what his company is doing to try to remain profitable as the economy takes its toll on drugstores. In Florida, he says, the chain is centralizing the administrative work and filling of prescriptions to cut costs. NYTimes.com (1/2)

• Safeway takes charge of employee health
  Safeway is rolling out a number of new programs to support its corporate wellness and health care plans. One program, Healthy Measures, offers employees discounts on insurance premiums if they are within certain limits on smoking, obesity, blood pressure and cholesterol. San Francisco Chronicle (1/4)

• Canadian apparel company readies for Olympics
  Canada's Ripzone is among the brands dominating the snowboarding-apparel market, and it keeps its prices low. The company also is getting ready for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, where the jackets will have prints on the inside. National Post (Canada) (1/2)

• Authors to bring wisdom to NRF convention
  Some notable retail experts will share their thoughts and autograph books at this year's NRF convention. Among them: Best Buy's Dan Moe, author of "Retail: The Art and Science"; Michael Gates Gill, author of "How Starbucks Saved My Life"; and Neil Stern and Will Ander, co-authors of "Greentailing and Other Revolutions in Retail: Hot Ideas That Are Grabbing Customers' Attention and Raising Profits." NRF Blog (12/31)

Add flexibility to your point-of-service solution-and $1,000 to your wallet at Retail's BIG Show Celebrate with us at the January 12 launch of Windows Embedded POSReady 2009 in New York, and you could take home $1,000 to celebrate with some retail of your own. Learn more about the launch of a new Windows Embedded point-of-service operating system at NRF.

Retail trends

• Retailers expect an uptick in returns
  Consumers are expected to take advantage of retailers' relaxed return policies. A big majority -- 86% -- of parents surveyed Christmas Day said they'd return their children's gifts if they didn't love them, and a manager at one store said that some days in the past week saw more returns than sales. The Wall Street Journal (tiered subscription model) (1/3)

• Good growth strategy will keep retailers alive
  A number of store closings are projected this year, but a good strategy for growth should keep a single bad season from killing retailers, an NRF executive says. Most chains use models that take into account where competitors and complementary stores are when choosing new locations. Montgomery Advertiser (Ala.)/USA TODAY (1/4)

• Make malls a destination to keep shoppers interested
  With a new study showing that shoppers are finding malls boring, it's time the malls were refreshed, a marketing consultant says. "The mall needs to be a destination," she says. "That means plenty of great food and entertainment options -- not just an aggregation of shops." STORES magazine (1/2009)

• Music retailers see vinyl make a comeback
  As album sales decline, music stores such as Newbury Comics, which has 28 locations, are relying on pop-culture merchandise to stay afloat. But there's a musical bright spot for the retailers: More vinyl was purchased last year than in any year since 1991, when SoundScan began tracking sales. The Sun (Lowell, Mass.) (1/4)

Retail Technology

• Digital coupons get popular
  Coupons delivered over social-networking sites, aggregation sites and mobile phones were popular this holiday season. For example, a Coupons.com application lets Facebook users get a list of printable coupons each week. DMNews (1/5)

Hot Topics

Top five news stories selected by NRF SmartBrief readers in the past week.

• Talbots CEO tries to revamp brand (The Boston Globe)

• Clothing makers want department stores to absorb markdowns (Forbes)

• Amazon claims "best ever" holiday sales season (The Washington Post)

• Boscov makes risky bet on company his father founded (The Washington Post)

• Chanel to cut jobs (The Guardian (London))

• Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers.

Sponsored Content

NRF News

• Gain an edge over the competition with NRF University wired's course of the week
  NRF University wired presents Store Operations as its course of the week. This program is designed for store managers and potential store managers in addition to companies selling and marketing store-operations solutions to retailers. Learn about the functions and concerns of store operations in a modern retail business. Learn more and register.

• NRF SmartStat
  Four of the top five global retailers sell groceries. Source: STORES 2008 Global Powers of Retailing.

• Retailers get into the DESiGN STUDiO free at NRF's BIG Show
  NRF's Dan Butler, one of the masterminds behind the DESiGN STUDiO, discusses this year's plans and background of how the concept came to fruition. The DESiGN STUDiO provides a format in which designers from across the world profile their work. Retailers and store-design professionals receive complimentary entrance into the EXPO Hall and DESiGN STUDiO Jan. 12 and 13. Read the blog entry.

Chain Restaurant News

• Newman's coffee to stay at McDonald's via Green Mountain
  Green Mountain Coffee Roasters has extended its agreement to source, roast and package Newman's Own Organics Blend coffee for more than 600 McDonald's restaurants. Created exclusively for McDonald's, the coffee is a combination of light and medium roasts, available in regular and decaf and served hot or cold. QSRMagazine.com (1/2)

• Starbucks launching local coffee brand in China
  Starbucks is sourcing coffee beans from Yunnan province, China's largest coffee-producing region, for its first brand that is local to China. The company said it is still in discussion with the province and could not say when the brand will be added to its menu. China.org/China Daily (1/5)

Career Track

Director, Operations Finance, Sam's Club Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Bentonville, AR Vice President of 24HourFitness.com 24 Hour Fitness San Ramon, CA Help Desk Manager Total Wine & More US-MD-Bethesda

SmartQuote

If you wait for opportunities to occur, you will be one of the crowd." --Edward de Bono, psychiatrist and author