The easiest way to summarize the value of an entire year is to cherry-pick the most dramatic happenings and highlight them on one neat and tidy best and worst list. It's a traditional New Year exercise and the compulsion to do it this year seems to be particularly strong. That's probably partly because we're moving into a new decade, and mostly because we're especially anxious to leave the old decade behind.
As it pertains to the U.S. retail industry, it's pretty easy to rattle off the many worsts of 2009 - the worst store closings, worst stock prices, worst job cuts, worst sales comps, worst bankruptcies, and worst recessionary missteps. It's not quite as easy to rattle off a list of the bests for U.S. retailers in 2009. Unless less-worse is considered to be the new best, then the "bests" gets a little bit easier to identify.
The specific details behind the picks for the Best and Worst of the U.S. Retail Industry in 2009 list can be found by clicking on each individual link. In general the criteria used to pick the "Best and Worst of the Retail Industry in 2009" was an equitable blend of industry recognition, hard numbers, expert analysis, and because-I-said-so opinion. Holistic measurements are always best.
Since it's been a year of mostly bad news for the U.S. retail industry, let's end the year by focusing first on the best.
The Best of the U.S. Retail Industry in 2009... read more...
Comments
Maybe the retail industry should try and get more up-to-date with their market research technologies. In the era of the Internet, it’s surprising how virtual shopping environments can help companies get a grasp on consumer sentiment.