The Power of Retail

Promotional products are the order of the day and it has become an essential part of doing business now. Getting personalized cups for clients and customers is a great way to market a company, especially in the local area although a lot of companies completely overlook this great marketing initiative. While expensive ad campaigns target one type of customer, these promotional activities target an altogether different type of customer and it is essential to have a mix of customers to achieve growth.

Popularity: 9% [?]

We’ve been wanting to go to the Mocha’s that has opened in Lokhandwala for quite a while and today we finally made it. I’ve been to the Mocha’s in Churchgate and Juhu beach and have liked both of them, so my expectations for this branch of Mocha’s were quite high. Unfortunately, it did not meet my expectations at all, and looked rather shabby for a place that has opened up in january this year (or maybe december last year).

The seating arrangement was quite wonky and very illogical, with most seats not even having a backrest, and the chairs that did were missing cushions so it made it very uncomfortable to sit on. The cane tables were closed all the way till the floor, so there was no place to keep one’s feet, the  fabric was torn in several places, the plants were in a sad state of affairs, there were no fans, and no lights on even though it was dark and rainy……the list could go on and on actually.

We had two shakes whcih were very good (rocky road shake and dutch truffle shake), but the chocolate avalanche jr was a dissapointment as it was too dry and blah and no comparison to the one we usually have at the Juhu beach outlet. Do hope the management makes some changes, since they are damaging the name and reputation of the company that has become of the well loved brands of the city.

Popularity: 11% [?]

The number of moves we have made in the past few years, has made us very well versed with the all kinds of real estate configurations and expectations. I have become an expert at talking to real estate agents and companies and trying to figure out what exactly we want in a home and where we want it to be located. In Providence, RI we only wanted to live on the Eastside and found a nice apartment just a few blocks from Brown University. To find a good place to live, one must do the proper research on the city and its neighborhoods.

Popularity: 10% [?]

In our search for a new apartment, we are looking for a place that is elegant and contemporary and have seen a luxury home or two as well. The one thing that I want in a home is good natural light. There’s no substitute for having the morning sun stream into a home. We have windows on three sides in our current apartment, so we can see the sun rise as well as the sun set, and the house is always filled with light. Hope to find something similar in our new location as well.

Popularity: 10% [?]

We’ve had a really rainy day here yesterday and this morning looks like the perfect rainy saturday as well. Perfect for reading the paper, lazing around and drinking coffee. Unfortunatley, we still have lots of work to do, so will not be able to enjoy all the luxuries of a rainy saturday morning. Hope to catch up with it sometime though.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Even though we are all set with our packing and moving, we are yet to find an apartment to move into as yet. Our research has shown that it is possible to find an apartment quite easily, but until one does, it is a bit stressful. I would have loved to find a place in one of the Avalon Communities, but unfortunately, they are not located in the city where we are moving to. For anyone looking for New York apartments, Avalon is the place to head to, since they have a great variety and range of apartments available.

I found their website to be very informative on the kind of apartments they have as well as the locations, which are organized by state and city. For each of the apartments, there are lots of pictures, so one can really get an idea of what the apartment is like. It’s a great way to start hunting for apartments since it makes it so much easier and more efficient.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Lack of posts for the past few days due to hectinc packing going on. Today, the packers were here and packed and took a lot of the things which we are shipping to be stored at home. Some of the utility bills stillll need to sorted out, to be checked and rechecked if our billing has indeed been stopped etc. I have asked for my internet connection to be discontinued tomorrow, so there will be silence for a while on this blog. Hope to catch up soon once we are set up in our new location.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Since I work from home, having a good set of office furniture is essential. A lot of people think that just because you work from home, it is a casual set up and anything goes, but it is even more important to be professional when working from home, as it becomes altogether too easy to take work casually. Currently, I have a small but effective setup with a desk, chair and window ledge next to my desk. In the future, I will have to go in for more storage space, since as my work is increasing I need to have more space available.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Grocery stores in the US are coming back into favor as they innovate and keep away from the system set by Wal-Mart. Grocery store companies are now creating stores that are less hectic, and offering a wider variety of exotic foods, things that Wal-Mart didn’t really focus on. According to TNS Retail Forward, Supermarket sales rose 4% in the last year, which was the largest increase in the past five years. Ever since Wal-Mart started constructing large scale supermarkets, only a few larger chains survived and 26 of them filed for bankruptcy. Some supermarket chains are stocking less of drugs and health and beauty products which are Wal-Mart focus areas, and are instead betting on fresh produce, meat and easy to prepare food items for their stores.

Safeway has also invested in precise temperature controls for its produce and other perishable foods as they move from suppliers to stores. And it strives to find food its competitors don’t offer, said Steven A. Burd, Safeway’s chairman. For instance, it worked with growers to get individual-sized watermelons two years before others. It also works with a single meat supplier to offer its own brand of tenderness-tested beef.Kroger has an outlet for every consumer: urban no-frills stores that stock a limited set of groceries at ultra-low prices, conventional supermarkets and larger stores with housewares, and stores aimed at upper-crust shoppers that offer more produce and prepared foods. David B. Dillon, Kroger’s chief executive officer, estimated the chain gained share last year in 26 of the 32 areas where it competed against supercenters.

Popularity: 11% [?]

I love to track trends and figure out what is happening in specific market segments and why it is happening. The concept of market research is something I find quite fascinating and it’s something that keeps me quite busy in my work, as research is a large part of what I do. Synovate is a market leader in the world of market research, and has been able to track lots of changes in the marketplace with their team of people.

Popularity: 9% [?]