P&G ties up with Barber shops

As mentioned in one of my previous posts "B2B Retailing - New Consumer group !! " the FMCG companies back home were innovating by using thier B2B channels as the front ending brand ambassadors.

Now P&G has gone one step ahead and brought "Art of Shaving" stores in order to increase its expanse and also use those premium stores to brand their products better

Proctor & Gamble’s (PG) Pacman course led it to acquire Zihr and the Art of Shaving — both makers of premium men’s grooming products — last year. Now P&G’s unveiling the first of many revamped Art of Shaving stores. So what’s the world’s largest maker of consumer goods — whose portfolio is packed with hundreds of drugstore brands including Old Spice and Gillette — doing buying and renovating a 39-store, high end men’s brand? Call it a calculated move to capture some cachet.

Office Depot pull up your socks

Best Buy has shown that with superior performance and better customer connect, it can push its rivals over the cliff and file for bankruptcy

Now the eyes of the world are on the war that is on the office supplies space.

Staples takes the pole position given its differentiation which resonnates with the customers.

The battle for the second spot is between Office Max and Office Depot.

Latest results from Office Depot however are not very encouraging

Office Depot Inc., the second- largest U.S. office-supply retailer, sank the most since October 2008 in New York trading after reporting first-quarter sales that fell more than analysts estimated.


Sales declined 4.8 percent to $3.07 billion in the three months ended March 27 from a year earlier, the Boca Raton, Florida-based company said today in a statement. Analysts expected revenue of $3.14 billion, the average of 15 estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sales at established stores have declined 2 percent so far this month, the company said today in a conference call with analysts.

Lets hope Office Depot looks at Circuit City story and differentiates because there is this interesting study which says something else

A professor at Tennessee State University says she has invented a device that is so sensitive it can actually tell the difference between OfficeMax and Office Depot stores.