Reviews (1)

Covers Everything For a Catalog--Not For The Beginner
Maxwell Sroge has some great information for product information and working with small suppliers. The Foreward by Lillian Vernon Katz is sweet and Lillian Vernon's catalog is frequently used as an example in the book. There are 101 different areas, which are often contributed by industry experts. "101 Tips" is well designed, easy to read. There is no index but the table of contents and the 101 Tip style makes finding information easy. When I read, "Let's assume a house active file of 1,000,000 customer names ..." I knew that he was thinking way past what we would ever do. I don't think that if I had a customer database of 1 million, that I would be reading a book--I would be hiring a consultant. ... Read more

Book Description

Entrepreneur Magazine's Ultimate Book of Franchises includes everything you need to know about buying a franchise. Culled from Entrepreneur magazine's more than 20 years of research and reporting on the world of franchises, this book is packed with practical, how-to advice to guide you through every step on the road to franchise ownership.

Inside, you'll find:

*The most comprehensive listing of franchise companies available anywhere--more than 1,000 companies!
*In-depth facts and figures, including companies' contact information, costs, company size, training and support, franchise qualifications and financial-stability ratings
*"Top 10" lists and rankings to help you quickly identify the perfect franchise for your needs
*Expert advice on researching your franchise options, including how to put the Internet to work for you
*Tips for negotiating a successful franchise agreement

... and much more! If you've ever considered buying a franchise, look no further--this Ultimate guide is the only tool you'll need. ... Read more

Book Description

You asked for it.Now, you've got it!Just what you needed!A complete, up-to-date guide to the QUIXTAR web site that everyone - from the newest user to the savviest web surfer - will want to have on hand.Relax and enjoy yourself as the authors of QUIXTAR click-by-click take you on a tour of the site that has proven to be one of the Web's brightest stars, in QUIXTAR click-by-click, 2nd Edition.

Still in its infancy, QUIXTAR is a dot-com dream come true.True to its name, QUIXTAR's skyrocketing launch drew millions of hits a day, right from the start.Since then, it continues to amaze those who follow its course.Debt-free.And profitable.Here's an e-commerce concept that anybody can love.And with good reason.QUIXTAR paid out over $143 million in cash bonuses to participating Independent Business Owners its first year.Those IBOs are regular people.Just like you.

Everything you need to know about the QUIXTAR site is here, in a friendly, easy-to-understand format.No techno-mumbo- jumbo.No book too big to read.Just what you need.No more.No less.So have no fear, click-by-click is here!

You'll find special sections that showcase some of the site's newest features.New stores.New navigation.New ways of doing Ditto Delivery.A new Visitors' Area.A cool multimedia presentation.And more.Much more.

Of course, all your favorites are here, too.Handy tables that summarize each Partner Store's offerings - stores like OfficeMax and TrueValue Hardware - and show the points or Q-Credits you'll earn when you shop there.A listing of each of the hundreds of Catalog City stores - like J. Crew, Neiman-Marcus, and The Sharper Image - along with a description of the merchandise they carry.That information alone will save you days of surfing time!

And because we know how much you love pictures, we're including screen shots for each section of the site.Membership.Registration. Ordering.Expert Advice.My Assessment.My Home.My Health.My Self.My Links.Hot Buys.And the Store For More, full of merchandise from hundreds of top-name manufacturers.Discover the Seven Types of Shoppers and determine your shopping personality.Then shop the way you want.By using the Product Index.Alphabetical Listing.Store Directory.Or Search feature.Those with a passion for shopping can browse 'til their heart's content.

Use the Lingo boxes to get up to speed on unfamiliar computer terms and impress your kids with your new vocabulary.Check out the QuickTips to get insider information and shortcuts that will make you into an expert before you know it.You'll find lots of suggestions for maximizing your points or Q-Credits, too.Plus a wonderful index to help you look up the answers to specific questions you may have. All right here, in QUIXTAR click-by-click, 2nd Edition.The best just got better! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Real answers in a real time world
On line in real time is what shopping for life's essentials ought to be about. Fortunately there is Quixtar.com that moves us closer to that reality. For those of us new to shopping virtually or someone curious about how this works..this book is a treasure. We should all have such a "best friend" to do the research for us and pave the way. Someone who makes the mysterious seem so easy. Full of wit, wisdom and helpful tips to navigating this diverse site and fascinating business vehicle. Best of all when you're done your feet won't hurt. Ms Reynolds has updated her first edition to encompass the evolution of the site and teach us still more about shopping and buying on the Internet to simplify our lives. What do women want? Simpler lives! I can't imagine shopping any other way. Knowing there is surely more change coming, I look forward to the 3rd edition.

Best Laid Track...click-by-click
In September, 1999, Quixtar.com appeared on the Internet like the little, blue engine chugging, "I think I can. I think I can. I think I can." Many people climbed aboard that train to cross the mountain to reach Success and Freedom. However, to climb that elevation, they needed well laid track. Quixtar.com click-by-click was the answer. Now, in 2001, the summit has been reached. Success and Freedom can be seen. Quixtar click-by-click, 2nd Edition, the best and strongest track ever, is here to guide the Quixtar engine carrying all the people down the steep slopes of the mountain chugging, "I thought I could. I thought I could. I thought I could." The 2nd Edition with its "Lingo", "Quick Tips", and step by step approach can guide someone just learning about the Quixtar site. But, even better! IBOs, who think they know the site, are going to be amazed at all the information of which they're unaware. The chapters concerning Catalog City and Partner Stores are worth the price of the book. Wait until you see the detailed Ditto Delivery chapter and use the intricate index! Everybody needs to own a copy of Quixtar click-by-click, 2nd Edition, the best and strongest track ever laid. Chug, chug...click-by-click. ... Read more

Book Description

The book is designed to help both managers and researchers understand and appreciate marketing research, when it can and should be used, what research alternatives exist, how to recognize effective and ineffective research, and how to interpret and apply the results. It includes thorough coverage of the most advanced and current marketing research methodologies, pointing out their limitations as well as their potential for enhancing research results. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Description of methods, rather than a teaching guide
This book is a collection of marketing research techniques described at lenght.Serves well as a reference to what happens (conceptually) in each technique.It does not serve as a teaching guide, since there is very little description of the actual procedures involved in performing the techniques.Additionally, almost no information on the actual statistics behind each technique.

Ineffective presentation and weak on mutlivariable analysis
I purchased this book (7th, ISBN=*405) as my first book on Marketing Research. However, this book is very disappointing; multivariable analysis sections are superficial in treatment. In particular, the authors avoid math treatment once basic statistics sections are over. I don't understand the techniques described in those multivariable analysis sections based on whatfs written in this book; I already have the understandings in some of the topics discussed in the book, so I know what I am talking about partly. Also the rest of non-statistical sections are very boring to read, and examples are in some cases not easy to relate to the material in the context directly. What makes me most bored might be authors explaining trivial things like "Hospital is the place to go when you get sick....g (Analogy) Considering the quality of this book in terms of depth, this book is way overpriced. I recommend the following books instead: Business Research Methods by Zikmund (much clear presentation on methodologies), and Probability and Statistics by DeGroot (one of the best in these subjects) for non-multivariable sections, and for multivariable sections, Applied Multivariate Statistical Analysis by Wichern and Johnson (for math taste), and Multivariate Data Analysis by Anderson, et al (for non-math taste). Also recommended is Data Mining Practical Machine Learning Tools and Techniques with Java Implementations by Witten and Frank (for Data Mining programming). P.S. this 7th ISBN=*405 does not include CDROM.

Good overview but weak in substance
Considering that this book was written by the King of Marketing Research and Brand Management, Prof. David Aaker, I had expected more in a graduate-level textbook. However, the examples are simplistic, cases are weak, and the section on statistical methods and analysis would be better omitted in favor of a statistics-specific textbook.

Classic text on marketing research
A classic text - continually revised over the years and gets better every time. Had a prior edition during my MBA studies a decade ago and bought a recent edition; a great source of reference for marketing research & analysis.

Easy book
The definitions were easy to understand and the concepts were explained to a T.The cdrom that came with it was very helpful.The cdrom helped me to understand all of thestatistics, correlations and regresion analysisgraphs. ... Read more

Book Description

This accessible, smart, and expansive book on shopping's impact on American life is in part historical, stretching back to the mid-19th century, yet also has a contemporary focus, with material on recent trends in shopping from the internet to Zagat's guides.

Drawing inspiration from both Pierre Bourdieu's work and Walter Benjamin's seminal essay on the shopping arcades of 19th-century Paris, Zukin explores the forces that have made shopping so central to our lives: the rise of consumer culture, the never-ending quest for better value, and shopping's ability to help us improve our social status and attain new social identities. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Gotta Go, There's a Sale at the Mall
Professor Zukin explores why we shop and how it affects us, individually and as a society. She looks at the history of shopping, from a brief look at ancient Roman olive oil shops in Pompeii to a more elaborate history of department stores in New York. All that is interesting, but I found the sections on current shopping the most intriguing.

Zukin explores superstores and warehouse stores, then moves on to internet shopping. She discusses Amazon.com and eBay, even examining the merit of allowing customers to review the products for sale. It seems even negative reviews are good for sales, since more time spent on the site yields more sales. Who knew?

One of the most gripping sections of Point of Purchase is the interview with a young Hispanic New Yorker who describes his venture into Tiffany's to buy his girlfriend an expensive gift. The interactions between him and the security guards, the sales clerks, the other customers, as well as the way he tells his story and the interviewer retells it are material for a myriad of analyses. ... Read more

Book Description

Why have so many "e-commerce" companies failed in the last few years? In many cases, it's the failure to figure out how to extend the supply chain directly to customers that keeps a company from succeeding. Using cutting-edge delivery practices and technology-based order processing, companies can minimize costs, customize their products, provide increased service and convenience, and increase customer loyalty-all leading to a more robust bottom line.Extending the Supply Chain examines in-depth some of the most high-profile practitioners of telephone and Internet-based order processing and fulfillment. The authors bring you detailed looks at:Amazon, Dell, and FreshDirect, which use the decoupled extended supply chain model to take custom-assembled or custom-packaged orders from an assembly plant or distribution center to the delivery destination using third-party delivery specialists like FedEx and UPS. The semi-extended supply chain model used at companies like Lowes Foods and Best Buy involves processing orders over the Internet or phone and packing the customer's order at their chosen local retail outlet for pick-up at the customer's convenience. This strategy is often the most economical for brick-and-mortar retailers, since it primarily involves the use of existing physical assets and personnel.The fully extended supply chain is more cost-intensive, but may be the most customer-centric option. Orders are picked and packaged not at central locations, but at local stores, then delivered to the customer's home, improving on the old-fashioned "delivery boy" that local grocers employed a century ago. Online retailers such as Albertson's and Tesco have developed a base of customers who will pay for the convenience and level of service that are the hallmarks of the fully extended model.The centralized extended supply chain employs regional distribution centers instead of local stores, but is still able to provide more personalized delivery service (including pre-specified delivery times) than the decoupled model. An in-depth study of Office Depot, the third-largest online retailer (which has stores but does most fulfillment of Internet orders through its regional DCs) shows just how effective this model can be when customers require elements of speed, service, and cost control.Extending the Supply Chainfeatures dozens of clear examples, charts and graphs, and practical tools to help you establish and maintain a dynamic, customer-focused fulfillment operation, and offers proactive strategies for seamlessly integrating marketing and technology initiatives into your supply chain strategy. Examine the four models, and the authors' recommendations for adapting and implementing each one, to determine which one will help your supply chain stretch all the way to its only acceptable destination -- the home of a happy and loyal customer. ... Read more

Book Description

In this comprehensive social history of the Bon Marché, the Parisian department store that was the largest in the world before 1914, Michael Miller explores the bourgeois identities, ambitions, and anxieties that the new emporia so vividly dramatized. Through an original interpretation of paternalism, public images, and family-firm relationships, he shows how this new business enterprise succeeded in reconciling traditional values with the coming of an age of mass consumption and bureaucracy. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Very practicle book
I use this as a text in my lecture series for students in Product Management. This is one of the finest books in this subject. I need the instructors manual to organise my lecture programe in a better manner. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (1)

A great book about a great merchant, his store and his city
This is one of my favorite books. The text is clear, descriptive, and mesmerizes the reader with its storytelling. Inside these pages you will find how Marshall Field and his Company set the standard for retailing in Chicago and indeed the country, and also how the City of Chicago itself influenced the store. The histories of the city and the store are intertwined, and the authors do a wonderful job of explaining the uniqueness of this relationship.

You won't regret purchasing this book. I have read it many, many times over the past 15 years or so and I never tire of it! ... Read more

Book Description

With unrivalled access to the top decision-makers in all the leading companies, this is a must-read for anyone in business today. Retailers, managers and students can all learn from the trailblazing companies which have led the way in the area of competencies, competitive strategies, marketing, internationalization, and world best-practice customer service levels. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Brilliant!
As someone who works for one of the big UK supermarkets, i think that this book was brilliant, by giving me an insight into the grocery business on a more global scale.Perhaps, though the book could have been improved by going into more detail, particularly with the European and Asian markets, and also with some of the smaller UK players.I was alsodisapointed that the entry into the Irish market by Tesco, Sainsburys, Safeway, and Lidl was not covered in any detail.
The other problem is that the book is now sllightly out of date, but this is to be expected with such a fast changing sector.

Overall though, I would say that this is a good overview of the global grocery market, and an excellent overview of the UK Supermarket industry - a must buy for anyone interested in or studying the grocery retail.

Grocers are people too
From an Anglocentric base, Seth and Randall provide a fascinating history of grocery retailing.The facts and figures are all there for the serious of study but most of us will be riveted by the personalities.There isnothing much new about retailing after all: you break bulk and take amargin.Yet these grocers are wildly different people who have builtsuccessful, competitive businesses on the backs of strongly held personalbeliefs.

The book opens with the leading (as of today) Britishsupermarket, Tesco, and works down the UK pecking order.It must have beendifficult for the authors to keep up with the rapidly changing sector andthere was only just time to incorporate the Wal-Mart acquisition of Asda. Then the perspective broadens to continental Europe and the US.The lastfour chapters draw conclusions and make forecasts.

Here I particularlyliked the profitability comparisons across the UK, US, France and Belgium(UK margins higher but return on capital about the same).They see the UKas more innovative which will certainly be challenged by others.And theybravely address the implications for, and as a result of,e-commerce.

Those of us who can rise above the Britishness of this bookgain greatly from its fresh perspective and candor.I didn't agree quite afew of the authors' assertions but they made me think again.

Too much for students
I think that this book is written in difficult language, and not very structural (sometimes you do not know who they are talking about). But on overall it produces good history and development of major UK supermarkets, such as Tesco, Sainsbutys, Asda, Safeway. ... Read more

Book Description

The apparel and textiles industry involves complex relationships that are constantly evolving.This carefully-researched book covers exciting trends in apparel and textile supply chains, manufacturing, design, women’s fashions, men's fashions, children's fashions, shoes, accessories, retailing, distribution, technologies and fabrics of all types.It includes a thorough market analysis as well as our highly respected trends analysis.You’ll find a complete overview, industry analysis and market research report in one superb, value-priced package. It contains thousands of contacts for business and industry leaders, industry associations, Internet sites and other resources. This book also includes statistical tables, an industry glossary and thorough indexes. The corporate profiles section of the book includes our proprietary, in-depth profiles of the 350 leading companies in all facets of the apparel and textiles industry. Purchasers of either the book or PDF version can receive a free copy of the company profiles database on CD-ROM, enabling key word search and export of key information, addresses, phone numbers and executive names with titles for every company profiled. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Anyone who stumbled through the Web's earliest days--as either a starry-eyed entrepreneur, investor, or employee--will find plenty to recognize in J. David Kuo's insightful and entertaining dot.bomb. Wrapped in the tale of Value America, Craig Winn's wildly unsuccessful bid to hop aboard the Internet revolution in 1997 and totally remake retailing, the book paints a clear picture of the way optimism and wishful thinking became fatally intermingled in the rush to mine the gold supposedly buried deep within this glowing, new electronic medium. And Kuo, formerly the company's senior vice president of communications, knows the story intimately and shows here that he also knows how to tell it.

"The single goal was to build scale, build the brand, and become the Internet behemoth... overnight," he writes in describing how Winn, a traditional businessman with traditional ideas about building a traditional company, was sucked into the day's unbridled cyber-fervor as he tried to assemble his vision of a one-stop electronic shop that took advantage of all the Net's imagined bells and whistles. "[But] Winn had more competitors than he imagined," Kuo continues. "In Silicon Valleys, alleys, and corridors, retailers, technologists, and bankers were creating dot.com companies that would sell pet food, lingerie, books, electronics, discount items, luxury items, home-improvement items, furniture, and everything else imaginable. All those companies were already operating on new Internet math. Winn had to catch up."

In the pages that follow, Kuo vividly chronicles the heady years that came just after Michael Wolff's pioneering Burn Rate era, and he does so with just as juicy an insider's perspective (although without the rancor and animosity that such an experience often engenders). There also are plenty of practical lessons here. One strongly suspects, however, that much like those brought back from gold rushes to Sutter's Mill, these also will go largely unheeded when the fever spreads again. --Howard Rothman ... Read more

Reviews (46)

Dot.bomb
Dob.bomb is an absolutely fascinating look behind the scenes of an internet bust. With incredible humor, author David Kuo tells a tale of how an egomaniacal founder, with a penchant for ultimate control, can kill even the best venture. I, too, worked for a "dot.com" company, and for an entrepreneur with qualities very similar to Mr. Winn's (do they just clone these guys??) As I read the book, I just replaced Mr. Winn's name with our CEO's and it told basically the same story. The parallels were incredible. They can't relinquish control because no one understands their baby like they do. They refuse to accept the advice of the very people they hire to take the company to the next level. And in the end, the most amazing thing is the disconnect that these ego driven visionaries have -- they absolutely cannot see how their actions had any effect on the company's failure. As the cops say, "yeah, I know, the other dude did it".

This book was such a fun read that I'm now reading it for a second time and recommending it to all my friends who work in hi tech environments. It is a funny but cautionary tale of what NOT to do. I lived through the same kind of nightmare of optimism-lunacy-panic-chaos-crash that David Kuo describes and he tells it like it is. The book is an absolute hoot, to boot. Buy it. Enjoy it. Learn from it.

A good and quite funny read
dot.bomb: My Days and Nights at an Internet Goliath is David Kuo's first-person account of his tenure at Value America. Kuo's role at Value America was that of Director of Corporate Communications, also known as mouthpiece to the chairman. Value America was an early Internet retailer that crashed and burned quite quickly after its IPO in early 1999. The story of Value America is inherently the story of its founder and chairman, Craig Winn. Winn was the typical big vision salesman, one who could talk and impress people about the big picture, but couldn't execute things effectively. Although Winn saw the potential of the Internet to transform all areas of commerce, especially the retail sector, his visions of greatness and riches never took flight.

Winn's mistake (of which there are many) was that he got caught up in his own hubris. The sad part of the Value America debacle is that it really did have a chance to do something big -- really big. But, as Kuo details in chapter after chapter, it was Winn who often got in the way of the company's ability to achieve its true potential. Kuo is a former political speech writer, and his sometime self-deprecating writing style is engaging and humorous, making the book difficult to put down.

The book starts with Kuo's arrival at Value America, and in just a few pages, we see that Value America had all of the trappings that ensured the demise of most dot.coms; hype, overpaid management who are detached from reality, executive jets, inconsistent and constantly changing strategies, lying and cheating, executive hubris, and a long list of unsatisfied customers. Ultimately, it was the overpowering and unbending personality
of Craig Winn that brought the company down. In deference to Winn, it was much more than just his personality that brought down Value America; however, his personality, which was one of his greatest assets, was also his biggest detriment.

Craig Winn was one part businessman and one part preacher. His close ties with Jerry Falwell and Ralph Reed, as the book details, are no coincidence. Winn's ultimate vision was not just to create a multi-billion dollar company; he also set his sites on both the Governorship of Virginia and, ultimately, the United States presidency. Winn based his presidential aspirations on his meeting and conversations -- which were quite brief
-- with personalities such as William Bennett and Henry Kissinger. (I once met Ray Manzarek, keyboardist for the Doors, in a Los Angeles supermarket, but I left my aspirations for rock and roll stardom in aisle 5. Perhaps if Winn would have done the same, and stayed in touch with reality, he might have been more than a momentary paper billionaire.)

As with any book written by an insider, one has to keep in mind the subjective nature of Kuo's narrative. Nonetheless, as someone who has worked internally and as a consultant at several dot.com startups, I found that much of the book sounded familiar and believable.

Although the story of Value America is somewhat dated in Internet time, it still is a fascinating read of how something so right could go so wrong.

Disingenuous
I'll admit -- I finished this book relatively quickly. It's a quasi-page turner; that's why I gave it three stars instead of one.

But all along, as Kuo recounts his story of working for a seemingly mentally unstable CEO, he seems to feign naivete. "I saw Craig Winn as a visionary." But in the next paragraph, Kuo is pointing out how Winn was lying to the press and financial analysts. So Kuo really undercuts his own credibility by trying to play both sides here.

Here's my theory: He needed to suck up to Winn to get access in order to write this book. So even though he points out Winn's erratic moments and his outright lying, he thanks Winn at the end, and praises him. Ah, the price of media access!

Also, I think Kuo is embarassed, as he should be. He bought the dot-com story hook, line and sinker. He thought he'd be a millionaire, so he desperately wanted to believe Craig Winn's blather. On top of that, Kuo recruited his own wife and in-laws to work at Value America, so he's got a lot to be embarassed about!

Ultimately, Kuo's own equivocation prevents this story from being genuinely compelling.

da bomb
Its a really good story about the rollercoaster ride he went through and fortunately it ended.A very interesting tale of an online company marketing its products in a very traditional way.
I think after reading this i have to re-read the amazon.com story to recollect their pitfalls and successes.

Mad and wonderfull times - now gone
I found the book both highly entertaining and a bit unsettling. Was the Internet culture really like that way back in 1999? Whoa, yes it was!

The book covers the dot.bomb territory well, especially the smooth talkers and marketing types. I did miss more references to the techies and the excitement on the workers' floor in this time frame.

Little mention is made of the success stories that happen alongside the dot.bomb's. and how common sense and a off-key vision could have kept one out of danger of the dot.domb euphoria.

A fascinating and fun read. An excellent record of the times! Missing in the book is more reference to the legacy media and old school business's envy towards the new economy, which assisted in the downfall of these young entrepreneurs. The book confirms that it was wild, it was fun and we'll miss it! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Buying a Television Set, a Family Affair
This wonderful book captures the memories and spirit of the Polk Brothersretail establishment.Long before Circuit City and Best Buy, Polk Brotherssold hard goods (TV's, Radios, etc) to the families of Chicagoland.It wasquite the event for my father to pile the family into the stationwagon togo to Polk City and purchase a counsole Zenith television for severalhundred dollars.As a child I remember receiving a toy premium after apurchase.We received inflatable airplanes, 7-UP, and Ann Landers books. Our family home was furnished by Polk City.Polk City was a warm, chaotic,intoxicating place to make a purchase.The book reflects this and bringsPolk Brothers alive.The author paints a warm, interesting story of aChicago institution and captures the family event of what it was to go toPolk Brothers.A real connection to Chicago and its families.A nice readeven if you are not from Chicago.

A good history of a successful business.
This story tells the story of the Polks (which was not the original name), who were a family that came to the USA from Europe with big dreams and hopes.These dreams were fulfilled when Polk Bros., the first retailer of its kind became successfull.Polk Bros. set the tone for all future retailers with its new ideas.My favorite part of the book, was reading about the many big and weird promotions Polk Bros. had, including renting out the Chicago Stadium for a humungous b-day celebration.Read this book (of course) to find out more. ... Read more

Book Description

WHAT IS IT WORTH?

BUY THE BEST BARGAINS WITH ADVICE FROM THE EXPERT

A flea market is a grand adventure, a journey into the unknown. Flea markets turn each of us into an explorer in search of buried treasure. But the search is not without adversity. You must learn how to find, evaluate, and survive flea markets. It is important that you understand what will provide the greatest opportunities for the best buys and, ultimately, the stories that can be shared at the end of the day.

Expert Harry Rinker, national antiques and collectibles authority, editor, author, and columnist, teaches us how to hone our shopping skills . . . and have fun at flea markets.

Special features include:
* how to find and evaluate flea markets
* a first look at many flea market collectibles and their values
* hundreds of photographs
* more than fifty new categories of collectibles
* a flea marketeer’s reference library
* lists of collectors’ clubs, newsletters, and periodicals
* a report on Internet flea markets

The Official Guide to Flea Market Prices is essential for bargain hunters and seasoned dealers! ... Read more

Book Description

An irreverent, hard-hitting examination of the world's largest-and most reviled-corporation, which reveals that while Wal-Mart's dominance may be providing consumers with cheap goods and plentiful jobs, it may also be breeding a culture of discontent.

It employs one of every 115 American workers. If it were a nation-state, it would be one of the world's top twenty economies. With yearly sales of nearly $260 billion and an average way of $8 an hour, Wal-Mart represents an unprecedented-and perhaps unstoppable-force in capitalism. And there have been few corporations that have evoked the same levels of reverence and ire.

The United States of Wal-Mart is a hard-hitting examination of how Sam Walton's empire has infiltrated not just the geography of America but also its consciousness. Peeling away layers of propaganda and politics, investigative journalist John Dicker reveals an American (and, increasingly, a global) story that has no clear-cut villains or heroes-one that could be the confused, complicated story of America itself.

Pitched battles between economic progress and quality of life, between the preservation of regional identity and national homogeneity, and between low prices and the dignity of the American worker are beginning to coalesce into an all-out war to define our modern era. And, Dicker argues, Wal-Mart is winning. Revealing that the company's business practices have been shaping American culture, including the nation's social, political, and industrial policy, The United States of Wal-Mart provides fresh insight into a controversy that isn't going away. ... Read more

Book Description

Her practical advice is lace with wit and humor. If you hanker to join the nouveau riche of the Garage Sale circuit, The Great Garage Sale Book is an invaluable how-to-guide. ... Read more

Book Description

A revealing examination of shopping, consumerism, and mall design in America.

Loved and hated, visited and avoided, seemingly everywhere yet endlessly the same, malls occupy a special place in American life. What, then, is this invention that evokes such strong and contradictory emotions in Americans? In many ways malls represent the apotheosis of American consumerism, and this synthetic and wide-ranging investigation is an eye-popping tour of American culture's values and beliefs. Like your favorite mall, One Nation under Goods is a browser's paradise; and in order to understand America's culture of consumption you need to make a trip to the mall with Farrell. This lively, fast-paced history of the hidden secrets of the shopping mall explains how retail designers make shopping and goods "irresistible." Architects, chain stores, and mall owners relax and beguile us into shopping through water fountains, ficus trees, mirrors, and covert security cameras. From food courts and fountains to Santa and security, Farrell explains how malls control their patrons and convince us that shopping is always an enjoyable activity. And most importantly, One Nation under Goods shows why the mall's ultimate promise of happiness through consumption is largely an illusion. It's all here—for one low price, of course. 32 b/w photographs. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

One Nation Under Goods a Durable Good
In One Nation Under Goods, Jim Farrell takes readers on a tour of American malls to discover the cultural patterns they display. As Farrell steers readers up escalators, he calls attention to the ways that shopping center executives plan the spaces of consumerism. As he parades them in front of dressing-room mirrors, he illustrates ways that consumer goods contribute to construction of identity. As he points out malls' potted plants, he reveals the processes through which shopping centers alter their ecological surroundings. Farrell notes in his introduction that American malls are variety stores-they sell a wide variety of goods to a vast diversity of people that make multiple meanings from those objects. One Nation Under Goods similarly provides a cornucopia of good ideas on American culture; it's a kind-of sales rack of ideas from which readers can pick and choose. It's even replete with intellectual display cases (tables, photos, and cartoons), that help provide opportunities to browse quickly for the most value-able concepts and lessons to be learned.

Farrell's book, like the best mall merchandise, is neither out-of-date nor too faddish for scholars to take note. One Nation Under Goods provides an original and important perspective on the aesthetics, economics, ethics, and politics of American shopping malls.

Three elements of the book that seem particularly successful and that, in combination, distinguish the book from others in its field: its emphasis on spatial analysis; its ability to communicate playfully difficult concepts in concrete terms; its challenge to create an ethical framework for American consumerism.

First, I like the way that Farrell draws attention to the physical spaces of American malls. Malls take place-and Farrell asks readers to consider both the indoor and outdoor places transformed by shopping centers. Part of Farrell's success in illuminating indoor spaces comes from his close reading of documents overlooked by many mall scholars-the retail design manuals and marketing magazines that shopping center executives use to create retail spaces. Farrell also considers the environmental impacts of malls on water quality and indigenous vegetation and contemplates the ways in which mall-goers experiences shape the ways in which they conceptualize their spaces. As he notes, "It's interesting that the endangered species and ecosystems that are featured in the mall are not generally the ones we live in." The Mall of America in Bloomington, has a Rainforest Café, but he notes that it "doesn't have a Prairie Café, or a Corn-and-Soybeans Cabaret or a suburban Back-Yard Bistro." (238-239) By engaging in cultural and physical geography, Farrell's study recognizes how American values are embodied and sited in place.

Secondly, Farrell skillfully uses concrete objects and instances to illustrate complex theories. You could say that Jim Farrell writes about Rainforest Café in One Nation Under Goods, and it's true, but only partly right. What he's really doing by writing about Rainforest Café is playing with big ideas: primitivism, exoticism, cosmopolitanism, and authenticity. You could hand a student a stack of densely-written classics from Jean Jacques Rousseau to Edward Said to David Hollinger to address these big ideas; but until the students become graduate students, I think they'd find Farrell's chapter titled "The World in a Shopping Mall" equally provocative. One Nation Under Goods playful-ness grants us access to these ideas in a fresh way.

Finally, I like the way that Farrell reveals the ethical and political decisions that take place in shopping centers. He notes that "The mall, explicitly about aesthetics and economics, is also implicitly about ethics and politics." (xxi) My favorite part of the book, Part IV, makes explicit the ethics and politics of economic and aesthetic interactions that we take for granted. Jim Farrell's consideration of the ethics of shopping comes through parables, not prescriptions. He argues that "ethics is a way of telling stories about the goodness of the good life" and suggests that Americans could demand better stories for our money. Rather than telling just-so stories of economic exclusion and environmental degradation, he asks readers to try to tell different stories from their products-stories of sustainable society, social justice, and political responsibility. He provides readers with practical tools: like a shopping list for considering purchasing decisions that includes questions like "what good is this thing? Could I borrow one? Who lives well as a result of this purchase? Who lives poorly?" But most of all, he provides practical tools by pointing out the impracticalities of American life as it currently works at the mall.

One Nation Under Goods is not academic planned obsolescence. It's a durable good. One that I highly recommend you try on for size.

The Value of Values in Shopping
With good wit and numerous plays on words, Farrell reveals the implicit value statements of shopping and buying, exposing the price we pay (above the sticker) in consumer society. The book isn't anti-consumer, but points to the hidden costs of various purchases, such as the implicit acceptance of sweatshop labor in buying many brands of shoe or the acceptance of environmental degradation for buying paper. He's also effective at illustrating how, despite the American affinity for shopping, a doubling of our material possessions in the past 50 years has not made us any happier. A thoughtful and insightful look at the meaning of malls in the making of the American Dream.

LIstened to the Minnesota Public Radio Interview
I have not ordered the book yet. But I must say, I found the presentation and the interview by this author and professor to be one of the most balanced and insightful programs I have heard. The author introduced many ideas that I had not considered before in my life - like "How did you learn how to shop?"

This author moves far beyond simplistic analysis of whether the phenomenon of the mall is good or bad for us. He provokes thinking and insights that reveal the core of what we value. He sums up his view of shopping and malls as being "about stories." According to the interview, we all want to ba a part of a story. The author calls for reflection and choices about the kinds of stories we want to be a part of and how to make choices to elevate our stories to benefit community and the planet.

If the book is anything like the interview, I welcome this author's thoughts. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

An excellent contribution to several historical fields.
Benson writes about department stores' development as the new purveyors of mass culture and as the setting for a dynamic intersection of class and gender. She describes the encounters of saleswomen, managers, and customers in this retail environment between 1890 and 1940. Benson accomplishes this by combing through various journals and newspapers, and the results of this research are placed into perspective through comparison with other labor historians' work. Although the juxtaposition of Benson's work with others' reveals some flaws, _Counter Cultures_ nevertheless presents an important and vivid picture of a service industry, a neglected area of labor history ... Read more