Even though one’s feet are a small portion of the human anatomy, they take all of a person’s weight, especially when walking or running, and when they ache, a person feels bad all over. Nearly eight out of 10 Americans have experienced foot pain, according to a recent survey of 1,021 adults by the American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA), and these people’s problems worsen with age. This is the market on which Foot Solutions concentrates.
“We try to focus on the baby boomer,” founder and CEO Ray Margiano says. “Most of our customers coming in are 40 and older. As a person ages, especially females – easily 65 to 70 percent of our customers are female – they start developing foot issues they never had before. That’s why we focus on that market – they have issues we can solve pretty easily.”
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A true pioneer in e-commerce, Bluefly has become a leading online retailer of designer brands, fashion trends and exceptional value since it was founded in 1998. Based in New York City, Bluefly strives to offer top designer brands and fashion trends while providing value to customers along with a first-class online shopping environment.
“Bluefly was the first company to get involved with high-end fashion retailing on the Internet,” CEO Neel Grover says. “But whereas it used to operate as a fashion company that sold products on the web, we have evolved into a web company that is selling fashion.”
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Within the walls of Vanity Shop of Grand Forks Inc., associates do not work in silos towards their own agendas. Instead, “It’s a wonderful environment and terrific place to work,” Vice President of Marketing, Digital and Strategy and Chief Marketing Officer Mary Miller says.
“We are working toward the betterment of Vanity,” she says, noting that its marketing team works well with its merchandising partners. “Honestly, it makes it very enjoyable to work there.”
Based in Fargo, N.D., the privately owned, mall-based specialty retailer operates locations that sell affordable women’s clothing, including tops, dresses, jeans, bottoms and other accessories. Vanity was incorporated in 1969 and has since expanded to 143 stores in 27 states.
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The Limited prides itself on being client-focused at its 265 stores and 11 outlets across the United States, with all strategies, marketing and messaging designed with “Her” in mind: the sophisticated, professional woman. Many retail brands are design- or merchant-led, but the 52-year-old The Limited is client-led, as “she” is the center of the enterprise.
The way consumers shop is rapidly changing, so The Limited must change with them. It does business in a brick-and-mortar channel, an outlet channel and an e-commerce and mobile channel. The Limited is focused on growing all channels and wants its customer to become an omni-channel shopper.
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In the world of high-fashion retail, there are few names that carry as much weight as Saks Fifth Avenue. Whether they shop at the company’s flagship store in New York City or any of its other locations, customers flock to Saks Fifth Avenue because of its position on the cutting-edge of luxury fashion.
One of the people in charge of keeping the store on that edge is Thomas Ott, senior vice president and general merchandise manager of menswear, home, food and gifts. Ott has been with Saks for more than 20 years, and in that time he has seen many changes to not only fashion but to the retail environment as a whole.
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In business for more than 65 years, Rye Beach Pharmacy is a full-service, family owned pharmacy that has served its community since 1946. Today, the company is an independent pharmacy that specializes in patient counseling, compounded medications for humans and pets, Bio-identical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT), nutritional supplements, natural health products, custom fitted stockings, homecare aids and customer service.
“We’ve been able to endure thanks to employees that care and go the extra mile, and our customers recognize and appreciate that,” President Ken GiaQuinto says.
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The Canadian optical market is fragmented, and New Look Vision Group is taking advantage of the situation. One of the fastest-growing companies in Canada’s optical retail industry, New Look Vision Group is rapidly expanding through a series of key acquisitions.
“We’re growing fairly quickly,” says Antoine Amiel, president of the Montreal-based company. New Look Vision Group had 76 stores in Quebec before making two major acquisitions in the past two years: Vogue Optical in 2013 and Greiche & Scaff the following year. Vogue Optical is the leading optical retailer in the Canadian Maritime provinces.
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Mackenthun’s Fine Foods is the oldest grocery company in the state of Minnesota and a family business in the truest sense of the phrase. The store has been passed down through five generations, beginning with President and CEO Kim Mackenthun’s great-grandfather in 1917 with a meat market.
Kim’s father, Marvin, a World War II veteran, started the full grocery business. Marvin and his father, along with a German sausage maker who never spoke a word of English, brought recipes from Germany – the same sausage recipes that are still used in the store today.
“We make 110 different kinds of sausage,” Kim says. “We do everything from scratch. And we still make the weird stuff the old Germans like, such as blood sausage and liver sausage. They keep coming from farther and farther away to get it because it’s tough to come by.”
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