Merchandising

Rally Squirrel merchandise outlets are finding it difficult to keep up with fan demand. Cardinal Glennon Hospital initially shipped out thousands of items to retailers on Oct. 11, but those retailers sold out within 45 minutes. No need to fret though. More Rally Squirrel merchandise is on the way. 

I recently returned from an enlightening branding walkabout in Australia for one of my clients. In this deep cultural immersion, I visited eight cities all across the country in eight weeks and met with over 60 of their brand stakeholders. We talked openly about the challenges facing this company’s existing product line, its present pricing structure, its future competitive arena and how it could adapt to the particulars of this niche Australian marketplace to be more customer centric.

Minnesota company St. Croix, which makes the mock black turtlenecks that Steve Jobs famously wore, had a banner sales week. Sales more than doubled the day after Jobs' death, according to the Minnesota Business Journal, and some stores have run out of them.

The NBA lockout, despite all the talk that “no one cares,” is going to be more like the gigantic asteroid effect from an economic standpoint in a lot of areas. There are cities that depend on the revenue created by game nights for bars, restaurants, shopping.

Office-supply chain Staples has teamed with Martha Stewart — whose home decorating empire includes a talk show, magazine and books — to create a new line of designer office supplies for the home office, the retailer said today.  Avery Dennison Corp. Latest from The Business Journals Stocks stumble on new stimulus talksStocks rally on Europe financial newsConsumer spending cuts drive down stocks Follow this company 

Pigskin, nachos, beer and cupcake decorating? With a newly launched site, Party Collection, and expanded women's fashion line, the NFL is hoping to make "homegating" as popular as tailgating and team-name purses as widespread as jerseys. The party collection, branded with NFL team logos of choice, runs the gamut from cheese boards to coasters to side tables.

More than 20,000 Missoni for Target items have been posted for sale on eBay less than 24 hours since becoming available. Some of the most expensive items to turn up on the internet auction site were the Missoni bike, a tea set, and a comforter/sham set.

Topman is the latest to join the "Awful T-Shirt Club." One of the new shirts reads: "Nice new girlfriend — what breed is she?" The second, and arguably worse culprit is the "I'm So Sorry" shirt for the men who want to not-so-subtly let the world know they suck — either because they caused a fight or, as one may infer, violent.

The media world was up in arms over a J.C. Penney girls' T-shirt that read, "I'm too pretty to do homework so my brother has to do it for me." The shirt, which essentially told girls that being pretty and smart were mutually exclusive, was quickly pulled from the retailer's website. But now another shirt has popped up that's strikingly similar, but is it equally offensive?

A backlash erupted in the blogosphere over J.C. Penney's top for girls emblazoned with the slogan: "I'm too pretty to do homework so my brother has to do it for me." The description alongside the item read: "Who has time for homework when there's a new Justin Bieber album out? She'll love this tee that's just as cute and sassy as she is."