Best Buy beaten

back by Amazon

Renew Blue rally drives profits. In

denial re lost web market share

27 Feb’14 (Complete)

Best Buy, the US #1 consumer electronics retailer, showed improved financials for Q4’14 ended 2 Feb’14. The signs were positive, but it’s well behind in online growth and only marginally profitable

Acme’s sharp

growth resumes

Camillus & Back-to-School

in US & Europe boost growth

26 Feb’14
Acme United today announced impressive results for Q4’13 financial results to 30 Dec’13, in spite of problems in Europe.

Financial Review Q4’13 v Q4’12

2014 WebWatch Round 1 


Top 
webstores


2013 revisited

The best just got better!

Catalogs becoming obsolete

Productivity added to criteria 

18 Feb’14 (Updated)


The gap between the average OP dealers’ webstore rating and best practice extended in 2013. Webstores have now made printed catalogs redundant. Will dealers learn the lessons from these leaders? We have a new leader and the bigboxes went backwards in user friendliness. 
Completed tomorrow

i n n o v a t i v e
i n v e s t s 

Top progressive reseller builds
infrastructure towards $100m 

11 Feb’14 (Complete)

Last week, we visited Innovativein Minneapolis, one of the most progressive ‘Personal Productivity Services’providers on the planet. We met with CEO Jennifer Smith’snew team of leaders…

Papermakers Predicament

From ruin to
reinvention

Many “new opportunities 


especially specialty products”

9 Feb’14
Today’s Boston Globefeatures a fascinating article by Jay Fitzgerald on ‘the new paper chase’, an insight into how a once mighty papermill succumbed and survived the digital era.

Ergotron energizes

WorkFit Movement

Ergonomics marketer’s designs

on serving the office channel

9 Feb’14 (Complete)

Today we visited Ergotron’s HQ in St. Paul (MN) to meet with marketing director Daneen Kiger. Daneen shared plans to expand on its ergonomics leadership in the technology channel, through to the OP channel via United Stationers...later today

Amazon Effect!

Is Wayfair home office supply next?

Will Jeff Bezos pull off another Zappos specialty etail move?

6 Feb’14

Amazon, the #1 massemarketer has made many small acquisitions in past 2 years, but not a big one since Kiva Systems and Zapposshoes. Will the near $1Bn home furnishings specialist Wayfairbe its next scoop? Tomorrow

M-Power Personal

P r o d u c t i v i t y

S e r v i c e s

Your invaluable guide to mobilize

success in the paperless future.

4 Feb'14 (Updated)

The Apple iPad was the death knell for the traditional OP industry. Dealers now face a formidable competitor in Amazon in business supplies. The need to develop Personal Productivity Services (PPS) to differentiate is URGENT!  Let the new Office Megatrends 2014report published here be your guide to success...

SPRichards adds
FMB wholesaler

OP wholesalers continue march
into the new growth categories

3 Feb’14
Today SP Richards,the US#2 OP wholesaler, strengthened its presence in the breakroom and FM supplies market with the acquisition of a NC wholesaler