Articles 2026
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Serendipity and Samples Can Save Barnes & Noble
Bloomberg View, July 13, 2013
Turmoil at Barnes & Noble Inc. (BKS), where Chief Executive Officer William Lynch resigned last week after the company posted an unexpectedly large loss in the quarter ended April 30, has people in the publishing industry worried. “We’re all forced to ask: What would the book discovery environment look like without Barnes & Noble?” writes Rich Fahle, a former Borders executive who runs a marketing agency for authors.
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Container Store Sells Zen and Glamour in a Box
Bloomberg View, July 01, 2013
The most glamorous store in America may be going public. I don’t mean Neiman Marcus Inc. -- or Bergdorf Goodman, which it owns -- although the luxury retailer is glamorous to many people, and it did just file for an initial public offering. I’m talking about Container Store Inc.
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Hey, Matisse, How About a Time Share in Atlanta?
Bloomberg View, June 06, 2013
Detroiters are up in arms at the suggestion in my column today that the treasures in the Detroit Institute of Arts might be better off in museums in younger, growing cities. They have completely understandable parochial interests -- and local pride -- at stake. But they also have bankruptcy staring them in the face.There is, however, a way Detroit could raise money and share its art with other cities without relinquishing its treasures altogether: a time share.
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Detroit’s Van Gogh Would Be Better Off in L.A.
Bloomberg View, June 05, 2013
When the news broke that if Detroit goes into bankruptcy the city might cover some of its $15 billion debt by selling Detroit Institute of Arts treasures, the reaction was predictable and the language harsh.
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Sick Girl May Get a Lung but It's Not a Happy Ending
Bloomberg View, June 04, 2013
A child dying of cystic fibrosis now has a shot at a lung transplant. A federal judge in Pennsylvania has ordered the Department of Health and Human Services to let 10-year-old Sarah Murnaghan move from waiting list for lungs from deceased children to the waiting list for lungs from adults.
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Why “Star Trek Into Darkness” Is Smaller Than Life
Bloomberg View, May 22, 2013
Like most blockbuster summer movies, “Star Trek Into Darkness” sells escapism. But not all versions of cinematic escapism are the same.
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Dove’s Fake New ’Real Beauty’ Ads
Bloomberg View, April 25, 2013
Dove, the Unilever Plc (ULVR) personal- care brand, has another viral hit. Its “Real Beauty Sketches” tops the latest Advertising Age viral-video chart. The film, which portrays women having their likenesses drawn by a forensic artist, racked up 29.4 million views and more than 660,000 Facebook shares in its first 10 days, according to Visible Measures Corp., which compiles the chart. (The video comes in three-minute and six-minute versions, and the campaign also includes separate short interviews with the artist and three of the women.)
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JC Penney's Johnson Forgot the First Rule of Retail
Bloomberg View, April 09, 2013
Ron Johnson, fired as chief executive officer of J.C. Penney this week, failed not because his vision was necessarily wrong, but because in executing it he forgot the first rule of retailing: To sell people things, you first have to get them into the store.
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How Mr. Selfridge Created the Modern Economy
Bloomberg View, April 04, 2013
When the British drama “Mr. Selfridge” debuted on PBS this week, American viewers saw two things rarely on display in contemporary popular culture: a businessman hero and, more remarkably, a version of commercial history that includes not just manufacturing but shopping.
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Why Silicon Valley Is Winning the Robocar Race
Bloomberg View, March 16, 2013
An ad from 1957 shows a family playing dominoes in a bubble-top car as it cruises down an six-lane divided highway, its steering wheel pointedly unattended. “One day your car may speed along an electric super- highway, its speed and steering automatically controlled by electronic devices embedded in the road,” reads the copy. “Highways will be made safe -- by electricity! No traffic jams ... no collisions ... no driver fatigue.” Now it finally seems to be happening.