Global Airport Outlet Retail And Shopping Malls a Profitable Business Model - by Chris LeTourneur

Creating Outlet Shopping Centres is potentially one of the most commercially successful ways of leveraging an airport location.

In the shadow of the global economic crisis, Destination Outlet Shopping Centres are the fastest growing retail concept across the Americas, throughout Europe and in Asia.

The potent combination of premium brand merchandise offered at value prices has attracted local population bases and the travelling public alike to enjoy ‘affordable luxury’.

Given this unique crossover between locals and tourists, Outlet Shopping Centre developers are strategically locating new retail projects at and around international airports to access this broad and appealing customer base.

They are also becoming a vessel for introducing international retail brands into evolving retail markets in countries ranging from Canada and Australia, to the emerging mega-markets of China, Brazil and South Korea.

Destination Factory Outlet Shopping Centres are proving to be one of the more lucrative land uses for airports as they leverage their landside properties to generate non-aeronautical revenue, stimulate regional economic diversification and become more active participants in property development. 

Read more: Outlet retail

EUobserver: Mick Jagger in Brussels for online retailing chat with Neelie Kroes and Charlie McCreevy - by Leigh Phillips

Mike Jagger in Bruxelles

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Mick Jagger in Brussels for online retailing chat with Neelie Kroes and Charlie McCreevy - by Leigh Phillips

The original "street-fightin' man" Mike Jagger no longer needs to throw cobblestones to get the attention of the centers of power like his 1968 incarnation. These days he is warmly invited to the top floors of the EU Commission building for a friendly chat with Europe's competition guardian Neelie Kroes and a host of other key figures in the business of commerce on the web. Ms Kroes is worried that shoppers frequently find themselves up against barriers to buy what they want online, for items they would have little problem purchasing in the real world."Why is it possible to buy a CD from an online retailer and have it shipped to anywhere in Europe, but it is not possible to buy the same music, by the same artist, as an electronic download with similar ease?" Ms Kroes asked the knighted pop star and other guests.

Ms Kroes told the rock star and the merchants: "The world is always more complicated than we would like it to be. But that is no excuse for inaction," adding that she intends to look "very carefully" into online retailing practices.

SShe warned that the commission will step in if musicians, record labels and retailers do not overcome their differences and produce a more consumer-friendly environment for the distribution of digital music.

Christian Science Monitor: Consumers close their wallets - by Ron Scherer

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The economic Meltdown: Consumers close their wallets - by Ron Scherer

Retail sales plunge a record 2.8 percent in October, suggesting a dismal outlook for holiday spending.

With only a few weeks to go before the holiday season officially kicks off, retailers are saying this is the worst consumer environment since World War II. Big box retailers are fighting for survival, department stores are preparing massive promotions, and some stores are asking manufacturers to take back their products even before Thanksgiving. An unenthusiastic consumer has wide ramifications for the US economy because 70 percent of the nation's production of goods and services is oriented toward consumption. Economists are lowering their estimates for economic growth for this year, expecting a sharp contraction of at least 3 percent in the fourth quarter. By early December, some observers think the Federal Reserve will be forced to lower interest rates to below 1 percent for the first time since the Eisenhower administration. "Horrific is the best word to describe what's going on out there," says Fred Dickson, chief investment strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co. in Lake Oswego, Ore.

Who can blame consumers for putting on their slippers and watching football games? The volatile stock market seems to have a black cloud over it. Home prices have yet to bottom out. Pink slips are proliferating. And, the credit card companies want payment even while the ink dries on your statement.

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Forbes: EU to step up monitoring of retail market as food prices increase disproportionately

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EU to step up monitoring of retail market as food prices increase disproportionately .

The European Commission said it will monitor retail markets as global food prices continue to rise and said short-term measures would not solve the problem. 'The commission will step up its monitoring of the retail market, because bear in mind that certain food price increases do not reflect corresponding increases in raw material prices,' commission spokesman Johannes Laitenberger said. He added that in certain parts of Europe the price of bread has risen by as much as 20 percent -- even though raw material costs have only gone up by 4-5 percent.