Northgate Market, a chain of Mexican-oriented grocery stores and a bonnafide southern California institution, is living the dream. From its bootstrap immigrant origin story to its current stranglehold on the Latinx grocery market, its national recognition as essential to low-income communities to its seduction of hipster/millennial shoppers, Northgate Market’s history and trajectory tell us a lot about the evolving nature of ethnic grocery stores.
Topics: Market Research, Customer Intercepts, Grocery, Shopalong, Beyoncé
When Beyoncé, reigning queen of all that is pop and popular, took over the world for those two weekends in Coachella (hereafter known as BeyChella), she had spent the previous months eating vegan, reclaiming her legendary curves less than a year after giving birth to twins. No, this isn’t just your humble blogger’s latest attempt to remind the world that he was there, witnessing the defining concert of our generation and falling in love (but, yeah, it kinda is), it is about the mainstreaming of plant-based diets.
Topics: Market Research, Marketing, CPG, Panel Surveys, vegan, Beyoncé
Most of you are likely already on vacation as we write this—it’s already pretty quiet in TrendSource’s halls, and just because your humble blogger has nothing better to do on a Thursday-before-Christmas afternoon, doesn’t mean you don’t either.
Topics: Marketing, Retail, CPG, Manufacturing, C-Store, Beyoncé
Marketing is like playing the kazoo—sure it seems, and oftentimes is, easy, but you’re still gonna occasionally hit the wrong note. It happens to everybody (some more publicly than others) but the more advertising and marketing market research put in, the better they safeguard themselves, but it can’t entirely be prevented. We should know. We’ve had the occasional misfire ourselves.
Topics: Market Research, Marketing, Retail, CPG, Beyoncé
We set our own editorial calendar, but every now and again, a casual workplace question becomes an internal debate…and then becomes a blog topic.
Recently, a lively discussion ensued in TrendSource's lunchroom about how (and, indeed, if) all-you-can-eat (AYCE) establishments could possibly succeed. You know what we mean—AYCE buffets ranging from pizza to Chinese, AYCE restaurants like Korean BBQ and sushi, how do they stay afloat?
Topics: Market Research, Food Service, Tom Brady, Food, Beyoncé