Nike retail chief Jeanne Jackson sees big global growth in small local stores. An exclusive Q&A interview by Tim Manners. (more)

"The objective is to do business, not just with the top of the pyramid," says Franck Riboud, chief executive of Danone SA, in a Wall Street Journal piece by Christina Passariello (6/29/10). That's quite different from the outlook Franck brought to his job ten years ago, which was a tight focus on affluent consumers. But wealthier markets are sluggish, and so today -- as of last year, anyway -- 42 percent of Danone's sales "were from emerging markets -- up from just six percent ten years ago." Danone has accomplished this in fits and starts, beginning in 2004, in Indonesia.

Danone's first such product was a 70-gram bottle of yogurt selling for ten cents, which was an instant hit, "selling 10 million bottles in its first three months." It remains "one of Danone's most popular products in Indonesia, where the average per capita income is $11 a day." Less successful was Shoki Doi, a vitamin-fortified seven-cent yogurt sold door-to-door by local women, on commission. Factory delays, milk price spikes and a lack of profits for the women means that Shoki Doi is now sold largely in "urban stores, not rural villages as planned."

Aneel Karnani of the University of Michigan says the Shoki Doi experience isn't unusual: "Companies overestimate the size of the market and end up selling to the middle class, not the poor." But Franck Riboud sees it differently: "Learning to make a nutritious product that can be sold for eight cents without a loss helps us when we put in place a volume strategy, even in mature markets," he says. Two years ago, in Senegal, Danone launched Dolima, a 50-gram pouch of yogurt "that consumers could tear open to squeeze out the yogurt." It's been hugely successful and Franck is now thinking that "cheap yogurt sachets" might be a worldwide hit.

As Tommy Hilfiger's star faded in America, it rose in Europe, which gave the brand a second chance back in America, reports Eric Wilson in the New York Times (5/16/10). Not long ago, things had gotten so bad for the Hilfiger label that "the company seriously considered selling his clothes at Walmart." When Macy's placed orders, it was for "stretch cotton poplin dress shirts ... because that's what was selling from other designers." But at the same time, Hilfiger's licensing business, headed by Fred Gehring (formerly of Ralph Lauren) began taking off in Europe.

This gave Hilfiger the proverbial second chance at a first impression, returning the label to its original image -- "bright, preppy clothes and premium prices, but none of the hype." The fashions were "sold in more than 4,000 small stores from Spain to Germany" and "grew to more than $1 billion at the same time sales in the United States were falling." However, Fred Gehring remained worried that "the designer's problems in America would eventually cross over to Europe," and engineered taking the company private.

Fred's next move was "a deal with Macy's to carry the line exclusively in exchange for more desirable placement in its stores and help with marketing." Macy's now says Hilfiger is one of its strongest-performing lines. Hilfiger has since "opened a new flagship store on Fifth Avenue ... And the business is now highly profitable, earning about $300 million annually, largely thanks to the European operation." It was acquired by Phillips-Van Heusen about two weeks ago for $3 billion, "nearly seven times what Phillips-Van Heusen paid for Calvin Klein in 2003."

"In the end, kids are the same all over the world. They see an ice cream truck, they come running," says Alex Conway in a New York Times piece by Vincent M. Mallozzi (4/15/10). Alex would know: His grandfather, James Conway, helped start the Mr. Softee franchise, selling soft-serve ice cream from trucks, back in 1956. The trucks are still going strong "in Washington Heights, Coney Island and neighborhoods in between," although they're no longer permitted by law to ring their bells while they're parked.

Ironically, that's the only time they are permitted to ring their bells in China, where Mr. Softee is globalizing with five trucks in Suzhou, "an ancient city of more than six million people about 50 miles west of Shanghai ... and one in a nearby city, Taicang." The idea of Mr. Softee in China occurred when Alex's former college roommate, Turner Sparks, noticed that, despite "a deluge of American fast food franchises" there was nothing like Mister Softee. In fact nobody was selling anything at all out of trucks.

So, Alex filled out lots of forms and brought his cone-headed logo to China, under the name "Ruan Xin Xian Sheng," which translates into Mr. Soft Heart "because there is no Mandarin word for Softee." He also adjusted flavors to include kiwi and red bean blast, "a rice-cake-flavored ice cream covered with red beans and topped with whipped cream." That's one of Mr. Soft Heart's biggest sellers -- and sales have doubled "every year since the first truck started rolling three years ago." Alex now plans to expand to Hangzhou and Wuxi.

Disney Stores president Jim Fielding casts magic on retail as media. An exclusive Q&A interview by Tim Manners. (more)

Two collectors, living across the pond from each other, are keeping the world safe for New York's Checker and London's Hackney cabs, reports A.G. Sulzberger in the New York Times (2/10/10). The two fellows -- Ray Tomkinson of Manchester, England and Alvaro Gallego of Queens, New York -- started swapping taxis from their respective collections more than ten years ago. They've never met and exchange no money: Ray sends Alvaro London cabs and Alvaro sends Ray New York cabs in barter deals. They also swap "parts and other taxi paraphernalia."

Their bond is a passion for vintage taxis, obviously. They both also rent out their cars "for film shoots and promotional campaigns" -- Alvaro's business is called Taxidepot. They were introduced by a mutual acquaintance who thought Alvaro might be able to help Ray procure Checker cabs for his collection. At first, Ray paid cash, but before long "they were working out trades." Alvaro says his interest in old taxis began about 40 years ago, the first time he "sat behind the wheel" of a Checker cab. He thinks London's Hackney cabs are pretty cool, too.

"Both are strong and good cars," says Alvaro. "They've been doing what they've supposed to be doing for so many years, moving people from A to B in a safe, roomy way." Both cars also "symbolize their home cities, their distinctive curves adorning all manner of gift-shop knickknacks. And both were made explicitly to be taxis -- purpose-built ... with roomy back seats large enough to comfortably hold five people." Of course, the Checkers were discontinued in 1982, and while the London cab is still around, "it too has been pressed by new models, stoking the fear that it could go the way of the Checker."

Stefano Pessina sees store-brands, health services and acquisitions driving growth for Alliance Boots pharmacies worldwide, reports Cecilie Rohwedder in the Wall Street Journal (11/20/09). "One of our main projects for the future is to internationalize the Boots brand," says Stefano, who bought Boots two years ago with KKR & Company. "We want to sell more Boots-branded products outside the U.K." Boots's U.K. success is largely propelled by a line of Boots-brand skin creams known as Boots No. 7.

The line is now also available in France and Portugal, but Stefano, a former nuclear engineer and "one of the richest men in Italy," sees his store brand spreading across Europe. As it is, various Boots brands are available in "15 countries, including the U.S," both online and in stores. Boots pharmacies currently operate "in places ranging from Holland to Thailand, and 10 of its biggest U.K. locations feature on-site doctors and opticians. Other services include "cervical cancer vaccinations, nutritional advice and programs to help customers stop smoking."

And then there's Stefano's acquisition strategy, which suffered a setback when he failed to win his bid "to buy part of Sweden's Apoteket retail pharmacy monopoly," via a government auction. Stefano said it was too expensive. His challenges include the company's "debt of over eight billion pounds," and of course today's economy, which maybe isn't a great market for skin creams. But Stefano is nothing but optimistic: "We see more confidence, customers are more keen to shop, even for items that are not really necessary to survive," he says.

The first time Volkswagen asked Italians for some design help, "the only suggestion was to enlarge the car's rear window," reports Phil Patton in the New York Times (4/12/09). That was in 1949, the car was the Beetle and the designer was Pininfarina. The second time VW turned ot Italians, it was to help "build a sportier car based on the Beetle." That time, VW went to Ghia, and the result was, of course, the Karmann Ghia.

The third time, turned to Giorgetti Guigiaro, whose credits included the Maserati Ghibli and the DeLorean DMC-12. Giorgetto turned out "the original Golf of 1974, which established the shape of the quintessential front-drive econobox." Perhaps a glutton for punishment, VW is at it again, having engaged Walter de'Silva to add a little more tutti to Teutonic (this makes no sense but couldn't resist the alliteration, sorry).

Walter hired Klaus Bischoff, who brought in Flavio Manzoni, who created a new "design language" for VW called the up!, which was "conceived as a restatement of the Beetle for the new millennium." So far, VW's new face has been applied to the Scirocco and the Golf, the latter of which now "has a more pronounced, angular, high shoulder and character line ... the shapes are fuller and angled." Flavio refers to his approach as "clear design for a complex world." ~ Tim Manners, editor.

It used to be that American cars ruled the world, but now the world rules American cars -- and everyone else's, suggests Chris Woodyard in USA Today (4/8/09). He writes: "Today, all new cars from the world's major makers are designed by pretty much the same folks -- a roving band of top designers for hire. Their careers are spent going from one automaker to the next, spanning the globe." These designers include Tom Kearns, who used to work for General Motors but now heads Kia's design studio.

Tom's crew of "15 designers are Korean, Italian, Venezuelan Chinese and American nationals." Back when he was at GM, Tom "worked on the acclaimed Cadillac CTS sedan and saw how to make it distinctly American. The car's sharply creased, angular body was similar to the stealth fighter jet, an American icon." Now, at Kia, his job is to create "a new design heritage." His "big achievement so far is the Kia Soul, a youth-oriented car that could help set the standard for a run of Kias to come."

However, Tom does like to pick up bits and pieces from cars he admires, such as BMW's shift knob and Audi's headlights. Indeed, one downside of the global approach is that "designs are often not as distinctive as in the past." That's also because the cars must appeal to a range of consumers in multiple markets, worldwide and adhere to certain safety standards. Over at Acura, Michelle Christensen designed the new Acura ZDX for the American market, but Acura hopes it will do well in China or Russia, too. In true "global" fashion, Michelle is American, but her design "was inspired by the roofline of a soccer stadium she saw in Japan." ~ Tim Manners, editor.

There may be some 12,000 pubs in Ireland, but it's become increasingly difficult to find one that's authentic, reports Steven Kurutz in the New York Times (3/11/09). "A good pub is a place devoted to conversation, with the drink as the lubricant," says Bill Barich, whose latest book, "A Pint of Plain," is based on his "own search to find a good local pub near his home in Dublin." While Bill's search was for authenticity, his ideal was fictional -- "Pat Cohan's, the country pub in John Ford's Flim, The Quiet Man.

That pub was built on a soundstage, and as it turns out, some of the pubs he visited might as well have been. One favorite, R. McSorley & Sons featured "a musty dignity that spoke of permanence." But as it turned out the "antique bric-a-brac on the walls" were phony, and soon after Bill became a regular new owners gave it "a slick makeover." Perhaps McSorely's was modeled on "the Irish Pub Concept, a program sanctioned by ... Diageo-Guinness USA that offers tips for authentic replication -- for instance, adding "& Sons" to a name to convey history."

Real pubs are indeed family-run, and usually the publican lived upstairs. But these days, "trophy pubs" can be worth millions and ownership is by corporation. Meanwhile, "more Irish are drinking wine" and doing so "at home or in restaurants, chipping away at the social relevance of pubs." Farmland is giving way to "suburban sprawl" putting an end to rural pubs that once doubled as community centers. But Bill Barich did find himself at least one worthy pub "called John Kavanaugh, but better known as the Gravediggers." It's near a cemetery and run by a publican named Euguene Kavanugh, who lives above the pub and says, "It's not my job. It's my life." ~ Tim Manners, editor.