BTW News Briefs

NRF White Paper on Meeting "Challenges of the Future" Available

According to a new white paper, "Challenges of the Future" -- a free resource underwritten by the National Retail Federation Foundation (the education and research arm of the NRF), the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, and George H. Baum Community Charitable Trust of Morris, Illinois -- if independent retailers are to remain competitive, they will have to be more knowledgeable about their product than ever before and will have to show customers how value is much more than a number on a price tag.

The newly released white paper indicated that selling to Internet-savvy customers, who are loaded with information about pricing and products, provides a new challenge for independents. As such, dealing with informed customers in a highly competitive market is a challenge that needs to be met with new solutions.

The paper, which was created to help independents identify major trends affecting retailing, understand major obstacles in the marketplace, and find resources to help them succeed, is available for download from www.retail-revival.com.

AAP to Honor USA Today

On November 8, the Association of American Publishers (AAP) announced that Gannett Newspaper's USA Today had been named to receive the "AAP Honors," for the newspaper's outstanding work in promoting American books and authors. AAP Honors will be presented on March 3, 2005, at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York during the AAP Annual Meeting.

In announcing the award, AAP President Pat Schroeder said, "At a time when many newspapers are cutting back on the space devoted to books, USA Today has kept the faith. It has consistently provided its readers with a full range of book reviews, recommended reading lists, excellent coverage of national and regional book events, and intelligent reporting about the book business. Keeping the reading public informed about worthwhile books and interesting authors, USA Today has been a forceful advocate for reading and for American books."