Holt Renfrew's signature bag

How could Holt Renfrew, a store selling high end clothing and accessories that not everyone can afford last 174 years in the retail business?  The answer is simple, brand.  When you see someone walking down the street holding a magenta bag with the words HOLT RENFREW scrawled across, you immediately think that person is carrying an expensive, good quality, luxury product.

Mark Derbyshire, president of Holt Renfrew

Jenny Lee quotes Mark Derbyshire, president of Holt Renfrew in the Vancouver Sun, describes retail as a theatre saying, “It should be an experience. I believe you come to Holt Renfrew to feel good.”  That’s why the store offers incentives to sale associates such as a trip to Vegas if they meet sale targets.  This is a great way for management to prompt their team to create special relationships with customers that will leave shoppers wanting to go back to the fun and positive atmosphere of Holts.  Furthermore, the store offers entertainment on weekends which encourages shoppers to make Holt Renfrew a part of their weekend routine.  Holt Renfrew has also begun a brilliant strategy of receiving smaller shipments of products more frequently.  Therefore, customers feel the need to visit the store more often to check on new stock that may not have been there a few days ago and that they can purchase immediately before it sells out.

Forest Ethics' awareness poster regarding tar sands

Banana distributors Dole and Chiquita make up a large portion of the banana market selling approximately 27 billion bananas a year.  Therefore their environmentally unfriendly method for transporting and refrigerating bananas overseas, certainly has a significant negative impact on our global environment.  The oil used to fuel these ships comes from tar sands in Alberta, home to some of the filthiest oil on the planet.  Toxins released from tar sands pollute water, air, and forests, causing increased cancer rates of populations in neighbouring communities.

This raises an ethical issue as to whether companies should use toxic fuelling methods in order to capitalize on profits even if doing so means threatening the well being of local people and resources?  By using the tar sands Dole and Chiquita’s main goal clearly is bringing in as much profit as possible.  Although this may be the best option economically, ethically, the better choice would be to convert to more sustainable transport means.

The switch to cleaner fuel practices will not be difficult with the help of Forest Ethics, a group designed to assist companies in reducing their carbon footprint.  Forest Ethics has already worked with numerous companies such as Whole Foods and the Gap in changing their fuelling systems by finding fuel resources that do not come from tar sands.  Both establishments remain strong competitors in their industry despite this change thus proving businesses such as Dole and Chiquita can do their part in reducing pollution without sacrificing a large portion of profits.

http://bx.businessweek.com/business-ethics/view?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.triplepundit.com%2F2011%2F08%2Ftar-sands-oil-bananas%2F

http://forestethics.org/dole–chiquita-embroiled-in-escalating-tar-sands-controversy-