Another Reason Why It’s Called “Biz Weak” Around Here
Jeff at Credit/Debt Recovery spots a pretty incredible trend on the part of one Biz Weak writer, Robert Berner (Biz Weak links probably require subscription):
Business Week attacks Target… again
Dated July 17th, Business Week has an article, Where Target May Miss The Mark, that attacks Target’s credit card business.That “Biz Weak” is attacking Target is no surprise, especially when the article is written by Robert Berner. A very quick search turns up a slew of anti-Target articles by Berner:
– Target: The Cool Factor Fizzles
– Target Takes a Gamble the Markets Don’t Like
– Has Target’s Food Foray Missed the Mark?
– Too Many Retailers, Not Enough ShoppersI started to think Berner was anti-retail in general, but here he is cheerleading for the KMart-Sears merger: Kmart and Sears: An 11 Billion Dollar Goliath
The attacks on Target go back years, and he’s been pretty consistently wrong.
Berner’s current article criticizes Target’s Visa card operation as having being too generous in its credit-granting practices and having excessive finance charges. The latter point, based on discussions I’ve had with workshop participants, seems accurate to me, but Jeff rightly points out that Target’s Visa Card is on two Top 10 lists (here and here; registration or subscription may be required at both sites).
If it makes Jeff feel any better (I doubt it will), it appears that Robert Berner doesn’t just pick on Target; he, and his magazine, have a certain discount retailer based in Bentonville, Arkansas in their sights too (reprinted article from Business Week is about halfway down the page). Berner is a contributor to that linked 2003 “Is Wal-Mart Too Powerful?” article (of course, at Biz Weak, the answer is “Yes”).
This would indicate that Biz Weak, instead of “just” picking on Target, dislikes any big-box retailer they consider to be too deep-discount (apparently Sears just made the cut).
Not only is the magazine ruthlessly biased against these two companies, but they’re also strangely selective. The Home Depot, the second largest retailer in the US, is every bit as aggressive, if not more, at beating down suppliers, and seems to have a fetish about importing from China. But until very recently the magazine was saying great things about the company and its chief plunderer executive Bob Nardelli, while everyone on the street knew that the retailer’s customer service has been falling apart and that customers have been streaming to Lowe’s and other rivals.
What’s it all mean? Simply this — Take anything you read about a company at Biz Weak with a grain of salt. Its writers aren’t hesitant to insert their biases into their articles, and their editors are clearly perfectly okay with their doing that.
biz weak has a pretty decent podcast on the story behind the story. I subscribe, but I take it with a grain of salt.
Comment by dave — July 23, 2006 @ 9:09 pm
When I was first involved in manufacturing, back to the late ’70s, Sears was notorious for beating down suppliers. They were specifically known for contracting with small firms to produce house-brand products, and then when they became dependent on the business squeezing them until they folded and then finding another source to squeeze.
Comment by triticale — July 23, 2006 @ 10:04 pm
I’m glad that post caught your eye; I’d seen you call them “Biz Weak” but didn’t really get it until I did the research on their anti-Target bias. Target responded with a letter to the editor of Biz Weak that says, in part:
“Mr. Berner has repeatedly demonstrated that his reporting on Target is factually unsupportable and in my view, lacks journalistic integrity. In short, the risks he loves to highlight are starkly inconsistent with the outstanding financial performance we have delivered over time. Ultimately, last week he chose to ignore nearly all of the facts we had provided in our good faith effort to address his questions. As a result, Target Corporation will no longer engage in _any_ correspondence or communication with Robert Berner as it has proven to be a significant waste of our time.”
Comment by Jeff — July 24, 2006 @ 11:32 am
#2, I am familiar with that story, though I didn’t know they were cavalier about taking suppliers all the way to failure. The auto companies are notorious for annual 3%-5% price reductions, too.
#3, Biz Weak and Berner deserve all the grief from Target that they get.
Comment by TBlumer — July 24, 2006 @ 11:51 am
#3, where did you get the text? The para you cite isn’t in the print or online editions of the mag, though a fact-based rebuttal is.
Comment by TBlumer — July 24, 2006 @ 10:34 pm
#4 and #5, apparently it’s available somewhere at Target; I’ll leave it be without digging for a link due to lack of time.
Comment by TBlumer — July 25, 2006 @ 1:26 pm