Postcards

How one big investor is "playing offense again"

I interviewed Carlyle Group's Sandra Horbach, who heads the private equity giant's consumer and retail group, at the Women's Alternative Investment Summit in New York last week. I shared a few highlights, and since the session drew terrific audience feedback, it's worth giving you more of Horbach's smart talk about managing through the recession, investing into the recovery, and navigating a career in private equity, where few women dare MORE

Marlo Thomas' $700 million passion: Why I give

Before Mary Richards and Murphy Brown, there was Ann Marie--That Girl. I grew up in the '60s. So Marlo Thomas, who played the first independent working woman I ever saw on TV, had a major impact on me. Nearly a half-century later (yikes!), I now know Marlo personally. It's enormously gratifying to see an icon of my youth not only going strong (and looking young) but doing work that really MORE

Black Friday 2009 thwarts shopping habits, and sleep too

I've been reading Credit Suisse (CS) analyst Gary Balter's reports on hardline retailers since the mid-'90s, when I wrote about companies like Home Depot (HD) and Sears (SHLD). Balter is not only a savvy analyst. He's also a very good writer. This morning at 7:17, Balter emailed this note to clients about Black Friday shopping, which he titled "Bring Back the Good Old Days."  I'm on his email list, so MORE

Geek Squad rivals: Bring 'em on!

by Jessica Shambora

Watch out, geeks. You've got company.

Yes, Best Buy's (BBY) Geek Squad, whose "agents" drive those Volkswagen Beetles to the homes of customers in technology distress, has competition to contend with: digital troubleshooters who aid consumers via the Internet.

Even as these forces are expanding, it's hard to detect them. For instance, the "solution engineers" of Support.com (SPRT)'s are almost impossible to spot since they work via remote-access subterfuge. Once MORE

Gilt Groupe's Lyne takes on AOL

Gilt Groupe CEO Susan Lyne has joined the board of AOL--soon to be spun off from Time Warner (TWX).

Does Lyne love trouble, or what? Five years ago, after Martha Stewart began her five-month prison stint in West Virginia, Lyne stepped up from the Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSO) board to be CEO of the company--and worked, eventually hand in hand with Martha, to rebuild the crippled company.

That was a slog MORE

Avon's ex-president's odd leap to CEO

by Patricia Sellers

Liz Smith, who was on track to succeed Andrea Jung as CEO of Avon Products (AVP), is moving to a new company and a new industry. Again.

The onetime star exec at Kraft (KFT), who made an unlikely leap from food to cosmetics in 2004, is the newly named chief executive of OSI, a chain of casual-dining eateries.

"What?!!" is a question that Smith admits she's been asked MORE

Xerox and Wal-Mart bosses: Career paths not taken

There comes a fork in every career. Should I do this or do that?

Charting a successful career was the topic on Tuesday at Wal-Mart (WMT), where the company's female officers staged a "Fortune Most Powerful Women" event and I interviewed two stars of the 2009 MPWomen rankings: Wal-Mart EVP of People Susan Chambers and Xerox (XRX) CEO Ursula Burns.

Their bios tell the paths they chose. More inspiring and instructive, as MORE

A visit to Wal-Mart's home

by Patricia Sellers

"Control your expenses better than your competition. This is where you can always find the competitive advantage."

That was said, simply enough, by Wal-Mart (WMT) founder Sam Walton. And though today it's widely known that Wal-Mart is the world's most efficient retailer, a little-known fact is that for 25 years--long before Wal-Mart became America's largest retailer--it ranked No. 1 in its industry for the lowest ratio of expenses to sales.

Efficiency runs in the water here MORE

Starbucks Via: What's the secret?

Hey, Starbucks lovers--and critics too! Have you taken the Starbucks Via Taste Challenge? The drip vs. instant coffee faceoff began this morning in Starbucks (SBUX) stores across North America.

If you want to know the science (it involves micro-grinding) behind Starbucks' new instant, check out this story today by my Fortune tech-writer colleague Michael Copeland. He talked with Andrew Linnemann, Starbucks' director of green coffee quality and operations, whose mission MORE

Gilt Groupe's Jetsetter takes off

Shoppers may have fewer dollars these days, but they still want to make the most of them. That's the idea behind Gilt Groupe, the members-only shopping site featuring daily deals, or "flash-sales," on limited quantities of designer goods. (Click here for a post about Gilt CEO Susan Lyne, formerly head of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia).

Now Gilt is bringing the same formula to the luxury travel sphere with a new site MORE