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FREEDOM'S FERMENT The Persian Gulf War has pushed South Africa off the front pages, but the news 10 days ago from Cape town was, all the same, seismic. President F.W. [...]

What's the most popular outdoor activity? Most people know that it's gardening. What's less well known is that the second-most popular outdoor activity is birding. Almost half of Americans 46%, [...]

The year 1973-1976 marked the absolute nadir of the post-boomer baby bust. This year, the children born in those years reached 17-20 years old. With the student pool down, colleges [...]

It's back-to-school time, and for millions of households with school-age children, that means time to stock up on crayons and other school supplies. Binney & Smith's Crayola crayons have been [...]

How do you bring a company out of Chapter 11? Standard Brands Paint Co., which recently emerged from bankruptcy protection, set out to make as much noise as possible with [...]

Between divorce, remarriages, re-re-marriages, gay marriages and Murphy Brown, the definition of 'family' has been stretched, reshaped and debated. For Hallmark Cards, which has been supplying Americans with packaged sentiment [...]

After dipping in the '70s, General Foods' Jell-O brand is on the rise again. Buoyed by nostalgia and a baby boom, sales have grown steadily and the brand has even [...]

Launched two and a half years ago, Origins Natural Resources Inc. represents a counter-trend in cosmetics. Shunning the lavish and often wasteful packaging typical of the industry, the Origins line [...]

While the sluggish economy has slowed down the moving industry in general, those Americans who do pick up stakes are more likely to handle the move themselves. Ryder Truck Rental [...]

Last fall Alfred A. Knopf relaunched Everyman's Library, a series of classics originally brought out in 1905. This Christmas Knopf is extending the line with the Everyman's Library Children's Classics. [...]

Nature's Way began 25 years ago as a small botanical company that sold herbal supplements to a specialized market. The privately held Springville, Utah firm has grown to become a [...]

No longer a lone wolf When we started we had no competition because we created the express courier business and, in doing so, created the demand for express couriers. Then [...]

During the 1980s, the facsimile machine penetrated the business community with a swiftness not seen since the launch of the photocopier. Yet office-equipment giant Hewlett-Packard Co. of Palo Alto, Calif. [...]

Other beverage categories wage a tug of war over mature markets. But the 'New Age' niche--sparkling mineral water, seltzer, flavored water and other soft drinks with all-natural ingredients--is booming. Since [...]

A gasoline brand loses steam When Sun purchased Atlantic in 1988, there was some talk about converting all Atlantic retail locations to Sunoco, Sun's other brand. But research showed that [...]

Thickness becomes the pitch While the ketchup category is about 115 years old, it's only really taken off in the last few decades, with the popularity of hamburgers and fast [...]

58 The aerobics and fitness craze of the 1980s credited a specialty apparel niche called women's active wear. Founded in 1983, the Weekend Exercise Co. of San Diego has quietly [...]

Paul Thiboutot, director of admissions, talks about how a direct-mail campaign prevented a slump in applications Two decades ago, all a reputable college had to do was sit back and [...]

Sprint Dials T for Technology In Its Battle With AT&T, MCI When AT&T launched its Universal Visa card in March, it wasn't the first company to offer a combination phone-and-financial-services [...]

LensCrafters Takes The High Road The unveiling of the `mystery' In the eyewear industry everything changed - everything started really - in the 1970s with the new rulings. Before that, [...]

A Theater Institution Attracts the TV Generation Steve Dennin, the New York Shakespeare Festival's director of development, talks about the organization's efforts to cast movie stars and set up programs [...]

Robert W. Parson, of Panasonic's appliance division, talks about the Smooth Operators and the company's plans to convert users of traditional blade systems People who shave with electric razors tend [...]

Susan Smyth Bell, vp of communications at joseph & Feiss Co., talks about the swatch'ad for Cricketeer and the upcoming Cricketeer Woman questionnaire Big changes have taken place in retailing [...]

Wal-Mart's 'Green' Campaign To Emphasize Recycling Next Hardly a day goes by without some manufacturer claiming that their products are environmentally friendly. The number is growing, in part, because consumers [...]

Estee Lauder Uses Bubbling Water To Win Consumers for Time Zone Up from the 'Blue Sky Lab' Time zone fits into the moisturizer category and is aimed at women with [...]

Smartfood's Expansion Hasn't Diminished Its Sense of Whimsy Ken Meyers, president of Smartfoods Inc., talks about the snack-food company's outrageous promotions, its growth and why new owner Frito-Lay is leaving [...]

Kinos Foods Inc. began in the mid-1950s as an olive importer serving New York's Greek-American community. Today Krinos is the largest importer and manufacturer of Greek specialty foods in North [...]

South Africa's gradual emergence from the shadow of apartheid finds ad agencies contemplating their prospects there. Few companies have actually returned to South Africa, but the deluge is inevitable, and local ad agencies are gearing up for it. Various factors combine to make South Africa an attractive market at this time: The replacement of a general sales tax by a value-added tax, the rapid urbanization of blacks with newly-found purchasing power, and the country's potential as a springboard to the vast, untapped African market., As the March 17 whites-only referendum approached, South Africa's advertising community held its breath: A 'no' vote would have shut out any hope of stepped-up international investment and left an [...]

They're French, they're hip and boy, are they expensive. After six years in the U.S., Arche shoes are on the move, at a very tempered pace. Next month the company [...]

Most consumers, Saratoga Springs, N.Y means horse racing, arts festivals and spas. Evian Waters of France Inc. had no problem with that when it bought the Saratoga brand of sparkling [...]

Quill Bares Its Teeth in Battle With Office-Supply Superstores The opening salvo For many years, the office-products industry had not been very competitive. It was a relatively fragmented industry dominated [...]

New York's Fur Vault Copes With Mild Winters and the 1987 Crash Questioning the value of Fred Our company began in 1975 as Fred the Furrier. It was a New [...]

Howard Johnson Boosts the Ego Of America's Business Traveler Christopher C. Browne talks about the hotel's effort to attract corporate guests by treating them with respect and calling them `Road [...]

Why Van Heusen Is Spending $10 Million on a Shirt Campaign Allen Sirkin, the company's president, talks about the strategy to reach young consumers and the need to show department [...]

How Corning Inc. Prevented Revere Ware From Going to Pot Robert Visovsky, Corning's marketing director, talks about the strategy to polish the brand's image and introduce new lines of cookware [...]

What Clairol Learned While Developing `Option' for Men Group Director Bill Susetka talks about the company's new hair-coloring products and why undetectable results, hassle-free containers and a trustworthy brand name [...]

Puma USA Gets an Education During Its Back-to-School Drive Christopher Smith, president and CEO, talks about what the company learned while marketing athletic shoes to teens and why it recently [...]

Food Shopping by Phone Becomes a Reality in New York Consultant Ken Shidler talks about how he kept costs down and attracted customers to the D'Agostino Shopping Service Most New [...]

Adding Sparkle and Style To the Glassware at Steuben Younger buyers valued function over tradition. Steuben's Nancy Neumann describes how the glassmaker spiffed up its ads and store and improved [...]

After the Snow Melts, Aspen Sells Its Diversity The Colorado ski resort wanted to reach younger, less affluent summer tourists. Katherine Boone tells how 'The Aspens' is forging a new [...]

How Parker's Past Became Its Future The pen company's Robert Walker talks about the historical strategy used to reposition its high-end line. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle used a Parker pen [...]

Dutch Boy's Image Gets A Fresh Coat of Paint Sherwin-Williams' Peter Balint talks about the new strategy to reach young consumers who have dreams about how their home should look [...]

How `Webster's' Made It To the Best-Seller List First, says Simon & Schuster's Doreen Russo, the company updated the dictionary. Then it targeted `word people' and sold the book like [...]

Long Lines Mean Shorter Tempers National Car Rental's Vincent Wasik talks about why the company's Emerald Club was created Rapid-return programs have been around for years in the car-rental business. [...]

It's Only Rock 'n' Roll, But They Like It Robert Earl of Hard Rock International talks about the restaurant-museum's mystique and plans for expansion Launched in London in the early [...]

Asking Nicely So America Won't Have to Go Begging Roberta Van Der Voort of the United Way talks about why guilt is no longer used to raise money Getting people [...]

The Alligator Returns After Being Left for Dead Walter Kennedy tells how Izod Lacoste repositioned its sportswear and created in-store specialty shops to snap up sales. Since its introduction in [...]