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For retailers, it's no longer as easy as giving the rubber stamp when a store's lease comes up for renewal. Instead, as they look to prune their fleets to boost their overall productivity, companies are analyzing their physical footprints more than ever. So in an age when they can shutter underperforming stores in favor of less costly web operations, which retailers are getting the most out of their brick-and-mortar shops? Cowen & Co. analyst Oliver Chen broke down which retailers are paying the most rent per square foot, as well as which generate the most sales per square foot.

As retailers feel the pressure to raise wages for employees, GameStop is focusing on education by giving staffers an incentive to enter the classroom. GameStop is launching a new scholarship for its employees that would allow them or their children to go to college. The program is called "Power to the Scholars," a reference to the "Power to the Players" slogan the company has popularized over the years. The "Power to the Scholars" scholarship will work in partnership with Scholarship America as an extension of GameStop's employee-oriented Gamer Fund.

Is she still alive? That's the question I got asked by one of the resident millennials as I sat at my desk reading a Staples’ press release announcing the chain had reached a deal to sell a line of home office products under the Martha Stewart brand. The deal marks the second time Ms. Stewart and Staples have worked together. The chain began selling Ms. Stewart's branded office supplies, such as sticky notes, journals and rubber bands, in its stores and on its website in 2012.

The tide is starting to turn for brick-and-mortar retailers. Long the digital laggard to online-only shops, traditional stores are beginning to capitalize on their robust physical footprints — namely, by using them as souped-up distribution networks — as they continue to make their web and mobile operations easier for shoppers to use. "Our analysis indicates traditional retailers' supply chain costs are roughly three times lower than [online] pure-plays when leveraging store fulfillment capabilities," Cowen & Co. Analyst Oliver Chen wrote in a note to investors Thursday.

While lululemon left little to the imagination with its see-through yoga pants crisis two years ago, the active wear chain has applied much imagination to its menswear, which could create renewed energy. To be specific, lululemon athletica is directing our focus to an entirely different part of the anatomy. Its ABC pants, which stands for (apologies) anti-ball crushing, are hoped to make headway in what lulu sees as a $1 billion opportunity: men's clothing.

Dov Charney was fired as American Apparel's CEO because he wouldn't go along with a plan to sell the clothing retailer, according to a shareholder lawsuit brought by two men with ties to Charney. Citing information they said was gathered from Charney and a former board member they didn't identify, the shareholders claim then Chief Financial Officer John Luttrell approached Charney about selling the company. After he refused, Luttrell orchestrated Charney's firing for alleged misconduct, aiming to set the stage for a future sale, according to the complaint. 

The Apple Watch goes on sale in stores today. Whether you can just walk into an Apple Store and buy one is another matter. The debut of Apple's first new device in five years is looking more like an event from the fashion world rather than the tech world. This time, there won't be long lines of faithful gadget lovers waiting for hours and days to buy the latest product from the Cupertino, Calif.-based company.

Mike Ullman, the present CEO of J.C. Penney, will relinquish that post at the end of June 2015. He will stay on as non-executive chairman for a year. Marvin Ellison, president and chief executive-in waiting, will succeed Mr. Ullman in that position. While I haven't yet met with Ullman's successor, I have heard and read good things about him and sense that he motivates associates to do their best. He will certainly need that leadership skill. Ellison will have his hands full.

Sportswear outfitters like Under Armour and Nike look increasingly like tech companies, with apps and digital ecosystems that stretch far beyond their traditional fitting rooms and football deals. In the age of the Fitbit and Apple Watch, where web-connected fitness is increasingly de rigueur, the winner of the health-tracking arms race could potentially secure a gold mine from shoppers looking for the best way to break a sweat.

eBay plans to grow by thinking small as it prepares for life apart from PayPal. The company says it's focusing on getting more people, as well as small to midsize businesses, to buy and sell items on its popular online marketplace. The effort comes as it attempts to address investor concerns about how it will fare later this year after it spins off its PayPal payments division, which has long been eBay's fastest-growing segment. CEO John Donahoe said Wednesday the company is moving toward the spinoff with "clarity and speed."