Management

Urban Outfitters Inc.'s Anthropologie chain, known for its bohemian-chic housewares and apparel, will supersize some stores to entice shoppers with a wider array of lifestyle gear. The company aims to open 25 to 50 Anthropologie stores in the next five years that will be three times larger than current locations, which average about 7,100 square feet. Urban Outfitters will also test the larger format for its namesake and Free People chains, the Philadelphia-based company said this week. Anthropologie, striving to become a broader lifestyle brand, will increase its home goods, wedding, beauty and intimates offerings at the larger stores.

Roger Farah, former executive vice chairman at Ralph Lauren, has found a new challenge at luxury fashion house Tory Burch, following his exit from the fashion company earlier this year. Farah has been appointed co-chief executive officer at the fashion label and will be reporting to Tory Burch, founder of her eponymous company, co-CEO and chairman. The industry veteran was also appointed to the company's board and took an equity stake in the business.

Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook last weekend called the introduction of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus the "best launch ever." He may have spoken too soon. Just three days after announcing that Apple had sold a record 10 million new iPhones over the opening weekend, Cook was faced with multiple snafus related to the bigger-screen handsets. The company pulled a new mobile software update, dubbed iOS 8.0.1, after the program caused some people to lose cellular service yesterday, and promised a fix soon. 

Toys"R"Us, the world's largest specialty toy store chain, on Tuesday announced plans to hire 45,000 workers at its 877 U.S. stores and distribution centers for the 2014 holidays, more than doubling its total workforce. The jobs include sales associates, stock crew and omnichannel fulfillment teams, as well as distribution center workers and department managers. The news comes days after rival Wal-Mart announced it's hiring 60,000 seasonal workers and offering additional hours to its current employees for the holidays.

GNC Holdings has appointed former Dick's Sporting Goods executive Jeffrey R. Hennion as executive vice president, chief marketing and e-commerce officer, and former Office Depot executive Daisy Vanderlinde as chief human resource officer. Additionally, Carl Seletz, GNC's senior vice president of international business development, will assume the additional responsibility of leading the company's domestic and international franchise operations.

Struggling big-box retailers Sears and Toys"R"Us, which sell merchandise easily bought from a mobile device, are using a surprising tactic to forestall death: turning their vast real estate holdings into cash-generating piggybanks. Toys"R"Us, collectively owned by private equity firms Bain Capital, KKR and Vornado Realty Trust, is the latest to offer a glimpse into how a floundering national retailer is morphing into a landlord. On Sept. 17, Toys"R"Us disclosed that it will open Claire's branded shops in 100 locations scattered across the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Austria and Spain. 

Customers are driven by the need for instant gratification more than ever, expecting boundless product options at their fingertips and 24-hour (or less) delivery models. To compete with bellwethers like Amazon.com and even Google, companies are exchanging traditional distribution strategies for something more flexible, focusing less on labor and production and more on inventory and proximity to consumer marketplaces. Retailers and distributors, however, cannot make these adjustments in isolation. In order to successfully transform their sales and operations, organizations must modify their back-office tax and accounting practices accordingly.

As retailers gear up for the holiday selling season, industry watchers ask the same inevitable questions. How promotional will they get? Will discounts make a difference to their sales? And at what cost to profit? They should listen closely to Pier 1 Imports CEO Alex Smith's sobering remarks. The home furnishings retailer's stock slumped as much as 18 percent in its biggest daily percentage drop in almost five years on Thursday after its second-quarter profit and sales missed Wall Street expectations. While profit was partly hurt by increased online spending, increased storewide promotions were the big culprit that hurt margins. 

Website "flash sales" are fueling lightning-fast growth for online retailer Zulily, and central Ohio has been one of the biggest beneficiaries. Zulily was founded in 2010 in Seattle and sells apparel, decor items and other merchandise via short-term "events." Sales are growing at warp speed, going from nothing several years ago to a projected $1.2 billion this year. As a result of the spectacular growth, Zulily has been adding employees at a fast clip. In Columbus, a market it quietly entered in 2012 with a distribution center in Obetz, the company has grown to 1,110 employees.  

New York might have failed in its efforts to tax sugary sodas, but that didn't keep retail giant Wal-Mart from trying to tax it anyway. This week, New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced that the state reached a settlement with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. over false advertising claims. The settlement followed an investigation into claims that Wal-Mart advertised a sale on Coca-Cola soft drinks but actually charged customers across New York State more than the advertised sale price.