Management

What Kohl’s Recent Partnerships With Planet Fitness and Amazon Reveal About the Future of Retail
July 26, 2019 at 12:03 pm

Uncommon retail partnerships have been dominating the trade news recently. In March, Kohl's announced a partnership with Planet Fitness. In April, the department store chain announced the expansion of its Amazon.com return program to all of its store locations. There have been other partnerships as well, such as the Kroger pickup option inside Walgreens’ stores, Capital…

GNC to Close Up to 900 Stores
July 23, 2019 at 11:44 am

Health and wellness retailer GNC plans to close up to 900 stores, with big cuts to mall locations expected. Officials with the Pittsburgh-based chain spoke of their continued "store optimization effort" during GNC's second-quarter earnings call with analysts Monday. In the first six months of 2019, GNC records show 192 company-owned and franchise locations have…

Report: Walmart Shuffling Execs to Further Integrate Stores, Digital
July 22, 2019 at 2:34 pm

Walmart is making further organizational changes as it continues to integrate its store and digital operations and leadership, according to a July 19 memo obtained by CNBC that was sent by CEO Doug McMillon to the retailer’s employees. The biggest change announced is Walmart's move to bring the U.S. supply chain teams together, which will be led…

Will Barneys New York File for Bankruptcy?
July 18, 2019 at 2:42 pm

Barneys New York may join the list of retail stores filing for bankruptcy, according to CBS News. The luxury department store is considering its options, including bankruptcy, due to high rents and a changing consumer landscape. Most of Barneys' stores are in prestigious neighborhoods in cities like Boston, New York and Los Angeles, and rent prices at…

Charming Charlie Files for Bankruptcy, to Close All of its Stores
July 11, 2019 at 3:15 pm

Fashion accessory retailer Charming Charlie will close all of its stores after going bankrupt for the second time in less than two years. The company filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware with plans to close all of its 261 stores in 38 states, according to court documents via Bloomberg News. The chain expects the liquidation to take about…

What Retailers Can Learn From Bed Bath & Beyond’s Current Woes
July 9, 2019 at 11:35 am

The ongoing saga around Bed Bath & Beyond continues to send ripples throughout the retail industry. Once the pre-eminent home goods brand, Bed Bath & Beyond is in the midst of massive upheaval as it struggles to cope with the pressure it's facing from discounters and online pure-play brands, particularly when it comes to pricing.…

Amazon Workers Plan Prime Day Strike at Minnesota Warehouse
July 9, 2019 at 9:50 am

Amazon.com warehouse workers in Minnesota plan to strike during the online retailer’s summer sales extravaganza, a sign that labor unrest persists even after the company committed to paying all employees at least $15 an hour last year. Workers at a Shakopee, Minnesota, fulfillment center plan a six-hour work stoppage on July 15, the first day…

Report: Amazon Penalizing Grocery Brands if Sales Result in Loss for Amazon on Prime Day
July 8, 2019 at 12:38 pm

Amazon.com is charging “additional funding” to certain grocery brands during this year’s Prime Day if sales of their products result in a loss for Amazon, according to an email seen by CNBC, and reported on its website. Amazon said the change is intended to “fund the profitability gap” of such products, which Amazon purchases wholesale…

Retail 2019: The Thinning of the Herd Continues
July 2, 2019 at 11:26 am

After a good start to the 2018 holiday selling season, December sales fell flat. Year-over-year (YOY) sales improved just 1.1 percent from December 2017, and overall holiday sales finished just 2.6 percent above 2017. Retailers felt the impact to their gross margin line and now face potential inventory issues due to lower-than-expected December sales. Thus…

Report: Toys"R"Us to Open New US Stores in 2019
June 24, 2019 at 2:45 pm

Defunct children’s retail chain Toys"R"Us will open about a half dozen U.S. stores and an e-commerce site this holiday season, roughly a year after shuttering U.S. operations, according to a report in Bloomberg. Richard Barry, a former Toys"R"Us executive who is now CEO of new entity Tru Kids Inc., has been pitching his vision to reincarnate…