Management

Starbucks will close 150 poorly performing company-operated stores next year, about three times as many as it typically closes. The affected stores are located in mostly urban areas that are densely populated with Starbucks locations. The company told investors late Tuesday that it expects same-store sales to grow just 1 percent for the quarter that…

Rent-A-Center, a company that rents out furniture and electronics and also allows customers the ability to own the products through a lease program, said today that it will be acquired by an affiliate of buyout firm Vintage Capital Management in a deal valued at $1.37 billion, including debt. The affiliate, Vintage Rodeo Parent, will buy the company…

Lands’ End is distancing itself from struggling Sears Holdings Co. by shuttering more of its in-store shops and instead opening more smaller standalone locations. Since the apparel company split from Sears in 2014, it has been phasing out its sites in the department store chain.It's planning to decrease its number of Sears shops to 132…

The Hudson’s Bay Co., continuing to suffer same-store sales declines across most of its divisions, is trimming costs by closing 10 Lord & Taylor stores, including its flagship location on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. HBC revealed the planned closures as it reported a net loss of 400 million Canadian dollars, or $308 million, for the…

Howard Schultz, Starbucks executive chairman and former CEO credited with the brand's extreme growth, is stepping down from his position at the end of the month — with an eye toward a potential career in politics. The New York Times reports that while Mr. Schultz, 64, typically bats away speculation about his political ambitions with an…

Nearly 130,000 Costco employees are poised to get a pay raise starting on June 11. According to the Seattle Times, in a May 31 call with investors, CFO Richard Galanti said that the starting wage for Costco employees would go up $1 to $14 or $14.50 per hour, while other warehouse employees would see hourly raises…

Sears Holdings said Thursday it will be closing more than 70 stores in 2018 as its sales continue to decline. Earlier this year, the retailer identified 100 unprofitable Sears and Kmart stores, and announced today that it will be closing 72 of these stores "in the near future." In a statement announcing its fiscal first-quarter results, Sears said:…

J.C. Penney CEO Marvin Ellison is leaving the department store chain to become CEO of Lowe's, the home improvement chain reported Tuesday. Ellison came to J.C. Penney from Home Depot, so Lowe's is getting an experienced home improvement executive. Last week, J.C. Penney reported weaker-than-expected earnings. J.C. Penney's board said Tuesday that it has created an Office…

BJ's Wholesale Club filed for an initial public offering with regulators last week to list itself on the New York Stock Exchange, marking its bid to become a public company again. The company, which was taken private in 2011 for $2.8 billion in cash by private equity firms Leonard Green & Partners and CVC Capital Partners, will list…

Jane Elfers has delivered several years of industry-leading shareholder returns since joining The Children’s Place as president and CEO in 2010. But how did she do it, especially since the company had been on a downward trajectory for several years when she joined? According to a discussion Elfers had with Robin Lewis, CEO, The Robin Report during a Retail Marketing Society breakfast event in New York City on May 2, the key was a strategic plan she created with with four specific pillars: superior product, business transformation through technology, alternate channels of distribution, and fleet optimization. During the discussion, Elfers detailed each of the pillars.