Merchandising

Specialty clothing retailer Gap Inc is to launch a girl's clothing line under its Athleta brand in a bid to capitalize on growth in the U.S. women's active wear category. The Athleta Girl clothing line will include both performance and lifestyle apparel, launching online and in select stores this summer.

J.C. Penney is targeting millennials who are entering the real estate market with the relaunch of its appliance business. The retailer announced Tuesday that it will introduce laundry and kitchen appliances to 22 pilot stores in San Diego, Tampa and San Antonio starting Feb. 1. The move is one of several the company is planning to…

Friday morning’s news that Wal-Mart plans to close 269 stores will certainly have an effect on walk-in retail — especially if you’re on the hunt for inexpensive big-screen televisions, ammunition or Garth Brooks’ exclusive-to-Wal-Mart “Blame It On My Roots” box set. But what effect will the closures have on the way you look when you…

Brands face numerous obstacles when it comes to executing strong merchandising campaigns — insufficient reporting and data, lack of responsibility, and overcomplexity in the retail merchandising process, to name a few. These are magnified tenfold during busy shopping seasons, and many retailers themselves say their stores struggle to achieve compliance when merchandising results are evaluated.…

Forget jeans. It’s all about bras, undies and sleepwear at American Eagle Outfitters. The Pittsburgh-based teen retailer is zeroing in on its small but red-hot Aerie brand — and is expected to amp up the expansion of the brand’s stand-alone stores. And why not? In the three months ended Oct. 31, same-store sales of the Aerie brand…

lululemon athletica is at a turning point. It's been two years since the activewear company brought in Laurent Potdevin as chief executive officer. His task: cut the waste and expense of designing, making and distributing its garments, and rebuild customer trust after the 2013 recall of $98 yoga pants that became sheer when the wearer bent…

I like to remind folks that consumers are actually people who happen to shop once and a while and look for something beyond “stuff.” This past May, I talked about one retailer’s return to past glories, and what I saw for its brick-and mortar future. Here's why chic beats cheap every time. Cheap Chic Recaptivates…

Target is teaming up with SoulCycle on a 10-city tour that will include free cycling classes and pop-up shops, making good on two of the retailer's New Year’s resolutions — to get fit and be cool. SoulCycle is the gold standard for studio cycling, complete with candlelight, rocking music, and A-list devotees including Kelly Ripa…

This interactive webinar will seek to help retailers get the most bang for their buck from their data.

When Ron Boire was growing up on a dairy farm in upstate New York, helping out around the property for $2 an hour, he saw new books as an out-of-reach luxury. “We didn’t have any money, and my mother was a voracious reader,” he said. “I remember telling a friend, when I grow up, I want…