Merchandising

Consumers are getting comfy. Over the past few years, we’ve seen a shift in how consumers dress for both work and play. From casual tennis shoes and T-shirts at work to yoga pants at the local watering hole, fitness wear is moving beyond the gym and hitting the streets. According to NPD Group, "athleisure" clothing…

While Target is holding fast with its decision to market a controversial Christmas sweater, Nordstrom has buckled under the weight of social media criticism, pulling a potentially offensive Hanukkah version from its ugly holiday sweater lineup. The festive blue women's sweater by Faux Real features a large menorah and the words "Chai Maintenance" across the chest.…

Macy's and Luxottica Group, a leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of fashion, luxury and sports eyewear, today announced an agreement to bring the LensCrafters optical retail experience to as many as 500 Macy’s department stores in the U.S. over the next three years. The licensed department agreement builds on a successful relationship between the…

To the chagrin of some shoppers, a sweater that tried to capitalize on holiday cheer with a pun — OCD for "Obsessive Christmas Disorder" instead of "Obsessive Compulsive Disorder" — is still being sold online and in stores at Target. Miffed by what they're calling a lack of empathy for people who suffer from the disease,…

The Shop.org Digital Summit in Philadelphia just wrapped up, and it’s becoming one of my favorite events to attend. Why? First, it's short and sweet. I love the two-day format! It brings everyone together in a condensed program and then lets the people carry the momentum, learning and energy from the conference back to their companies…

Amazon.com stepped into the handcrafted-goods ring on Thursday, opening an arts-and-crafts bazaar online that squarely takes aim at a niche but growing market dominated by the Brooklyn-based Etsy. The new marketplace, called Handmade at Amazon, went live at 3 a.m. Eastern time on Thursday with a lineup of over 80,000 items from about 5,000 sellers in…

ModCloth is taking a major step to be more inclusive by removing the word "Plus" from its website. The fashion brand has already removed the "Plus" section from the homepage of its website and is currently in beginning stages of removing the word from the site altogether.  

The growth of e-commerce has transformed merchandising, said Sarah Rasmussen, director, digital merchandising at Kohl's, to open her session yesterday at the Shop.org Digital Summit in Philadelphia. Excel spreadsheets and web analytics — once the primary tools for merchants — are dated and don't tell the full story. Data paired with listening to and tracking consumer signals…

It's almost Halloween, which means it's time for retailers to roll out their offensive Halloween costumes. This year, Wal-Mart's "Little Amigo," noticed by Complex, is kicking things off. It's everything you'd expect. The costume includes a serape shirt, sombrero and mustache that you can put on your probably-not-Hispanic kindergartner. The costume was taken off Wal-Mart's website…

Teenagers are not known for their expensive tastes. Yet there is, somehow, a new luxury home furnishings brand aimed directly at high schoolers and college students. Restoration Hardware, in an eager attempt to connect with America's youth, has unveiled a new furniture and home decor line called "RH Teen," which features youthful design concepts such…