Merchandising

After several seasons of rampant growth, J.Crew posted a decline this quarter, WWD reports. Net income went down 4.5 percent to $29.3 million this spring. Libby Wadle, newly promoted president of the J.Crew brand, says times were tough this spring. "It was a tough macroeconomic environment out there. We had to change how we planned to do business. It was about navigating through the environment in the healthiest way we could."

A tea kettle designed by architect Michael Graves, who has a long history of designing consumer products that don't resemble a saluting Hitler, has J.C. Penney back in the news for the wrong reasons yet again. After the Hitler tea kettle story went viral, J.C. Penney took to Twitter to reassure the public there was no intended connection between the product and the Nazi leader. 

Bemused motorists took photographs of the huge J.C. Penney billboard advertising a tea kettle as they drove past it on the 405 Interstate highway near Culver City in California, one of America's busiest stretches of roads. "That Hitler looks like a kettle," commented one user of Reddit, one of several websites where the image was posted over the weekend.

Luxury e-commerce destination Net-a-Porter launched out of the London flat of founder Natalie Massenet in 2000, a time when few thought $1,000+ dresses and shoes could be sold online in any significant volume. It was the tail-end of the dot-com bubble, and Net-a-Porter survived its burst, turning a profit for the first time in 2004, and selling to Swiss luxury goods holding company Richemont at a value of $533 million in 2010.

J.C. Penney can continue to sell a line of Martha Stewart home goods it introduced last week under its "JCP Everyday" brand pending the outcome of a trial with Macy's, a New York appeals court ruled on Tuesday. The court denied Macy's request for a preliminary injunction blocking sale of the goods while a court battle continues over rights to the products.  

Based in Miami, Source Outdoor is a five-year-old importer and wholesaler of patio and deck furniture owned by Gerald Shvartsman. From humble beginnings, in which he tried to sell his first containers of goods himself, Shvartsman, 35, has expanded his one-man startup to encompass more than 50 employees and sales in 2012 of $7 million. Having established five channels of distribution, Shvartsman found himself worrying that he might have to forgo his most profitable channel — a direct-to-consumer approach that was starting to offend his wholesale clients.

The Spring 2013 Restoration Hardware catalog has arrived and this is notable for just a few reasons. It's not one catalog, it's six. And it appears Restoration Hardware is rebranding itself RH, or so each catalog is labeled. At a total of 1,598 pages, the six books cover: Small Spaces; Objects of Curiosity; Tableware; Baby & Child; Outdoor & Garden; and Interiors.

Being the world's most hated celebrity is no day at the beach, just ask Gwyneth Paltrow. Critics panned her gluten-free, sugar-free cookbook and almost split their pants when she released a list of fashion must-haves totaling almost half-a-million dollars. Now Paltrow's in hot water for selling a bikini designed to be worn by four-year-old to eight-year-old girls. A child protection agency in Britain has blasted the "Iron Man 3" actress for selling a two-piece swimsuit designed for little girls.

Nike has pulled T-shirts reading "Boston Massacre" and designed to look blood-splattered from store shelves and online retailers in the wake of the terror bombing that left three dead and more than 200 wounded. The "Boston Massacre" T-shirts were designed for New York Yankees fans before the twin bombings that caused chaos throughout Boston last week. They reference the Bronx Bombers sweeping the rival Red Sox during a key regular season series in 1978 and in the 2006 MLB Playoffs. 

Being multidimensional grows in importance as retailers must deliver across a rich range of devices and channels as consumer access grows, emphasizes Lauren Freedman, president of the e-tailing group. Now more than ever, elevating the customer experience is essential for differentiation and survival with Amazon.com a click away for every shopper and a threat to every retailer. Striving for excellence and delivering superior personalized shopping experiences means compelling merchandising and targeted marketing to meet and exceed the expectations of today's connected consumers.