Prospecting

In a departure from its modus operandi when it comes to marketing its brand, racy adult products cross-channel retailer Adam & Eve has taken its message mainstream.

Hennes & Mauritz AB said it will delay some store openings this year because of a construction slump, even as the fashion retailer reported a 23 percent rise in profit for the company's fiscal third quarter.

September consumer confidence in the United States slipped to its lowest levels since February, driven by a deteriorating labor market and business conditions, according to a private report released Tuesday. The Conference Board, an industry group, said its index of consumer attitudes fell to 48.5 points in September, from a revised 53.2 in August.

Saks Fifth Avenue is driving consumers in-store via an offer for Nars lipstick after checking into any of the retailer’s participating locations on Foursquare.

Posies Cafe signed up with Groupon several months ago. If Groupon could promise to deliver a certain minimum number of customers, Posies would sell them $13 worth of products for $6. Nearly 1,000 people bought the Groupon in the one day it was advertised, swamping the small coffee shop for three months. Posies' owner said that the volume of sales coupled with the steep discount threatened her business, forcing her to spend $8,000 of her personal savings to pay her employees and the rent.

The department store industry, coming off its worst year in three decades of market share decline, is mounting an all-out battle for the next generation of shoppers. After years of looking the other way as H&M, Forever 21, Zara and an ever-expanding array of online retailers captured the under-25 market, department stores are pouring money and effort into winning them back.

Ethan Allen's strategy to reposition itself with younger consumers. Americans in their 40s, 50s and 60s currently make up the brand’s core demographic. But Ethan Allen, which also offers interior design services, is looking to connect with consumers in their 30s and 40s who also have some discretionary income to spend.

With one free sample offer, Yogi is collecting well-wishers' names and email addresses, well-wishees' names and email addresses, and well-wishees' mailing information and tea preferences. Plus, the whole program is a direct referral of Yogi's products from one friend to another that creates a chance to impress prospects with the company's high-end teas.

Target has come up with a promising comeback plan. Two bold initiatives now under way — rolling out fresh groceries in more of its stores and, starting this fall, offering 5 percent discounts on nearly all purchases made with Target REDcards — should help a lot.

In an attempt to win over fashionable young women, J.C. Penney Co. is going to try running with a faster crowd. This week, the Plano, Texas-based retailer unveiled an unconventional collaboration with Mango MNG Holding SL, the closely-held Barcelona chain known for whipping up cutting edge looks that go from design studio to store shelves in as little as four weeks.