Retail Stores

In the eight-plus years that Paul Raines has been at GameStop — the first two as COO, the last six as CEO — he’s been witness to a rapidly evolving company (and retail industry, for that matter). When he first arrived at GameStop in 2008, the company was a video game retailer. And those games…

Trunk Club is no longer free. Crain's reports the apparel subscription service has added a home try-on fee and shortened the window for returns. Previously, members of the service only paid for items that they kept; they will now be charged a $25 try-on fee, which is credited towards any items they purchase. If the…

America’s largest mall has made the decision to close on Thanksgiving. The Mall of America alerted its 1,200 employees earlier this week that it will close on the holiday. However, the 520 stores within the mall will still have the option to remain open on Turkey Day, though mall executives believe most will follow suit.…

“Why the Future of Retail Will Blow Your Mind” reads the title of an Entrepreneur article from nearly two years ago. The piece detailed how brick-and-mortar retailers were planning to leverage technology to improve the often mundane in-store experience and boost slowing store sales. A primary way in-store customers were going to be "mind blown" was an "immersive personalized mobile experience" which would ping…

Has e-commerce gobbled up brick-and-mortar? To answer that, let’s start with a brief history. eBay exploded onto the scene in a big way in the 1990s, and challenged some very long-held beliefs: Would people trust online commerce? You bet they would. People not only trusted e-commerce, but devoured it. Zappos, PayPal and countless others ballooned to $1 billion revenue businesses. By…

Sadly, just a little over a year after closing FAO Schwarz's iconic flagship store in New York City, Toys"R"Us is selling off the brand. Toys"R"Us has owned the FAO brand for a little over seven years, and just sold the brand to ThreeSixty Group, a company that designs and distributes toys and other consumer products.…

In a previous article, I reviewed inventory management strategies that retailers can implement after the back-to-school (BTS) season to help make room for the holiday product line. Now I'll focus on the opportunities retailers have to incorporate learnings from the BTS shopping cycle into the critical holiday season. BTS activity serves as an excellent testing ground…

We’ve all seen the headlines. Retailers across the board are shuttering stores or going out of business — Sears, Sports Authority, Kmart, Office Depot. The numbers are staggering. According to data from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, retailers have laid off approximately 44,000 workers in 2016 alone — all while Amazon.com boasts 31 percent year-over-year second quarter revenues. The discrepancy in retailer…

Even for well-established online retailers, product presentation that yields inspired customers is a difficult feat to achieve. The

West Elm is expanding into the hospitality business. The furniture and home goods retailer announced the expansion of its signature modern aesthetic, West Elm Hotels, in partnership with DDK. The first properties are expected to open in late 2018 starting in Detroit, Minneapolis, Savannah, Charlotte and Indianapolis. In addition, each hotel will offer a unique…