Retail Stores

The battle between online retailers and traditional brick-and-mortar stores is entering a new and exciting phase. Less than a decade ago, experts predicted the demise of the big-box store because e-commerce enabled people to shop for larger inventories from the comfort of their homes and get items delivered in a relatively short time. These experts…

It looks like retailers around the world will be stepping up their investment in The Internet of Things over the next few years. The deployment of sensing technology, like beacons, those small radio-transmitting devices we’ve been writing about here since they were introduced, is on a big rise, according to a new study looking at the…

Retail sales dipped last month on tumbling gasoline prices while January's total was revised down sharply in a sign that consumption has been less robust than believed so far this year. Consumer purchases dipped 0.1 percent in February, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. Economists expected a 0.2 percent drop. Excluding volatile autos and gasoline, retail sales increased…

Ulta Beauty's hot streak continues. The beauty retailer, which has been on a tear since CEO Mary Dillon took over in 2013, says it will continue its expansion in 2016. In its fourth-quarter earnings announcement last week, Ulta said it would add 100 stores in 2016. The continued expansion is part of a five-year plan to…

Tailored Brands Inc., the former Men’s Wearhouse, will close roughly 250 stores, including all its outlet stores, seeking to revamp operations after ending the year with a $1 billion net loss. The loss was driven by $1.2 billion in impairment charges as it wrote down the value of Jos. A. Bank, its one-time rival, which Men’s…

Dick’s Sporting Goods is already running the numbers on markets where rival sporting goods retailer The Sports Authority plans to close stores as part of its bankruptcy reorganization. The goal is to grab market share wherever possible, whether through taking over leases or pumping up marketing in affected areas.

As it awaits the final verdict from regulators on its pending billion-dollar purchase of rival office supply chain Office Depot, Staples is preparing to go it alone by announcing plans to shutter at least 50 of its own stores in order to slow declining sales. The Wall Street Journal reports that while Staples plans to fight…

J.C. Penney’s online sales are booming. Many of its stores are in struggling malls. And sales per square foot are about one-third below levels of five years ago. Yet despite all that, the resurgent department store’s new CEO, Marvin Ellison, is adamant that J.C. Penney won’t undertake any wholesale closings of stores in its 1,020-location fleet. Penney…

Englewood, Colo.-based Sports Authority early Wednesday morning filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, hoping to reorganize its operations and reduce its $1.1 billion debt, according to court documents and an interview with CEO Michael Foss. The filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware was expected. In a statement issued in conjunction with the filings, the company said it…

Midwest retailer Meijer Inc. plans to invest more than $400 million in new and remodeled stores this year. Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Meijer announced Wednesday that the investment includes construction of nine new Meijer supercenters and 32 remodeling projects.