Retail Stores

Birchbox Hires ex-Sephora and Apple Execs for Retail Expansion
December 2, 2015 at 9:53 am

Birchbox, the online beauty subscription service, is preparing to make a further incursion into brick-and-mortar retail with some key hires from big-name retailers to support its strategic retail expansion plans for 2016, the company announced yesterday. Most notably, it's brought in Philippe Pinatel as its new chief operations officer and president. Pinatel joins the company…

Black Friday Sales Down More Than $1 Billion
November 30, 2015 at 10:43 am

Shoppers this year still wanted to get a head start on their holiday gift list on Black Friday, but overall were less willing to brave the crowds. Sales on Thanksgiving and Black Friday both fell in stores this year, with a growing amount of people pursuing their discounts online instead. Brick-and-mortar sales on Black Friday fell from…

3 Tips to Up Your Holiday Retail Game
November 30, 2015 at 10:14 am

Thanks to nearly $965 billion in sales projected between November and January — a 4 percent increase over last year, according to Deloitte’s latest holiday sales forecast — retailers are about to enjoy this holiday shopping season even more than usual. To cash in on the opportunity, every retailer needs to have an impeccably timed, customer-focused sales…

Black Friday Crowds Thin in Subdued Start to U.S. Holiday Shopping
November 27, 2015 at 11:17 am

Crowds were thin at U.S. stores and shopping malls in the early hours of Black Friday and on Thanksgiving evening as shoppers responded to early holiday discounts with caution and bad weather hurt turnout. Bargain hunters found relatively little competition compared with previous years. Some on Friday morning said they had already shopped online or visited…

Online Sales Hit Record for Thanksgiving
November 27, 2015 at 10:55 am

Early reports for Thanksgiving sales show a record number of consumers using their mobile devices for shopping. Software firm Adobe, which tracks sales at 4,500 websites, predicts $1.7 billion will be spent for the 24-hour Thursday period. Researcher Shoppertrack says retail stores rang up $3.2 billion in sales last Thanksgiving, while the Thursday/Friday period total was…

Have Thanksgiving Day Retail Efforts Plateaued?
November 25, 2015 at 12:26 pm

Once upon a time, Black Friday shopping actually took place on Friday. In recent years, retailers have pushed the envelope by offering deals as early as Nov. 2, allowing consumers to start shopping ahead of the official holiday season kickoff. Many have even kept their doors open on Thanksgiving Day to the dismay of retail…

Target Reaches $99M Settlement Over Canada Leases
November 25, 2015 at 12:16 pm

Target Corp. and RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust, one of the retailer's former landlords in Canada, have settled a dispute over the leases the retailer left behind when it scrapped its ill-fated international expansion. The Wall Street Journal reported on the $99 million deal, which covers 18 leases between Target and RioCan and its partners.

Online Failings Could Impact In-Store Holiday Sales
November 25, 2015 at 11:33 am

Traditionally, retailers have considered consumers’ online experiences completely separate from in-store sales. However, new research indicates that customer service mistakes with online shoppers on Cyber Monday could lead to significant in-store sales losses during the 2015 holiday gift-buying season. In October, LoyaltyOne conducted a nationwide survey of more than 1,000 U.S. consumers. Nearly half (47…

U.S. Retail Sales Barely Rise in October
November 13, 2015 at 10:15 am

Sales at U.S. retailers barely rose in October and were weak for the third month in a row, a sign that shoppers have little appetite to boost spending despite cheap gas and an improved labor market. Retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 0.1 percent last month, the Commerce Department said Friday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had…

Banana Republic's Survival Challenges
November 12, 2015 at 10:28 am

Yesterday, the retail world was abuzz with news of Banana Republic’s continued plummeting comparable sales. The once-shining division of Gap, Inc. has suffered continual sales drops. It didn’t help that a corporate spokesman described Banana Republic’s issues as “product acceptance challenges.” First to respond, Fortune.com led with this epic line: “In the annals of corporate…