Retail Stores

Babies"R"Us has entered into a strategic partnership with TheBump.com, a leading pregnancy and parenting website that offers advice, ideas, resources and support to first-time parents. Used by more than 18 million parents to date, the Babies"R"Us registry will now be available to a new, expanded audience of moms-to-be who can create and share their registry directly from TheBump.com via its gift registry center. With more than 5 million monthly unique visitors to TheBump.com, moms-to-be visit the gift registry center for advice on where to register.

Retail sales rose in December as frigid temperatures prodded Americans to buy discounted winter clothing and shop online for the holidays, capping what may have been the strongest quarter for consumer spending in three years. Purchases increased 0.2 percent after a 0.4 percent advance in November, Commerce Department figures showed. Excluding a drop in auto demand that vehicle makers also partly attributed to the bad weather, sales jumped by the most in almost a year.

There's a big difference between the Christmas results of J.C. Penney and Macy's. While Macy's rejoices about solid gains, J.C. Penney is pleased with the results but will not reveal the true facts. I've given the two approaches a lot of thought. In an environment where most companies failed to reveal their sales plan, the two companies were leaders in the retail industry. 

Japanese apparel retailer Fast Retailing remains deliberate in its approach to the growth of its Uniqlo brand in the U.S., with plans for five more stores by mid-year. There are currently 1,300 Uniqlo locations worldwide in 13 countries, but only 17 stores in the U.S. The five new stores the company is adding this spring and summer will be located in King of Prussia, Pa., Stamford, Conn., and Daly City, Concord, and Milpitas, Calif. The company's other existing stores are clustered in the Northeast and Northern California. 

Walgreens and Wal-Mart were quick to implement temporary new programs designed to help customers coping with one of the many glitches associated with the rollout of the Affordable Care Act. Walgreens on Monday said through the end of January it will provide medications to those patients who may have difficulty using their new insurance coverage because they haven't received a plan identification number yet from their insurer. 

As 2013 comes to an end, I have reflected on events that impressed me and had an effect on the future of retailing. One always wonders about the future - looking back can teach us how the future can be better.

E-commerce has exploded... and we have the numbers to prove it. According to a new infographic from National Positions, the space has grown by 13% in the last year alone, online purchasing growing from $231 billion in 2012 to $262 billion in 2013. With year-over-year growth like this, it is no wonder that U.S. online retail sales are expected to hit $370 billion by 2017. Here are some more stats from the infographic

A few years ago my girlfriend bought the world's only outdoor heated cat house. It cost $99.99 and came with free shipping, plus she had a gift card from her employer, so it really only cost $50. She got it for our cat. It came from Hammacher Schlemmer. That was about three years ago, which means we've received about 68 catalogs from the company since then. The first one I remember, it couldn't have been much more than the second or third sent, was the red hovercraft. 

As your inbox no doubt reminded you, perhaps incessantly, this was the last weekend to shop before Christmas. Retailers are making their last-ditch pitches to get people into their stores, sending emails that broadcast aggressive promotions, including offers that in many cases match or exceed those on Black Friday. Stores such as Express and Ann Taylor were advertising half-off all purchases, while Macy's, Aéropostale, J.C. Penney and Children's Place promoted 60 percent, 70 percent and 75 percent off select items.

Frederick's of Hollywood is going private after years of struggles. The business is now worth about $11 million — a measly amount for what was once a dominant chain, The Wall Street Journal reports. Frederick's used to be a viable competitor for lingerie mega-chain Victoria's Secret. But Victoria's Secret has dominated the marketplace, posting record sales for the past several years. Meanwhile, Frederick's has struggled for more than a decade.