Retail Stores

In the second and final part of this interview with Beth Guastella, the recently named president and COO of giggle, a specialty retaile

I had the opportunity to chat recently with Beth Guastella, the recently named president and chief operating officer of giggle, an omnichannel specialty retailer of upscale baby products and resources. In part one of this two-part blog post, we discuss what attracted Guastella to giggle; what specialty retail is; and how giggle’s catalog business works. 

Hudson's Bay Co., the operator of Canada's largest department store chain, agreed to acquire luxury retailer Saks Inc. for $2.4 billion, creating a company that will operate 320 stores in North America. The purchase price of $16 a share will be paid in cash, the companies said today in a statement. That represents a 30 percent premium to Saks' closing price on May 20, the day before media reports began, according to the statement. Including debt, the transaction is valued at $2.9 billion.

Several years ago I started reporting about an emerging trend that is now in full bloom. It's called showrooming and is the practice of selecting and examining products in a physical store but then purchasing those products online, either while in the store using a smart phone or later at home. Thanks to the dramatic and exponential advances in processing power, storage, and bandwidth, combined with smart phones enabled with the latest barcode and

Dick's Sporting Goods plans to open its first Field & Stream branded store this August in Cranberry Township, Pa., as part of the company's ongoing strategy to drive growth with speciality store concepts. The company also recently opened its first True Runner speciality store in its hometown of Pittsburgh. Dick's acquired rights to operate retail stores under the 140-year-old Field & Stream brand in late 2012. When the company reported fourth-quarter results earlier this year, it indicated it would open two Field & Stream stores focused on outdoor categories and two True Runner locations in 2013.

High-end department stores are slumming … sort of. At pricey apparel retailers such as Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdales, outlet stores may soon outnumber traditional locations, according to a new report by Bloomberg Industries. In fact, they already do at Saks and Nordstrom. Some 60 percent of Saks locations are now outlets, and all but two of the 15 stores it plans to open in the next two years will be discount centers. Nordstrom meanwhile has 127 "Rack" outlets and plans to open another 17 by the end of the year.

When a new technology comes along there are two kinds of companies — those that adapt and those that strive to cling to a more comfortable model for short-term financial gains. This is the impasse faced by retailers who rely on printed catalogs instead of expanding their efforts on platforms such as Pinterest. For these brands, the time to take notice of the platform is now.

In 2010, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey launched a second company called Square. Until now, it's been best known for a piece of hardware — a credit card reader that plugs into a smartphone or tablet. You've probably come across it at a local boutique or neighborhood coffee shop (or at Starbucks, for that matter — Square is the processor of all Starbucks’ credit and debit transactions in the United States). But this month, Square has expanded with the launch of Square Market, an online marketplace that might just revolutionize indie shopping.

Retailers’ sales continued to heat up in June amid improving weather and discounting as chains looked to clear out spring merchandise and prepare for the back-to-school season. One standout was Gap, which continued to record strong sales. Its same-store sales growth of 7 percent handily topped expectations. Gap stores posted a 5 percent rise when 6.3 percent growth was expected, while Banana Republic's same-store sales declined 1 percent, compared with expectations for 0.7 percent growth. Old Navy recorded 13 percent growth, well ahead of expectations for 5.4 percent growth.

New York socialite Tory Burch became the queen of fashion and a billionaire in less than a decade. She packaged her "boho prep" style and distributed it to the masses by launching her namesake company in 2004. The core product of her aspirational brand, her signature Reva ballerina flat, priced at just under $200, hit a sweet spot in the market and quickly became a status symbol. She's outpaced her competitors, Michael Kors and Coach, and the word on the street is that her company is looking to go public.