Retail Stores

Got a storefront? Then you've got a stage for your word of mouth topic. Give your "Open" sign some company and give people walking by something to talk about. Check out these examples of remarkable storefronts and try applying them to your own

The Limited is pushing the limits of its fashion business by expanding into outlet centers, a growing sector of retailing. The New Albany, Ohio-based women's apparel company quietly opened the doors on its Nashville-area store last Monday and will open another store in Auburn Hills, Mich., on May 18. Grand openings for both stores are set for Memorial Day weekend. Two other outlet stores — in San Marcos, Texas, and Rosemont, Ill. — will open in early summer.

eBay is working with Kate Spade on a pop-up shop in New York City that will feature a digital touch-screen storefront window, the e-commerce and digital payments giant announced. eBay CEO John Donahoe, speaking at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in New York, said the store will launch this summer and will allow eBay to reach consumers away from its traditional website. 

As e-commerce companies take hold of a growing market of internet shoppers, category-specific retailers may very well face a tough future ahead, Bloomberg reports. Brick-and-mortar retailers that offer a specific niche of product face bigger challenges in fixed costs of real estate and inventory than online retailers. Marc Andreessen, co-founder and general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, said those businesses can be quickly driven into bankruptcy.

Fab is continuing to evolve from a flash-sales site into something bigger — as its founders hope, the world's largest store for design. The startup, which pivoted from a flash-sales site aimed at gay men two years ago, held a presentation in New York Monday night to chronicle its progress and outline its larger vision. It's heading offline, opening its first store in Hamburg, Germany. There, shoppers will be able to order and even design their own furniture, something Fab is now offering on its website as well.

After three years of sprouting from an optical online startup to a booming lifestyle brand, Warby Parker has opened a flagship store in New York City. It's the first offline retail location for the vintage-inspired selection of eyeglasses — Ryan Gosling, Sophia Bush and Olivia Wilde are all fans of the frames, while Ashton Kutcher has invested in the company. The decision to place the store in SoHo was an obvious choice, not only because the location is just blocks away from the company's headquarters, but also because of the brand's ethos.

The mass exodus of shoppers from J.C. Penney, prompted by the drastic store changes made by now-ousted CEO Ron Johnson, serves as a cautionary tale of what can happen when retailers don't follow that old saying by fabled retailer Marshall Field, "give the lady what she wants." But that is, of course, easier said than done. What exactly does she want? Retailers are paying closer attention to the tricky art and science of creating a compelling in-store experience that matches shoppers wants and needs.

If only I had a $100 bill for every time I've heard a top retail chain executive talk about how frontline employees are the reasons for a given company's success. This talking point has been echoed repeatedly over the decades during which C-suite compensation has jumped exponentially and associate-level wages have not. This backdrop is what makes last week's report that Lord Wolfson, CEO of Next, the U.K.'s biggest department store chain, shared his $3.6 million bonus with full and part-time employees all the more remarkable.

Every day, we receive numerous pitches touting the "next big thing" in e-commerce. Usually, these websites, apps and tools are way too complicated, useless, annoying or all of the above to ever actually catch on. Occasionally, something special like Gilt Groupe, Moda Operandi or Rent the Runway emerges. Farfetch, the online hub for independent boutiques across the world (which might otherwise not be able to afford to run e-commerce), is one of those rare successes. 

Could Amazon.com be opening its first retail store in London? Business consultant Dan Barker published a blog post that includes a link to a cached listing for a job posting that had been published on eBay's Gumtree classifieds site. "As this is our first Amazon store you will be a part of our companies (sic) history. You will be heavily promoting the store within Westfield enticing passers by to visit our state of the art show room," the supposed Amazon job listing reads. Barker was hedging his bets about