Retail Stores

J.C. Penney is changing its pricing — again. Just six months after the midpriced department store chain got rid of the hundreds of sales it offered each year in favor of everyday lower pricing, it's reversing course. On Feb. 1 J.C. Penney began using a three-tier pricing approach that called for consistently lower daily prices, month-long sales and periodic discounts on merchandise throughout the year. But starting Aug. 1, Penney will eliminate one of the monthly sales and bring back the word "clearance." 

As the head of Sephora Digital, Julie Bornstein oversees the international cosmetics company's online and technological operations and strategies. For the last several years she's worked to integrate technology into the brand's physical stores and to make Sephora a force in online sales. Bornstein talked to Wired Business about the importance of offline retail in an online world and how technology can enhance the real-world retail experience.

PriceGrabber just released additional results from its Back-to-School Shopping Forecast, revealing that while consumers are planning to spend more money on back-to-school items this year, they continue to look for ways to stretch their dollar and take advantage of retailer incentives to save. According to the survey, 74 percent of consumers chose free shipping as the top retailer tactic that would entice them to make a back-to-school purchase this year. Conducted from May 22 to June 5, 2012, the survey includes responses from 4,450 U.S. online consumers, with 1,509 of the respondents planning to shop this back-to-school season.

Last month lululemon athletica opened a store in Durham, N.C. Three weeks later Athleta, Gap's answer to Lululemon, opened in the same mall. The pattern of lululemon opening a store only to see an Athleta shop pop up nearby is happening nationwide as Gap mounts the most potent threat so far to the Vancouver-based yoga powerhouse. Athleta is borrowing from its rivals playbook, then undercutting the chain on price. Like lululemon, Athleta is hooking up with local yoga instructors and sponsoring classes such as Mommy & Me Yoga. 

Info Retail, an Atlanta-based strategy and design agency focusing on the control and simplification of buying experiences, released findings from its recent Retail Integration Survey. The findings revealed that millennials rely on brick-and-mortar stores and technology equally to access information or to gain insights about a product they plan to purchase. Millennials (age 18-35) were twice as likely to use technology to learn about products as consumers over 35 years old. 

This week, Virgin Mobile is opening its first branded retail outlet in Chicago's upscale Lincoln Park neighborhood. Unlike most wireless retail stores, the Virgin Mobile store presents a relaxed atmosphere, with comfortable chairs for customers to sit in while employees activate their new phones, charging stations, a phonograph where people are encouraged to play records (supplied by a neighborhood record store down the street). The feel, according to Ron Faris, Virgin Mobile's chief marketing officer, is more akin to that neighbor than of another big-box retailer further down the street.

Retail sales in the U.S. unexpectedly fell for a third month in June as limited employment gains took a toll on consumers. The 0.5 percent drop followed a 0.2 percent decrease in May, Commerce Department figures showed. The decline exceeded the most pessimistic forecast in a Bloomberg News survey that called for a median 0.2 percent gain in sales. Other reports today showed manufacturing in the New York region picked up this month and U.S. inventories increased in May.

Amazon.com is growing its presence in the highly competitive gaming market with the launch of Game Connect, a new service that enables customers to discover a new category of free-to-play and multiplayer online digital games and have virtual goods delivered directly to their game accounts. Amazon's new service allows customers to link their game account to their Amazon account so any subscriptions and virtual goods purchased are sent directly into the game without copy and pasting a code. 

As opportunities for store growth in the U.S. have dwindled, many retailers have set their sights overseas. But the latest headlines featuring teen apparel retailer Abercrombie & Fitch prove that in today’s precarious environment, even that strategy is no guarantee of success. Hit hard during the recession, Abercrombie & Fitch made plans to close 15 percent of its U.S. stores and concentrate on Europe as its next expansion stage. 

Nordstrom Inc., the upscale department-store chain, navigated the recession and its aftermath better than its peers. Yet even a company that has posted average sales growth of 14 percent for the past 10 quarters isn't immune to today's fast-changing retail environment.