Retail Stores

Ikea has redesigned its medium-density fiberboard masterwork, the BILLY bookshelf, to sport deeper shelves and optional glass doors meant for decorative doodads. This has prompted a whole bunch of publications to declare the four-inch tweaking of BILLY as a clear signal of the demise of books in their non e-form.

Sears was one of the winners of the 2nd Annual Colloquy Loyalty Awards, an event that recognizes "transformative, customer-focused Enterprise Loyalty initiatives" around the world.

Pier 1 Imports reported that second-quarter profit rose to $16.6 million, from $14.4 million a year earlier, matching Wall Street expectations. Sales for the quarter increased 9.6 percent to $339.6 million, compared with $309.9 million in the year-ago quarter.

Growth in U.S. retail sales stalled in August after a pitched battle over spending in Congress led consumer confidence to crumble, data shows. Sales were unchanged from a month earlier, a substantially weaker reading than the median forecast for a 0.2 percent rise in a Reuters poll. Sales growth during July was revised downward to 0.3 percent.

Coach opened its first European flagship in London's Mayfair district. The new flagship houses the brand’s full range of lifestyle offerings and an exclusive collection inspired by London. The store, in the former Mulberry space, spans 5,000 sq. ft. over two floors and stocks the women’s and men’s collections. It is the second Coach store to open in London.

Bill Bass, president and CEO of Direct at women's apparel retailer Charming Shoppes, took a step back yesterday at the Shop.org Annual Summit in Boston to reflect on five lessons he's learned from the 15 years he's spent in the retail industry, including stints at Lands’ End and Fair Indigo.

This year retailers are commemorating the Sept. 11 anniversary through charity. Companies such as Target, Best Buy, Neiman Marcus and Groupon partnered with the 9/11 Day of Service project and other nonprofits like MyGoodDeed.org to sponsor city-wide service projects across the country on Sept. 11, including clean-up and restoration efforts. 

In an economy in which consumers will do almost anything to save a buck and retailers will do almost anything to make a buck, it's common for stores to roll out holiday goods this month.

Another holiday season is approaching, meaning another opportunity for retailers to increase sales, boost new customer acquisition and fatten their revenue totals for the year. Based on e-commerce spending trends so far this year, online and multichannel merchants are optimistic, always depending on the slippery road of economic recovery.

Lowe's plans to outfit employees with 42,000 iPhone 4s next month, with custom apps that will make use of the device as a point-of-sale system as part of a technology-heavy retail overhaul. The retailer will introduce a new MyLowes online tool and implement the iPhones in an effort to catch rival Home Depot, which invested more than $60 million on handheld Motorola POS system last year.