Retail Stores

Cooking retailer Sur La Table said it will open a flagship store in New York City's Hearst Tower in late 2011. The new store will include Sur La Table’s largest kitchen and cooking class program. Consumers will be able to take cooking classes, as well as attend events with media partners and renowned chefs from around the world. Cooking classes are currently slated to start in early December.

Kohl's Corp. reported that profit for the quarter ended July 30 rose 17 percent to $303 million, compared with $260 million in the year-ago period. The retailer cited tightened cost controls and success of store-label brands for the improved performance, and has raised its full-year guidance.

Urban Outfitters, a lifestyle specialty retail company operating under the Anthropologie, Free People, BHLDN, Terrain and Urban Outfitters brands, announced net income of $57 million and $95 million for the three months and six months ended July 31, 2011, respectively. Earnings per diluted share were $0.35 for the quarter and $0.59 for the six months ended July 31, 2011

Looking to profit from the lucrative sports market, apparel chain Old Navy will open Superfan Nation, an in-store shop featuring licensed sports gear, at its U.S. stores this month. Beginning Aug. 18, Old Navy will sell apparel and accessories from NFL and select collegiate sports teams at about 1,000 stores, with each catering to the local community's favorite teams.

Payless ShoeSource announced that it will rebuild its tornado-demolished store in Joplin, Mo., with a new 3,100-sq.-ft. store at the same location. “The people of Joplin have been through a great loss and they need the support of many to build-back all that was lost," said LuAnn Via, CEO and president of Payless. "They are now energized by their future and focused on rebuilding a community even better than before. And we'll be there with them."

Nordstrom reported that net income for its second quarter rose 20 percent to $175 million, compared with $146 million in the year earlier period. Revenue surged 12.4 percent to $2.72 billion, benefited by strong promotions and matching Wall Street estimates. Same-store sales rose a solid 7.3 percent. The department store retailer has raised its profit outlook for the full year.

Retailers finally unveiled the physical version of "Watch The Throne," the collaborative album between Jay-Z and Kanye West, on Aug. 12, but the rappers did them one better: they constructed a pop-up store on Mulberry Street in New York City that held the tricked-out Maybach that appears in the duo's music video for "Otis."

Today is National Relaxation Day and retailer Tommy Bahama, a company built on the principles of relaxation, is embracing the concept as the "unofficial outfitter" for the holiday. Known for relaxed, casual clothing, Tommy Bahama's philosophy is to make life one long weekend.

CVS has been receiving some negative press and social media commentary over the length of its paper receipts. Take this posting from the Facebook page "One Million Strong Against Unnecessarily Long CVS Receipts" as an example: "My last CVS receipt for $3.34 was 25.5 inches long. And that's too (expletive) long. I don't care that they use my CVS card to track me across the planet, I just want a receipt that isn't 1/3rd my height."

Two of the hottest trends in retail — the rise of value shopping and the use of ambient scent to create a more pleasant atmosphere for customers — are coming together at over 40 stores in southeastern Wisconsin and metropolitan Chicago. But the retailer now rolling out Prolitec, Inc.'s ambient-scenting technologies is neither a fashion tenant at the mall nor a big-box warehouse out on the strip — it's a 92-year-old, nonprofit organization, Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin, Inc.