Retail Stores

Collective Brands, parent to Payless ShoeSource, announced the opening of its 100th franchise store, which is located in Cirebon, Indonesia. The store represents the seventh store in Indonesia to date and the overall rapid international expansion of the Payless store chain over the past two years through its franchise strategy. "The franchise model has proven to be an effective way to quickly reach more international markets with the Payless brand,” said LuAnn Via, CEO and president of Payless ShoeSource.

Build-A-Bear Workshop reported that it narrowed its loss in the quarter ended July 2 to $6.7 million, compared with a loss of $8.5 million in the year-ago period. The retailer increased total revenue 10 percent to $81.8 million, and consolidated same-store sales 7.1 percent.

David Beckham has teamed up with fashion retailer H&M on a new bodywear range. The soccer star has been working on his line for the last year and has secured an exclusive deal with the Swedish retailer. Beckham’s new underwear range will be stocked in over 1,800 H&M stores across 40 countries around the world.  

GameStop is making it easier for PC gamers to get their hands on hot new releases. Exclusively at GameStop, customers can now use any accepted form of payment, including trade credit and GameStop gift cards, to purchase digital PC games at their local store and access the titles immediately at launch.

The offering of a free pizza from Papa John’s surprised The Capitol Deal, The Washington Post’s daily-deal site, when more than 30,000 customers signed up to take advantage of the offer in its first three hours.

Though it may seem like a new fad is sweeping the nation, it’s actually been around for more than 100 years. Coupons, first widely used by C.W. Post in 1909 to help sell his now-famed Post brand breakfast cereals, have become a social phenomenon. Who would have thought that the once-revolutionary newspaper coupon would grow into a life of its own?

The nation's first urban Wal-Mart Express store has opened on Chicago's South Side, part of a highly anticipated test that Wal-Mart hopes will help turn around a two-year U.S. sales slump.

Office Depot reported its loss widened to $29 million in the second quarter, compared with a loss of $25 million in the year-ago period. Sales were essentially flat in the quarter at $2.7 billion. By division, total sales dipped 2 percent in the North American retail division to $1.1 billion, and same-store sales decreased 1 percent.

While same-sex marriage is new to New York state, gay couples in Rochester have long worked with local retailers, from bridal shops to reception halls, to celebrate weddings that occurred days before and hundreds of miles away.

Apple has signed a 10-year deal with New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority to open the largest Apple store yet within Grand Central Terminal. Apple's retail push was said to be scrapped in March, then revived in May.