Retail Stores

In this bonus episode of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Brian Lange, co-founder of Future Commerce, a retail media research startup focused on helping e-commerce businesses create strategic vision. Listen in as Lange discusses his career background, the inspiration behind starting Future Commerce, and what he finds compelling about working in the retail…

Women's apparel and fashion accessories retailer Charming Charlie announced last week that it plans to open 14 new locations between March and April, with a focus on Texas, California, New York, and the Midwest. The stores will include Charming Charlie's usual color-grouping merchandise model and offer product categories including apparel, handbags, fashion jewelry, gifts, beauty, shoes, scarves, tech, travel, and…

Disney said earlier this week that it will close 20 percent of its brick-and-mortar store locations before the end of the year as part of a bigger focus on its e-commerce business. At least 60 of its North American locations will close, the company said, citing changing consumer behaviors and a desire to link its online…

Payless, like many traditional brick-and-mortar retailers, has endured its challenges in recent years. In early 2019, the footwear retailer filed for bankruptcy and began closing all of its U.S. stores. Jared Margolis, CEO of Payless, is leading the company through its relaunch in the North American market, which began this past summer. In this video clip from…

At least 2 million new customers visited Kohl’s stores last year thanks to an Amazon.com returns service that the department store chain offers nationwide, reports CNBC. According to Kohl’s, a third of these new visitors were millennials. Kohl’s began accepting Amazon returns at 10 of its stores in the spring of 2017. By the summer…

COVID-19 has shone a light on a common issue many retailers face: disjointed communications, particularly from company headquarters to brick-and-mortar store teams. With the safety of employees and customers depending on stores receiving timely information (e.g., safety policies and protocols) and taking immediate action, communication has become even more critical. Just before the COVID-19 pandemic…

Target announced yesterday that a new "enhanced Apple shopping experience" will debut on its website as well as begin being rolled out this month to 17 stores across the country. The mini Apple shops are scheduled to arrive in additional Target stores by the end of fall. The new concept doubles Apple’s footprint in select Target…

The National Retail Federation (NRF) is anticipating that retail sales will grow between 6.5 percent and 8.2 percent in 2021, the trade group announced yesterday. This would bring the total sales to more than $4.33 trillion. “Despite the continuing health and economic challenges COVID-19 presents, we're very optimistic that healthy consumer fundamentals, pent-up demand, and widespread…

Before COVID-19, “contactless” was just a box one needed to check off to modify service. Since the virus arrived in the U.S., however, contactless interactions have become a must-have for some businesses — and could become the standard for others. That shouldn’t, however, dismiss the need for in-person touchpoints at brick-and-mortar locations. E-commerce will continue…

Century 21 Stores announced it will officially relaunch in 2021 after going bankrupt last year. The owners of the company, the Gindi family, bought back the intellectual property of the brand following the September 2020 bankruptcy. According to the company press release, the first step of the brand's revival will be for Century 21 to…