Retail Stores

J.C. Penney reached an agreement yesterday to sell its retail business to mall operators Simon Property Group and Brookfield Property Partners, averting a total liquidation. Simon and Brookfield will pay about $300 million in cash and assume $500 million in debt to buy J.C. Penney, lawyers for the retailer said at a Bankruptcy Court hearing. The deal…

Just the other day, I took my son to the hardware store to pick up supplies for a project. We were both wearing masks, naturally. You can’t get into the store without one. As we browsed, you couldn’t help but feel a sense of comfort at all the visual cues for social distancing. At checkout,…

Gap and Banana Republic are closing 225 stores this year and may close even more locations in 2021, CNN reported. In March, Gap Inc. announced it would be closing 90 stores, but this announcement means that number has more than doubled post COVID-19 pandemic. Most of the store closures will be in malls. Over the years,…

In December, HBR took a look at what makes the “Best Companies to Work For” different from their competitors and uncovered a few common themes. The researchers found that these companies focus on their employees’ “life satisfaction,” not just job satisfaction. They provide ample opportunities for team members to build a highly matrixed career around…

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, brick-and-mortar retailers had learned how to compete with the disruption of e-commerce. Stores evolved in the face of a challenge that many believed would wipe out the industry entirely. Instead of folding, retail rose to the challenge. Today, those stores continue to welcome consumers through their doors, but the spaces customers…

On Wednesday, Target reported the greatest percentage increase in quarterly sales in the company’s history. Walmart, which reported earnings on Tuesday, doubled its e-commerce sales. Home Depot’s sales increased more than 23 percent in this year’s second quarter. Lowe's announced that its second quarter sales surged 30 percent, boosted by a 135 percent increase in e-commerce sales. Wayfair reported earlier that its revenue…

Footwear retailer Payless has relaunched into the North American market after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and shuttering over 2,000 stores in early 2019. The discount shoe chain announced in a press release that with this relaunch it's unveiling an immersive e-commerce platform as well as new brick-and-mortar retail concept stores. In the release, Payless…

Discount retailer Stein Mart has filed for bankruptcy and plans to close its nearly 300 stores. The 112-year-old company blamed its failure on changing consumer habits and the pandemic, both of which "have caused significant financial distress on our business," Stein Mart CEO Hunt Hawkins said in a release on Wednesday. Like other retailers, Stein Mart's operations were…

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, a retailer’s ability to operate safely depends on the dual effectiveness of its social distancing measures and sanitation protocols. It’s the new reality of 2020, which only intensified with the resurgence of the virus across the U.S. in July. That showcased exactly why retailers must have the right precautionary measures in…

In episode 259 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Jessica Ringena, senior vice president and chief digital officer at Hy-Vee, an employee-owned grocery retailer with over 250 stores in eight states, headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa. Listen in as Ringena discusses the challenges that the retailer has faced operating as an essential…