Retail Stores

A record 189.6 million U.S. consumers shopped from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday, an increase of 14 percent over last year’s 165.8 million, reports the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Prosper Insights & Analytics. The survey found that 124 million people shopped in stores while 142.2 million shopped on retailers’ websites; 75.7 million did both. Black Friday…

A record $7.40 billion was spent online by the end of Black Friday, the second largest online sales day ever (last year’s Cyber Monday reached $7.9 billion in sales),  according to Adobe Analytics. This $7.40 billion total represented a 43 percent year-over-year increase. What's more, the average order value set a new record for Black Friday (at…

Fewer people lined up outside stores as Black Friday shopping kicked off, suggesting early discounts offered by retail chains and a surge in online buying may have taken the shine off America’s biggest shopping day, according to CNBC. Spot checks on the ground showed there were fewer shoppers this year as retail chains started offering discounts…

Toys R Us is set to open its first two new stores this holiday season, reports CNBC. The re-imagined storefronts signal the iconic toy brand's return to brick-and-mortar retail after the company liquidated last year and closed all of its stores. The first of the two smaller-format, permanent Toys R Us stores debuts Saturday at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s…

New Jersey-based arts and crafts retail chain A.C. Moore will close its 145 stores, its parent company Nicole Crafts announced in a news release yesterday. Up to 40 of the closing locations will become Michaels. According to the company, plans for the closings will be shared in the upcoming weeks and the A.C. Moore website will stop accepting online…

Retailers are bracing themselves for a 2019 holiday shopping season that’s six days shorter than last year’s. What will make shoppers choose one retailer over another? How can retailers grow sales in the condensed season? And what can stretch this short shopping period into something longer and more lucrative? The answer to each of these…

Retail sales in October increased 0.2 percent seasonally adjusted over September and were up 4.2 percent unadjusted year-over-year, the National Retail Federation (NRF) said on Friday. The numbers exclude automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants. October’s results make up for most of the 0.3 percent month-over-month decline seen in September and build on September’s year-over-year…

If you’re in the retail business, ‘tis the season to be jolly. Very jolly, indeed. Economists are predicting that total retail sales will eclipse $1.1 trillion this holiday season, an increase of nearly 5 percent compared to 2018. This is the continuation of an upward year-over-year trend. Online retailers are singing an even sweeter tune,…

Amazon.com has begun hiring for a new grocery store that’s slated to open next year in a neighborhood of Los Angeles. The store is located in Woodland Hills, according to a job posting on Amazon’s website. It’s the first location of what's expected to be a new chain of grocery stores launched by Amazon. The new store isn’t…

The serious Black Friday players have been preparing for months. They've reviewed their operation and identified all the things they could do better in 2019. It’s big business, and for many retailers their holiday performance informs their whole year profits. Let’s assume you’re not one of the businesses with Black Friday meticulously planned. What can…