Retail Stores

Discount retailer Fred’s announced Monday it is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and closing all of its stores. The company said liquidation sales at retail locations will be completed over the next 60 days. The bankruptcy is a sign that cost-cutting measures such as the shuttering of hundreds of unprofitable stores and inventory clearance sales couldn't save the retailer.…

Consumers have high expectations. They expect a personalized, enjoyable shopping experience across all channels at all times. This has put a lot of pressure on retailers. Even though e-commerce continues to flex its muscles, a recent study showed that 97 percent of consumers still find a need to visit stores. But have retailers over-rotated to…

Experiential retail has taken the industry by storm as one of the best ways to generate more foot traffic. Retailers can cash in on this trend by designating in-space for their customers to relax, unwind, and enjoy a quick bite or beverage. These customer-centric spaces focus on meeting more of the wants and needs of…

Walmart is moving further into the primary care and mental health market, according to CNBC. The world's largest retailer is opening a new clinic in Dallas, Georgia called Walmart Health. The company has launched a website for the new clinic, Walmarthealth.com, where patients can make appointments for immunizations, optometry and more. Walmart is testing the…

As Lightspeed's vice president of marketing, I’m always on the hunt for ways to empower retailers with insights that help them adapt in an industry that’s constantly changing. It’s our mission to remove any barriers they face along the way. In my conversations with retailers, the same questions come up time and time again: things…

Target announced yesterday that it’s opening dozens of permanent Disney stores within its own stores over the next year, as it invests in more unique ways to drive foot traffic. On Oct. 4, 25 Disney stores will open at certain Target stores across the country, in cities including Philadelphia, Denver and Chicago. Forty additional Disney locations are…

In this episode of Retail Right Now, Total Retail's Kristina Stidham and Ashley Chiaradio discuss the back-to-school shopping season, including a few tips for retailers from an article recently published in Total Retail Report, titled “Back-to-School a Big Opportunity for Retailers to Impress,” written by Keith Jelinek and Rick Maicki of the Berkeley Research Group.…

The National Retail Federation (NRF) today announced that retail sales — excluding automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants — were up 0.9 percent in July, up 5.6 percent year-over-year, and the industry trade association remains cautiously optimistic about consumer spending as a whole for the rest of the year. The NRF said its numbers are based on data…

Avenue, a women's retailer specializing in plus-size apparel, is reportedly closing all of its stores across the U.S. in the coming weeks, according to Footwear News. Employees were notified during a conference call last Friday, and store associates were instructed not to accept returns or sell gift cards. Avenue's owner Versa Capital Management has not…

Every year, the beginning of August marks the start of back-to-school (BTS) shopping for students and their parents. With an average of $519 expected to be spent per child, according to Deloitte, the BTS season is second only to the Q4 holiday shopping season. BTS provides an enormous opportunity for even the smallest businesses to…