Retail Stores

Crate and Barrel to Launch Crate & Kids In-Store
February 26, 2018 at 3:34 pm

Crate and Barrel is relaunching its brand for kids, moving merchandise inside its stores to capture the attention of shoppers even before they consider starting a family. The home furnishings retailer is renaming Land of Nod, which operated five standalone stores and two outlets, as Crate & Kids, according to a report in Bloomberg. Crate & Kids…

Toys"R"Us, Seeking Stability, May Close 200 More Stores
February 23, 2018 at 12:27 pm

Toys"R"Us may close up to 200 more stores as it tries to stay afloat and away from a path of bankruptcy. The New York Times reports one plan Toys"R"Us is considering includes shuttering 200 stores, and possibly more, as it tries to recover from a prolonged sales slump, including a dismal holiday season. While the planning…

Experiential Retail: 6 Changes You Can Make to Your Company
February 22, 2018 at 5:23 pm

Historically, retailers have focused on the industry as an exchange. Customers wanted to purchase products from them, so the best way to secure more customers was to offer the best products or offer products for the best possible price. Today, the landscape has changed. It’s no longer enough to merely offer good products at good…

Breaking Down 2017 Holiday Spending
February 22, 2018 at 5:22 pm

Stockings over the fireplace weren’t the only things being filled to the top this holiday season — so were the pockets of retailers all over the country. First Data’s recent analysis of retail spending showed that consumers were out shopping in full force as overall holiday spending grew 6.2 percent year-over-year, the largest increase in…

How Brick-and-Mortar Retailers Can Better Compete With Amazon
February 21, 2018 at 11:04 am

It happened again. Just like in recent years past, no company put pressure on its competitors in 2017 quite like Amazon.com. The retail giant accounted for nearly half of last year's online sales, and with movement into spaces like grocery and healthcare, few industries have been spared from Amazon’s strength and ever-evolving business model. For…

J.C. Penney Announces it Will Close 8 Stores in 2018
February 16, 2018 at 11:14 am

J.C. Penney is anticipating closing eight of its department stores across the U.S. this year, a spokesman told CNBC. The move is part of the company's ongoing plan to right-size its store fleet as more sales move online. J.C. Penney operates roughly 875 department stores today. That's after the retailer shuttered nearly 140 stores throughout 2017.…

J.Crew, WeWork Enter Partnership
February 15, 2018 at 3:38 pm

WeWork Companies is launching a partnership with J.Crew to host a panel discussion series at select WeWork locations in New York City, San Francisco, Atlanta and Philadelphia. As part of the partnership, these venues will also sell merchandise from J.Crew’s spring collection at pop-up shops that offer discounts to WeWork members. The events aim to bring together professionals…

January Retail Sales Show First Decline in 11 Months
February 14, 2018 at 12:28 pm

U.S. retail sales unexpectedly fell in January, recording their biggest drop in nearly a year. According to CNBC, The Commerce Department said on Wednesday that retail sales decreased 0.3 percent last month, the largest decline since February 2017. Data for December was revised to show sales unchanged instead of rising 0.4 percent as previously reported.…

NRF Forecasts Retail Sales to Grow 4% in 2018
February 12, 2018 at 2:25 pm

The National Retail Federation (NRF) forecasts retail industry sales will grow between 3.8 and 4.4 percent year-over-year, according to its 2018 economic forecast. Online and other nonstore sales, which are included in the overall number, are expected to increase between 10 percent and 12 percent. The numbers exclude automobiles, gasoline stations and restaurants. Retail sales grew…

Retail Right Now: The Super Bowl's Impact on Retail
February 9, 2018 at 1:30 pm

In this episode of Retail Right Now, Total Retail's Joe Keenan and Caitlin Sullivan discuss the impact the Super Bowl has on the retail industry, including a specific look at how some verticals (grocery, sports apparel, electronics) fare better than others before, during and after the big game.