Take warnings that Amazon, Ebay and other online and mobile commerce outlets could render brick-and-mortar retailers virtually obsolete with a heaping chunk of salt. When it comes to consumer shopping desires, the store's still the thing. That's the key takeaway from the
Consider Company X. Its annual sales-now $27.4 billion, or more than those of Estée Lauder, Hilton Worldwide, and Hershey combined-have risen 50 percent over the past six years. Its profits have almost tripled, to $2.1 billion. Its shareholders have been the beneficiaries of 18 consecutive years of earnings-per-share growth. In its nearly-four-decade history, it has had only one year of negative same-store sales. And it does all this by selling blouses...pots and pans...and bedding, sunglasses, sriracha seasoning, yoga mats and
Sephora, the top seller of Dior lip gloss and Lancome face creams, is under attack in continental Europe from far less glamorous competitors: pharmacies. New data shows specialist beauty retailers such as Sephora, one
Apple's glass-cube stores have become as familiar as Subway sandwich shops. But when Steve Jobs opened the first in 2001, the retail venture was expected to fail. "I give them two years before they're turning out the lights on a very painful and expensive mistake," Apple's former chief financial officer, Joseph Goldstein, told BusinessWeek in
Crocs said late Monday it would exit badly performing stores, slash jobs, and streamline operations, sending shares of the plastic clogs retailer up more than 12 percent on Tuesday. Niwot, Colo. based Crocs said it would explore strategic alternatives and terminate product development of unspecified non core brands; shut down or convert between 75 and 100 company-owned storefronts — 18 of which will be
Birchbox recently opened up its first retail store in New York City. The beauty e-commerce startup is known for its subscription service, where customers pay $10 per month to receive a box of product samples. The company has attracted more than 800,000 users since launching in 2010, but only around 30 percent of those subscriptions translate into full-product online sales from Birchbox.com. Its new store is an attempt to figure out why
With back-to-school season in full swing, Lands’ End Kids has enlisted seven PopSugar Select mom bloggers to curate a collection of "First-day Faves," each to be featured in a new digital pop-up shop every week at landsend.com/firstdayfaves. Featured items will be offered at a 25 percent discount. "We work hard so families can find the perfect back-to-school outfits in a convenient way," said Steve Rado, chief marketing officer, Lands’ End. "Not only do we have an easy-to-shop collection, but our new digital pop-up shops help parents and kids quickly navigate first-day looks at an even greater value."
Big Lots officials are hammering away at numerous changes they hope will fatten the bottom line, company executives told investors at a recent conference. They're so confident, in fact, that they recently initiated a cash-dividend program for shareholders, a first for the company. Many of the changes are those that have been reported before: making furniture a key part of the business, becoming the Hostess snack-cake thrift outlet, and working harder to appeal to Big Lots’ target customer, nicknamed "Jennifer." But one change that's underway might surprise the industry and customers alike: improvement to the store's electronic security systems.
Tablets have been touted as "reinventing" and "revolutionizing" retail. Retailers and consumer-facing businesses have been testing the use of tablets to gain operational and marketing advantages, and they like the results. Here are some ways retailers are getting big impact out of small screens:
One business segment in which Microsoft is unlikely to announce layoffs this week are its retail stores. The stores, the brainchild of former long-time Wal-Mart executive David Porter, who was brought on board in 2009, number 101 in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Microsoft has 58 full-line retail stores and 43 "specialty stores." According to Microsoft, its specialty stores are located in malls across the U.S. and Canada and are typically a smaller footprint than full-line stores, are located in central locations in the mall and and offer a curated assortment of products.
