Guitar Center said last week that it expects to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after negotiating a debt-cutting deal with key investors and lenders. The country’s largest music instrument seller plans to emerge from protection before year’s-end with nearly $800 million less debt. By filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Guitar Center would be able to continue…
Holiday shopping in the COVID era will be unlike anything modern retailers and consumers have experienced. With deals beginning in October and extending through December, U.S. retailers are downplaying the importance of Black Friday. Instead, they're focusing on making every day of the 2020 holiday season count. When it comes to the impact of COVID-19,…
Target and Ulta Beauty announced a deal Tuesday to open makeup and skincare shops inside of hundreds of Target stores across the country. Target CEO Brian Cornell said starting in the second half of next year, shoppers will find a smaller version of an Ulta store in more than 100 of Target’s stores and on…
Pet Valu, the specialty retailer of pet food and supplies, said Wednesday that it will wind down operations at its Pennsylvania headquarters and close all of its 358 stores and warehouses across the U.S. It said closing sales will begin in the next few days. Jamie Gould, Pet Valu’s recently appointed chief restructuring officer, said…
Walmart has cut ties with Bossa Nova Robotics, which made robots that scanned shelves for inventory, reports CNBC. The retailer has come up with other simple and cost-effective ways to manage the products on its shelves with its human workers rather than robots. A Walmart spokesperson noted that about 500 robots were in the company's…
Like many things in 2020, the holiday shopping season will be unlike any in recent memory. The COVID-19 pandemic has turned many of our social norms upside down and accelerated emerging trends, exacerbating weaknesses already evident in retail. With the bar now higher than ever before, retailers need a seamlessly integrated omnichannel offering just to…
In this episode of Retail Right Now, Total Retail's Joe Keenan and Kristina Stidham discuss 2020 Halloween shopping trends as we approach the holiday. The National Retail Federation (NRF) conducted its annual Halloween survey on consumer perspectives for the holiday, and the data points to one key theme: despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Halloween 2020 is still…
Retail has undergone seismic shifts since the outbreak of COVID-19, when we radically changed the way we behave outside our homes — and whether we ever even leave our homes at all. Brick-and mortar retailers have had to radically restructure their operations, from click-and-collect options to refocusing on online shopping. As states gradually open back…
Without a doubt, the COVID-19 pandemic created many challenges for e-commerce and retail stores globally. Faced with unfavorable debt burden and a customer base hunkering down from government orders, retailers felt the pain as consumers stopped spending money. E-commerce companies were faced with vendors going out of business and supply chains disrupted. Yet the pandemic…
Carter’s is permanently shutting down hundreds of stores. The children’s apparel and accessories retailer announced today that it plans to close 25 percent of its brick-and-mortar fleet, or about 200 locations, as the leases of those units expire. Speaking to analysts, Carter's CEO Michael Casey said that nearly 60 percent of those outposts will likely…
