Sears Holdings Corp. announced late last week that it will be closing an additional 63 stores early in 2018. The parent company of Sears and Kmart has already closed more than 350 stores this year. An additional 45 Kmart stores and 18 Sears stores will be closing in late January 2018, the company said. The 63…
Amazon.com has quietly started lowering prices by as much as 9 percent in recent weeks on certain products offered by third-party sellers, according to a Wall Street Journal report published on Sunday. Until now, Amazon has controlled prices only on the merchandise it sells directly to consumers. Now, according to the report, it's discounting the items…
J.C. Penney announced last week that it has eliminated the position of chief merchant. The move was made to streamline decision making and promote greater agility within its merchandise buying teams. John Tighe, current chief merchant, will be leaving the company to pursue other opportunities and will not be replaced. All senior merchandising executives will…
With the threat of online shopping, brick-and-mortar retailers have been forced to embrace the importance of the experiential aspect of their stores to drive repeat foot traffic. It takes something really compelling for the average consumer to go to a physical store instead of ordering whatever they need from the comfort of their own home.…
Wal-Mart is throwing 20,000 parties in its stores across the country in an attempt to attract more holiday shoppers. According to a company press release, the parties will take place on Nov. 4, Dec. 2 and Dec. 16, and will include 165,000 in-store toy demos, visits from Santa and other activities. The Nov. 4 party will…
It’s not often that you get to hear from retail legends like Jim Sinegal, co-founder and director of Costco Wholesale Corp. That’s why I was so excited to attend his talk at SAP’s Retail Executive Forum, which was held in New York City earlier this month. And he didn't disappoint. Sinegal served as the CEO…
In an interview at the Teradata Partners Conference in Anaheim, Calif., last week, Mike Halula, retail analytics practice lead for the Americas, Teradata, touched on a variety of topics regarding the current and future state of the retail industry: On Marketing to Millennials "Marketers are trying to figure out how customers want to be connected…
For the third straight year, REI will close its stores on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday. The outdoor apparel and gear retailer will also not be processing any online orders on either day (although shoppers will still be able to make purchases from REI's website). REI will pay its 12,000 employees, including hourly workers, for their…
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said last week it's rolling out shelf-scanning robots in more than 50 U.S. stores next year, to replenish inventory faster and save employees’ time when products run out. While Wal-Mart has been testing shelf-scanning robots in stores in Arkansas, Pennsylvania and California for the past three years, by the end of January,…
CVS Health has proposed to buy health insurer Aetna for $200 a share or more, according to news reports. If the deal goes through, CVS would become the first healthcare triple threat: a pharmacy, a pharmacy benefit manager and an insurer. The Wall Street Journal first reported the proposed deal. Acquiring Aetna would give CVS…
