In its ongoing effort to compete with Amazon.com, Wal-Mart announced a new way of handling in-store returns of online purchases that it claims could shrink the processing time to 35 seconds. Starting next month, Mobile Express Returns will enable consumers to begin a return process on Wal-Mart’s app before bringing the item in question to any…
Sears Holdings Corp. is getting another cash infusion from CEO Edward Lampert, just in time for the key holiday season. Lampert has agreed to loan Sears $100 million through his ESL Investments fund — if the retailer agrees to pledge more stores or other assets as collateral. The agreement, disclosed in a recent filing with…
Matching the right product with the right customer requires creating and executing a tailored assortment in each location.
The National Retail Federation (NRF) forecasts a 3.6 percent to 4 percent rise in holiday retail sales during the November-to-December period for a total of $678.8 billion to $682.0 billion, the trade association said Tuesday. This would put 2017 in line with last year's holiday sales, which increased 3.6 percent year-over-year (the five-year average is…
After chatting with and listening to retail executives at last week's Shop.org conference in Los Angeles, I left the event with the following three themes: 1. Amazon.com is a Behemoth, But We Have Brands and Communities The overriding sense I got listening to retailers at Shop.org is that while they understand that trying to compete…
The Gymboree Corp. announced that it has successfully completed its financial restructuring and emerged from Chapter 11 as a new corporation under the name Gymboree Group, Inc. The children's apparel retailer exited bankruptcy with a reorganization plan that includes a comprehensive recapitalization that will eliminate more than $900 billion in debt and a reduced store footprint. …
In a press conference yesterday at the Shop.org conference in Los Angeles, a panel of speakers spent an hour telling assembled media not to believe the stories they're reading and hearing about the death of retail. In fact, the opposite is true: while there have been some high-profile retailers that have closed stores this year…
Disney has built its iconic brand on delivering magical experiences to consumers, from its theme parks to its entertainment business (movies, TV shows) to its licensed merchandise. The fourth division of the business, retail, was more challenged in accomplishing this goal. In a keynote presentation yesterday at the Shop.org conference in Los Angeles, Michael White,…
If I wanted to wait in a long line, wander aimlessly and have my personal space invaded, I would have gone to a theme park. Unfortunately, this type of inconvenience is penetrating the big-box shopping experience, and with more on-the-go consumers than ever, people are heading to smaller-format stores (not to mention the smallest format…
Target is giving thousands of its employees a raise. The retailer announced this week that it will start raising its minimum wage next month to $10 an hour, and will eventually raise it to $11 an hour for all U.S. stores. "Target has always offered market-competitive wages to our team members," Brian Cornell, Target’s CEO,…
