Alibaba, the operator of China’s largest online sales platform, is reportedly building its own mall as it seeks to enrich the real-world shopping experience with technology and convenience. The five-story shopping center — which the company is calling “More Mall” — is located at Alibaba’s headquarters in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou. The mall was built…
The struggles of brick-and-mortar retailers in 2017 have been well-documented. Iconic brands such as J.C. Penney, Macy's and Sears have all announced store closures this year, and other mall-based retailers such as The Limited, Wet Seal, and American Apparel have gone out of business. Why? A common reason cited is less in-store traffic, the result…
Simon Property Group, the largest shopping mall operator in the U.S., is suing Starbucks Corp. over the coffee giant’s decision to close 78 Teavana stores within its malls. The lawsuit states that Starbucks is breaching its leases by closing the Teavana stores and “shirking its contractual obligations at the expense of Simon’s shopping centers and the…
Perfumania Holdings Inc, a retail and wholesale company that sells fragrances, announced last week that it has initiated a recapitalization and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in federal court. The company said in a statement that the actions would help Perfumania “reduce its retail store count to better align with current consumer shopping patterns,…
Secrets for optimizing inventory to maximize profits and best practices for inventory data management for multi-channel sellers.
Smart brands are looking for new ways to beat their competition and succeed in this changing retail industry. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (WSI) is leveraging its best competitive advantage — its network of stores — to give customers an enhanced shopping experience across its portfolio of brands (Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, and West Elm). Williams-Sonoma, Inc. recently introduced…
GameStop has named Janet Bareis as senior vice president of collectibles, a newly created position within the company. Bareis will report to CEO Paul Raines, and will assume responsibility for developing and supporting the company’s merchandising strategy and operations within the growing collectibles market. Prior to joining GameStop, Bareis spent 11 years with Wal-Mart Stores,…
Sears Holdings has inked two more licensing deals that will put a wider range of Kenmore and DieHard products on shelves outside of Sears and Kmart stores. Cleva North America will manufacture vacuum cleaners and other floor cleaning accessories under the Kenmore and Kenmore Elite brands, and be able to sell them at retailers worldwide.…
On the company’s second-quarter earnings call, Target Chief Executive Brian Cornell said the retailer would be nearly doubling the number of small-format stores it has this year, with the ultimate goal of having more than 100 open for business over a three-year period. The plan is to have 30 in 2017, said Chief Operating Officer…
Many are calling this the retail apocalypse. Recent reports estimate over 8,600 retail locations will shut down in 2017. By comparison, 6,200 retail stores closed their doors during 2008’s economic downturn — an all-time high at the time. Retailers like The Sports Authority have vanished, and others are quickly realizing the same fate: Gander Mountain,…
