After the last CEO of Ralph Lauren (the clothing company) butted heads with Ralph Lauren (the man) and made a quick exit in February, the company has announced it’s taking a slightly different tack by hiring a new top executive without prior experience in the apparel business. [More]
Retail Services
Ralph Lauren Gambles On New CEO With Background In Beauty (And Laundry) Products
By 5.17.17 — Updated: 5.25.17
Department Store Closures Are Just Getting Started, Says Real Estate Expert
By 5.17.17
Anchor store mainstays like Sears, Macy’s, and JCPenney have already been closing stores to cut costs and adapt to shoppers’ changing needs, but one prominent real estate analyst says this culling of department stores is far from over, and that even the most popular malls will likely end up with just one or two traditional anchor retailers. [More]
McDonald’s Expands Delivery Option To Four Additional Cities
By 5.17.17
Soon, thousands of customers in seven cities around the U.S. won’t have to get off the couch to grab a bag of McDonald’s (though one might need to get off the couch to answer the door). The fast food giant has expanded its partnership with UberEATS to deliver McNuggets and Big Macs from more than 1,000 McD’s locations. [More]
Target Still Hopeful For Turnaround As Its Shoppers Spend Less At Store
By 5.17.17 — Updated: 5.25.17
Americans are still shopping at Target, but they aren’t buying as much as they did before. That’s a huge problem for the retailer, which claims to have some tricks up its sleeve to turn things around. [More]
Amazon Also Wants To Sell You (Prescription) Drugs
By 5.17.17
When Amazon executives look around their virtual store, we imagine they must be tapping their chins and thinking, “Hmm, what else do people want?” The company already sells everything from books to riding mowers, and now, it’s reportedly getting very serious about the idea of expanding into the pharmacy business. [More]
Starbucks Apologizes For Outage, Says All Stores Should Be Operational Again Soon
By 5.16.17 — Updated: 5.25.17
After Starbucks stores around the country had to shut down or give out free food when their payment system stopped working, the coffee giant says that most affected locations are back to normal and that all stores should be back online soon. [More]
Target Customer Takes Retailer To Court After Two-Ton Red Ball Crashes Into Car
By 5.16.17
A New Jersey Target customer whose car was damaged after a red, two-ton cement ball came loose in front of a store is now taking the retailer to court because she says Target’s insurance company won’t pay to fix her vehicle. [More]
Is Your Old IKEA Furniture Worth A Lot Of Money? Maybe, But Not Likely
By 5.16.17
The notion of “vintage IKEA” might sound a bit silly, given how temporary much of the company’s furniture feels. Then you realize that the retailer has been around for nearly 75 years, and yes, there are some IKEA pieces that are indeed worth thousands of dollars to collectors, but probably not the coffee table you’re currently resting your beer on. [More]
Walmart Lowering Grocery Prices To Prep For Battle With U.S. Newcomer Lidl
By 5.16.17
Walmart is already engaged in a price war with one Germany-based discount supermarket chain, Aldi, and now it has to prep for competition from a second low-cost German grocer, Lidl, which is set to open its first U.S. stores this summer. [More]
Customer Service Worker Gone Rogue Tells KFC, Pizza Hut Customers To Order Domino’s Next Time
By 5.16.17
If you’re going to fire a customer service rep, you need to make sure they can’t get back into your system and wreak havoc… like the former rep who managed to reply to dozens of emails from KFC and Pizza Hut, telling them the restaurants don’t care about complaints anymore, and to just “order from Domino’s next time.” [More]
Walmart To Pay $7.5M After Denying Spousal Benefits To Same-Sex Couples
By 5.16.17
A federal court judge has approved a $7.5 million settlement between Walmart and current and former employees who claimed that the the retailer unfairly discriminated against them by denying health benefits to their same-sex spouses. [More]
Rue21 Officially Becomes Latest Retailer To File For Bankruptcy
By 5.16.17
Teen-targeted retailer rue21, which had already announced plans to close 400 stores and shift its focus to its website, has become the latest retail chain to file for bankruptcy, though it hopes to remain operational. [More]
Former Walmart Workers Say Company Treated Thousands Of Pregnant Employees Unfairly
By 5.15.17
A pair of former Walmart employees say the nation’s largest retailer illegally required pregnant workers around the country to perform heavy lifting and other ill-advised physical tasks.
[More]
Sears CEO Says Suppliers Are Taking Advantage Of “Dire Predictions” About Retailer
By 5.15.17
Eddie Lampert, the manifesto-writing chairman and CEO of Sears Holdings, really wishes that members of the media would quit reporting that his company is imminently doomed. Why? The news reports are causing problems in the retailer’s negotiations with its suppliers. [More]
Lowe’s Robotic Exosuit Will Help Workers Lift Heavy Stuff, Possibly Fend Off Aliens
By 5.15.17
If you’ve ever wanted to strap on a robotic exoskeleton to tussle with a xenomorph like Sigourney Weaver in Aliens, you might want to consider working at Lowe’s. No, the home improvement chain isn’t getting into the business of defeating extraterrestrial terrors, but it is working on a wearable robotic suit to help workers lift and move heavy things. [More]
Target Could Have Acquired Jet.com And Boxed, But Decided Not To
By 5.15.17
Recognizing that it needed to work on its e-commerce business, Walmart went on an acquisition spree, buying Jet.com and other existing businesses to build its online operations up very quickly. Target, it turns out, had the same opportunities to acquire its way into more robust online operations, but instead is sticking to basics and building its own online operations up. [More]
New Owner Of Gander Mountain Releases Updated List Of 63 Stores Staying Open
By 5.12.17 — Updated: 5.25.17
Outdoors and hunting store Gander Mountain found a new owner after filing for bankruptcy in March, and what remains of the brand will become part of the Camping World chain of RV dealerships and camping supply stores. It’s a messy, painful process and the list of which Gander Mountain locations will remain open continues to change, based on the latest list released by the company’s new owners. [More]
People Are Still Shopping At JCPenney… But Not For Clothes
By 5.12.17
JCPenney has been moving in on the appliance and home territory more associated with Sears or even Home Depot lately, which is helping the retailer. However, clothing sales are still JCP’s core business, and that’s proving to be a problem as shoppers simply don’t seem interesting in buying their clothes from Penney’s. [More]
