Two years after its first bankrutpcy, teen clothing retailer Wet Seal was reportedly considering a second one if it couldn’t find investors or a buyer. Instead, the retailer will lay off its 148 headquarters employees and close its 171 remaining stores. [More]
stores
JCPenney Adding Nike Stores Inside 600 Locations
By 1.17.17
In their attempts to draw in customers and become more of a one-stop-shop, struggling department stores across the country have entered into partnerships to host store-within-a-store concepts: from Macy’s LensCrafters shops to Best Buy’s Verizon and AT&T “experience stores.” Now, JCPenney is jumping into the fray, launching Nike stores in 600 of its locations around the country. [More]
Amazon Opening Its Next Physical Bookstore In NYC This Spring
By 1.6.17
New Yorkers who like the experience of thumbing through a book made with paper and smelling the fresh ink before they buy it will have another place to browse this year. As we suspected in July, Amazon says it will open its next physical book store in Manhattan this spring. [More]
Starbucks To Add 12,000 Cafes; Use Artificial Intelligence In Ordering App
By 12.7.16
If you were worried you wouldn’t be able to score your customary morning cup of coffee from Starbucks whilst traipsing around the world, worry not: The coffee giant unveiled plans to add 12,000 more stores globally by 2021. [More]
Bargain-Hunting Beavers: 17 Times Animals Went Shopping In Human Stores
By 12.1.16
Does it make you giggle to think about a beaver going Christmas shopping at a dollar store? If so, you’ll be even more tickled to know this isn’t the first time we’ve heard about an animal waltzing into a human business like it belonged there. Heck, this isn’t even the first time we’ve heard about a beaver doing that. [More]
Walmart, Home Depot Relying More On Physical Stores To Complete Online Orders
By 8.23.16
Walmart’s recent $3 billion acquisition of e-commerce company Jet.com may have been the retailer’s way of spurring its online business, but the largest retailer in the world has already been mingling its physical stores with its online presence. Much like fellow big box store, Home Depot, Walmart has increasingly used its vast network of stores to fulfill online purchases. [More]
Kmart: Stockroom Purges Are About Efficiency, Making Employees’ Jobs Easier
By 7.26.16
Kmart is not pleased with recent news reports about the chain’s imminent doom, and today posted a blog post of its own in response. The prediction of fearful employees that the chain is about to shut down is inaccurate, the chain’s leaders say, and the stockroom purges aren’t a first step toward liquidation. [More]
NYC Businesses Now Facing Fines For Air Conditioning The City’s Sidewalks
By 7.8.16
Lovely though it might feel to walk through a sudden gush of Arctic air on an otherwise hot, steamy New York City day, businesses that keep their doors open with the air conditioning on can now expect to pay a fine if they’re caught blasting cool air onto the sidewalks. [More]
Ralph Lauren Closing Stores, Cutting Jobs In Effort To Turn Around Sliding Sales
By 6.7.16
In an effort to compete with the likes of fast-fashion retailers like H&M, Ralph Lauren Corp. says the company will be shrinking its real estate footprint, closing stores, and cutting jobs as it tries to make a comeback under its new CEO. [More]
Someone Pranked Maine Residents With Sign Promising New IKEA Store That Will Never Open
By 12.29.15
While there are plenty of people interested in spreading cheer and goodwill during the holiday season, there are also those intent on making a lot of folks really, really sad. Such was the case in Portland, ME, where a prankster duped passers-by into believing that an empty lot would soon be the site of a new IKEA store. [More]
Macy’s Stores Will Open At 6 P.M. On Thanksgiving Day
By 10.29.15
If you were worried that you might have to spend all of Thanksgiving Day at home and not inside a Macy’s store, there’s no need to worry. The department store chain will open on Brown Thursday at 6 P.M., allowing employees some of the holiday with their families if they choose to or are asked to work. [More]
Kohl’s Opening Smaller-Format Stores, More Outlet Locations As Part Of Turnaround Efforts
By 10.27.15
As part of its attempt to bring struggling sales numbers up, Kohl’s is betting on two new kinds of stores: the company announced plans to open a number of smaller-format stores that don’t take up as much space as its traditional stores, as well as more “Off-Aisle” outlet locations offering lower-priced items. [More]
Walmart Offering Fewer Products, Widening Aisles
By 10.26.15
Walk into any Walmart and you’ll see shelves upon shelves stocked with a wide variety of products in every shape and size. But that will soon change, as the retail giant begins a transformation of sorts by decluttering its aisles of excess items. [More]
Cumberland Farms Uses Payment App To Create Loyal Customers
By 10.9.15
While Chevron is experimenting with NFC-compatible mobile payments in a few California gas stations, East Coast fuel and convenience store Cumberland Farms is using their own mobile payment app to keep customers loyal, cut back on credit card fees, and even get gas-buying customers into the store. Their secret is not so secret: it’s a loyalty card and payment app similar to the one that Starbucks uses. [More]
Could Barnes & Noble Stores Be Shrinking? Company Looking At New Formats
By 9.9.15
After years of struggling to maintain sales, Barnes & Noble may be looking to revamp its image, starting with smaller stores. [More]
Macy’s Teams Up With Best Buy To Sell Electronics In Some Stores
By 9.8.15
Shoppers heading to Macy’s generally plan to update the items hanging in their closets, not the electronics littering their living rooms. But that could soon be changing, as the department store plans to house Best Buy outlets in several locations starting this fall. [More]
Police Searching For Man Seen On Security Video Urinating Into Store’s Mail Slot
By 6.12.15
Contrary to what you might believe, the world is not, in fact, your toilet. Which is why police in Scottsdale, AZ are looking for an unidentified man who was caught on camera peeing through the mail slot of a furniture store. [More]
IKEA Is Testing Small Pick-Up Point Stores In Canada
By 5.15.15
I live in a smaller metropolitan area where people often whine that we have to drive more than two hours each way to visit an IKEA store. What if we didn’t, though? What if cities too small to support a mammoth IKEA of their own had small stores with some retail offerings, where they could pick up their online orders of flat-pack furniture themselves? The chain of mega-stores announced this week that they’re trying that idea out in Canada. [More]
