Consumer Affairs & Relations

Office Depot put the blame for disappointing first-quarter financial results on its delayed buyout by Staples.

"The protracted regulatory review of the pending Staples acquisition continues to have a substantial disruptive impact on our business," stated Roland Smith, chairman and CEO, Office Depot. “Our North American Business Solutions Division and International Division are more impacted by this disruption and accordingly, both failed to meet our sales and profit expectations this quarter.”

J.Crew customers on Saturday received a surprise in their email accounts — a letter from the CEO and chairman of the company, Mickey Drexler.

In the note, Drexler recounted how he was recently told by a shopper that the J.Crew she loves "is back.” He then asked customers to come into stores or check out the J. Crew e-commerce site to see what she was talking about, and also requested they email him directly with their thoughts. ([email protected].)

American Family Association has called on its members to boycott Target Corp. over the chain’s decision to allow transgender employees and customers to use bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity.

The group said it had gathered 172,494 signatures on a boycott petition by mid-morning on Friday.

Troubled teen retailer Aeropostale Inc. has been dealt another blow.

On Friday, the New York Stock Exchange suspended trading of the retailer’s stock with immediate effect, due to an "abnormally low" trading price.

Aeropostale does not intend to appeal the delisting. It said its shares will instead be traded on the OTCQX Best Market, an over-the-counter market operated by OTC Markets Group Inc. The new ticker is "AROP".

Regardless of the final outcome of its acquisition of Office Depot, Staples just nominated three individuals to its board of directors with unique perspectives on growth.

Curtis Feeny, managing director of Voyager Capital, Deb Henretta, former group president of global e-commerce at Procter & Gamble and John Lundgren, chairman and CEO of Stanley Black & Decker, have been nominated by the Staples board of directors for election at the company’s 2016 annual meeting.

Sears Holdings announced its latest round of store closings as it continues to look for ways to cut expenses and return to profitability after five years of losses.

The embattled retailer, which has been steadily shrinking its physical portfolio over the last few years, will close 68 Kmart and 10 Sears stores this summer. (See list of locations at end of story.) In February, Sears warned it would speed up the closing of unprofitable stores.

Aeropostale Inc. preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as soon as this month, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Aeropostale has recorded three consecutive years of losses as its struggles to deal with a teen audience whose spending tastes now favor fast-fashion giants such as H&M as well as online retailers. The chain operates some 800 stores nationwide.

The retail executives responsible for delivering omnichannel customer experience admit there is much work to be done to come in line with consumer expectations and demands.

Business technology and services provider Periscope, a McKinsey solution, conducted a survey of attendees at World Retail Congress 2016 held in Dubai in April 2016. According to the results, only 21% say they are more confident than a year ago on delivering omnichannel experiences. Another 45% say progress is not happening fast enough.

Wal-Mart Stores on Thursday announced changes to its board of director of directors that it said were designed to make to make it more nimble and able to respond quicker to today’s fast-changing market.

As part of the changes, four current board members — Aida Alvarez, Roger Corbett, Mike Duke and Jim Walton — will retire and not stand for re-election. In addition, the retailer is shrinking its board by three members to 12, a move that brings it more in line with the size of most U.S. corporation boards.

Emerging food service concept Maple Street Biscuit Company is the latest addition to one of Gainesville, Fla.’s fastest growing retail destinations.