Consumer Affairs & Relations

The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. is actively shopping 137 of its stores, including 10 Food Emporium locations in New York City, according to the New York Post.

A&P, which emerged from bankruptcy protection in 2012, told The Record newspaper on June 16 that the company continues to weigh its options and that it is exploring strategic alternatives.

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New York — Gap stores have failed to keep up with the fashion tastes of millennial shoppers, who have a much different fashion sense than the generation before them, according to the Washington Post. Read the full story here.

Generation Y prefers to shop at Walmart over Target, Costco, Kroger, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe’s, according to Ad Age.

"Millennials now, as a generation, like Walmart the best, more so than Generation X, more so than boomers," Matt Kistler, Walmart’s senior VP-consumer insights and analytics, said.

Walmart is most popular among people under 24, as well as every store but Target among 25- to 34-year-olds, according to InfoScout, a provider of shopper insights with a nationwide panel of more than 170,000 shoppers.

New York — Authentic Brands Group LLC (ABG) , whose brands include Jones New York and Juicy Couture, has closed on its purchase of Frederick's of Hollywood Group for an undisclosed sum. Previous reports indicated the acquisition agreement, announced in April 2015, was for $22.5 million.

Green Bay, Wisc. — Shopko continues to expand, with the opening of 15 Shopko Hometown stores across eight states this July.  The  new locations join 20 stores Shopko opened earlier this year and more than 15 additional stores the company plans to open in October.  

Toano, Va. – The executive shakeup continues at Lumber Liquidators as the company integrates the leadership of its merchandising and marketing departments. Marco Q. Pescara, the company's chief marketing officer since 2006, has been promoted to serve as chief merchandising and marketing officer effective June 19.

Pescara will lead the company's marketing and merchandising functions. The employment of William K. Schlegel, current chief merchandising officer, will be terminated effective June 19.

Lumber Liquidators former chief merchandising officer William Schlegel is the latest casualty of an ongoing management overhaul by company founder and Chairman Tom Sullivan that also claimed the jobs of the CEO and CFO.

Sullivan continues to clean house at the company he founded 20 years ago after a damning report by 60 Minutes raised concerns about the company’s product sourcing practices and allegations of circumventing federal laws.

Target’s annual meeting was pretty much a non-event on June 10, aside from the fact that a corporate structure in which Brian Cornell serves as both chairman and CEO doesn’t sit well with many shareholders. 

U.S. consumers have more options for grocery shopping than ever before. But German discount grocer Lidl, aiming to emulate the U.S. success of the growing Aldi chain, says it will “create a unique experience for American consumers that will be unlike anything else in the market.”

Gap Inc. is planning to close 175 of its Gap stores and streamline its workforce by as many as 250 positions as the struggling retailer moves to re-ignite productivity and growth at its namesake brand.

The company says the series of strategic actions are part of a comprehensive effort to deliver more consistent and compelling product collections and engage customers across all channels.