Strategy

Connect with retail professionals involved in the planning/design, construction and maintenance of stores and restaurants at Chain Store Age’s annual SPECS show, March 12 -14, 2017, Gaylord Palms, Kissimmee, Florida.    

Tiffany & Co.’s sterling jewel — its flagship on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue — is feeling the impact of beefed up security and protests at Trump Tower, which is located next door to the store.     Since the election, Tiffany said its flagship, the retailer’s largest location and a tourist magnet, has seen an “adverse effect” and sales softness” compared with the year before and relative to the company’s other U.S. stores. And it sees no quick fix of the problem. 

A lawsuit dating back to 2008 has ended in a federal jury handing down a $55 million verdict against Walmart, and opening up the retailer to penalties.   The jury found that Walmart failed to pay about 850 of its truck drivers in California all of the compensation to which they were entitled, Reuters reported.   

When it comes to holiday inventory, most retailers use their intuition and industry knowledge to make their sales projections, plan their promotional calendar, and schedule product reorders. This was fine when the season’s promotions were merely percentages off and customers purchased products in stores. But as the retail world becomes more complex, so too must retailers’ holiday plans. With an estimated 40% of retailers’ yearly profits on the line, intuition this holiday season just isn’t enough.  

In a new post on Target's A Bullseye View blog, Target CIO Mike McNamara explains the reasoning behind the retailer's decision to offer an extensive Cyber Monday promotion: 15% off site-wide and store-wide from Nov. 27 to Nov. 28.   McNamara says the retailer's move to combine stores and online for a more seamless holiday shopping experience marks a new chapter in Cyber Monday history.  

HSN, Inc. has appointed Rod Little as CFO, effective January 3, 2017.   Most recently, Little served as executive VP and CFO of Elizabeth Arden, where he led the company’s global finance and IT organizations and was instrumental in a turnaround that restored revenue growth and profitability, ultimately resulting in the company’s sale to Revlon.  Prior to that, Little was CFO for Procter & Gamble’s multi-billion dollar global salon professional division.   

Restaurant retail is in the midst of a revolution.    According to the Urban Land Institute, one of the key factors driving traffic at retail is the rise of new food concepts, which account for nearly 50% of shopping center growth nationally. The first volleys of this revolution were fired by a spate of new fast-casual concepts, but as the movement gains momentum, it is evolving from fast-casual to fresh-casual.   

Urban Outfitters posted sales and earnings for its third quarter that failed to meet analysts expectation amid a traffic slowdown and increased promotions at its Anthropologie and Free People stores.   Urban Outfitters earned $47 million, or 40 cents a share, in the third quarter ended Oct. 31, compared with $52 million, or 42 cents a share, in the year-ago period.   Sales rose 5% to $862 million, compared with $825 million a year ago. Same-store sales, which include online, rose 1%.