Strategy

Staples is bucking the Black Thursday trend by making a statement, literally, about closing its stores on Thanksgiving Day in order to allow its customers, employees and their families to enjoy the holiday.

The retailer issued a statement on Thursday saying that despite being open on Thanksgiving Day the past two years, this year it says customers and employees should have the chance to stay home with family and friends. Stores will open at 6 a.m. on Black Friday.

Whatever you have planned for Saturday, Oct. 10, specialty apparel retailer Ross Dress for Less will probably be busier.

The Ross Stores Inc. banner is opening six new stores, including three in a new market, as well as relocating a store.

British retailer John Lewis has opened one of its largest department stores ever, in the just-opened Grand Central shopping center in Birmingham.

The four-level, 250,000-sq.-ft. department store has a strikingly contemporary design and features several new services and concepts, including a new fashion and lifestyle department, loved&found, and the first John Lewis-branded spa, &Beauty. There is also a market stall-styled food offering, The Place to Eat.

The importance of expense control at Walmart became evident on Friday when the retailer confirmed it planned to eliminate 450 positions as part of a broader restructuring effort.

Retailers know the Internet of Things (IoT) is coming and will bring significant changes. But their preparedness for it is less certain.

Citing favorable market conditions and a desire to “de-risk” its pension plan, nearly 14,000 participants in J.C. Penney’s retirement plan opted to receive lump sum payments.

Supervalu announced that president and CEO Sam Duncan will retire at the end of the company’s fiscal year. The company also elevated two other executives to key senior leadership roles and affirmed its commitment to exploring strategic alternatives for the Save-A-Lot retail division.

The $18 billion grocery wholesaler and retailer said Duncan would remain with the company until February 29, 2016. He joined the company in February 2013 in connection with the sale by Supervalu of five retail banners to Albertsons.

Low-price grocery chain Aldi is making some changes to the ingredients of its food products just days after Target announced it was banning various chemicals from the products it sells.

Aldi announced it has removed certified synthetic colors, partially hydrogenated oils and MSG from all of its exclusive brand food products.

The move by Aldi (and Target) comes as traditional and even upscale grocers are struggling to increase sales as shoppers increasingly turn to more discounters.

The importance of expense control at Walmart became evident on Friday when the retailer confirmed it planned to eliminate 450 positions as part of a broader restructuring effort.

Staples is bucking the Black Thursday trend by making a statement, literally, about closing its stores on Thanksgiving Day in order to allow its customers, employees and their families to enjoy the holiday.

The retailer issued a statement on Thursday saying that despite being open on Thanksgiving Day the past two years, this year it says customers and employees should have the chance to stay home with family and friends. Stores will open at 6 a.m. on Black Friday.