Strategy

That sound of nervous pacing you hear every night at 3 a.m.? It’s America’s retail executives. They’re feeling the pressures of a rapidly evolving sales landscape and trying to figure out how to stay one step ahead — or just keep up.   From demanding consumers who expect a bargain at every turn to new technologies, from an aggressive e-commerce marketplace to a U.S. economy that refuses to kick into gear with any consistency, the challenges retailers are facing demand a shift in thinking and strategy.

The recent demolition of the Miss Jackson’s anchor store at Utica Square in Tulsa, a fixture in that town’s retail scene for more than 100 years, was a stark Heartland example of the changing face of retail. But mall owners and managers in Oklahoma’s second-largest city feel poised to enter the new era, according to a report in Tulsa World.  

Online retailer Hollar is looking to take sales away from a segment that, to date, has proved relatively immune to digital growth: dollar stores.  

Unsecured creditors of Sports Authority said in court papers that the bankrupt retailer should not waste its dwindling funds preparing a plan to end its Chapter 11.     The unsecured creditors argued the company, which filed Chapter 11 in March, is "administratively insolvent," meaning it cannot even pay the cost of running its bankruptcy case, Reuters reported.  

Hastings Entertainment is going out of business.

CBL & Associates announced it has completed a $66.5 million sale of two malls in Michigan — The Lakes in Muskegon and the Fashion Square Mall in Saginaw. The identity of the buyer was not disclosed.   CBL president and CEO Stephen Lebovitz said the Michigan sales were part of a long-term plan to move to a portfolio of higher quality, higher-growth portfolios.   

The Rite Aid Foundation's KidCents program announced Wednesday a $25,000 donation to the Downtown Boxing Gym Youth Program, a Detroit-based nonprofit that empowers Detroit youth to be positive and productive members of society through education, athletics, mentorship and intervention.  

Influential and longtime Walmart executive Don Soderquist died after complications related to heart surgery. He was 82.   Soderquist joined Walmart in 1980 as executive VP of administration and logistics and was a driving force behind the company’s growth. From 1988 to 1999, he served as vice chairman and COO. He retired in 2000 and remained on the Walmart board until 2002.