Strategy

Carl Nottberg, a veteran retail facilities executive, lost his battle with cancer on March 14, 2016.

Nottberg, senior VP of development at EMCOR Facilities Services, was suffering from multiple myeloma, a relatively uncommon form of cancer that attacks the plasma cells in the bone marrow.

Gordmans Stores plans to open a new store next month in its hometown of Omaha in April, the first of five new units the apparel and home décor retailer has planned for the year.

Should Walmart and Costco be required to pay employees the same minimum wage?

The answer is no, at least that’s the conclusion of a new study according to the National Center for Policy Analysis, a conservative think tank based in Dallas.

The pace of expansion slowed at Shoe Carnival in 2015 but the company produced respectable growth against a challenging prior year comparison that has it poised to achieve a major milestone in 2016.

The CEOs of Staples and Office Depot penned a letter to customers which reveals the extent of their deteriorated relations with the Federal Trade Commission ahead of a hearing that begins March 21 that will determine whether the retailers are allowed to merge.

In the letter, Staples chairman and CEO Ron Sargent and Office Depot chairman and CEO Roland Smith stop short of actually calling the FTC stupid, but that is the inference from more diplomatically worded prose.

Google is reportedly looking to beef up its professional apps offering by purchasing a well-known provider of hosted online retail services. According to Re/Code, Google is considering purchasing Shopify. The Canadian provider of cloud-based e-commerce tools is a public company valued at $2.25 billion. [Re/Code]

Destination XL Group is seeing strong same store sales growth from its stores branded as DXL as it continues to shift away from the smaller footprint Casual Male concept.

Destination XL Group, which bills itself as the largest omnichannel specialty retailer of big and tall men's apparel, said its total same store sales increased 3.1%, but its 137 DXL stores open for more than 13 months grew comps 8.9%.

Ross Dress for Less opened a new store in O’Fallon, Missouri on March 5.

The 25,000-sq.-ft. store is located at the O’Fallon Walk Shopping Center, 30 miles west of downtown St. Louis along Interstate 70 between Lake St. Louis and St. Peters, on the southwest corner of Highway K and Feise Road.

The opening is part of the retailer’s 2016 expansion program, totaling about 70 new locations during the year.