Strategy

The Body Shop, a pioneer of ethical business practices in retail, is reaffirming its commitment to corporate social responsibility as it celebrates its 40th anniversary.

The all-natural beauty retailer has unveiled a new CSR strategy, “Enrich Not Exploit,” that extends to all areas of its operations and is aimed at making the company “the world’s most ethical and truly sustainable global business.”

Surpassing $3 billion in annual sales last year was a big deal for Skechers and now CEO Robert Greenberg is banking on the addition of more than 300 new stores to help the company set another sales record in 2016.

Surpassing $3 billion in annual sales last year was a big deal for Skechers and now CEO Robert Greenberg is banking on the addition of more than 300 new stores to help the company set another sales record in 2016.

Skechers plans to open between 330 and 340 stores this year, projecting it will have a year-end total of 1,650 locations, of which 575 will be company owned. The accelerated pace of expansion is easy to understand given the powerful contribution the company’s physical footprint had on its fourth quarter and full year sales and profit performance.

Same-store sales literally fell off a cliff at Citi Trends in the waning days of the fourth quarter and the operator of 522 urban fashion stores is attributing the weakness to the federal government.

Retail industry sales will grow an estimated 3.1% in 2016, outpacing the 10 year industry average, as economic headwinds diminish, according to a forecast released by the National Retail Federation.

The NRF sales forecast of 3.1% excludes automobiles, gas stations and restaurants and exceeds the 10 year growth rate of 2.7%. Non-store retail sales are forecast to growth between 6% and 9%.

In a sign that omnichannel is becoming more important to Nike’s business, the vertical specialty athletic retailer has named Adam Sussman as its first chief digital officer.

Sussman will report to Trevor Edwards, president of Nike brand.

Prior to joining Nike, Sussman held multiple positions in the interactive gaming and entertainment industries, including EA Mobile and Disney Interactive. He has worked in areas including general management, marketing, strategic planning and digital product commercialization.

Same store sales literally fell off a cliff at Citi Trends in the waning days of the fourth quarter and the operator of 522 urban fashion stores is attributing the weakness to the federal government.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) is publicly supporting what it calls “e-fairness” legislation that would extend the reach of state sales taxes to online transactions.

Under present regulations, a state can only charge a sales tax on an Internet sale conducted by an entity that has some type of physical presence in that state.