Strategy

Crate & Barrel is joining Toys"R"Us and other retailers shutting down Manhattan flagship locations due to skyrocketing rent prices.

There has been a great deal written about omnichannel’s impact on the store, multichannel shopping behaviors and cross-channel fulfillment. What seems to have gone unreported, however, is the tremendous impact labor costs can have on profitably delivering the omnichannel shopping experiences consumers now demand.  

Jewelry and accessories retailer Charming Charlie has opened its largest store yet, a three-level, 16,000-sq.-ft. flagship on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue. Designed in partnership with Callison Architects, Seattle, the store features a two-story, 30-foot tall glass façade and 20-ft. tall double doors in the brand's signature vibrant pink lacquer.

Torrance, Calif. -- Sanrio, the global lifestyle brand best known for pop icon Hello Kitty, and Universal Parks & Resorts have announced their partnership to develop Hello Kitty interactive retail experience shops scheduled to open later this year at Universal Orlando Resort and in the future at Universal Studios Hollywood.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. – A reduction in selling, general and administrative expenses helped Sears Holdings Corp. reduce its first quarter net loss even as its sales continued to slide. The results came in as the chain prepares for the launch of its real-estate investment trust this week to raise cash. Sears said it expects the REIT transaction to raise $2.6 billion.

The retail industry is accustomed to weak same store sales at Sears and Kmart, but the magnitude of the decline the company experienced in the first quarter was large even by its standards.

New York -- Rising rents are causing another national chain to exit a high-profile location in Manhattan. Home-furnishings retailer Crate & Barrel will close its flagship on Madison Avenue (at 59th Street) on Aug. 2, after negotiating an early exit from its lease, according to the Wall Street Journal. The store opened in 1995.

The closing will leave the city with just one Crate & Barrel, in the Soho section of downtown Manhattan.

EXETER, N.H. -- Bauer Hockey announced today that it will open its second retail store, in Bloomington, Minnesota. The Bloomington location is the second to be announced by Bauer Hockey, with the first-ever store expected to open in Burlington, Massachusetts, this summer.