Strategy

The trendy mall teen fashion shop whose trendiness appears on the wane has hired RCS Real Estate Advisors to help it re-evaluate its 815-store portfolio.

Amazon is expanding its tech hub in Portland, Oregon.

Browns Shoes is stepping up communications to its stores.

Lowe’s Cos. reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings, revenue and same-store sales as what CEO Marvin Ellison called its “ongoing transformation” appears to be paying off.

With both Target and Walmart producing good sets of numbers, the middle American consumer is clearly alive and well.

Urban Outfitters’ second-quarter earnings topped analysts’ estimates but its revenue fell short amid comp declines at its namesake and Anthropologie divisions.

Blue Nile has replaced its interim chief executive with a permanent one.

If heavy shopping at D-I-Y stores is still an indicator of a strong economy, prognosticators of a downturn may want to re-adjust their predictions.