Corporate Governance

A lot of retailers are making it easy for customers to shop in store with their mobile phones, but what about those pesky batteries?
 
Neiman Marcus is addressing the often forgotten Achilles heel of mobile commerce – the frustratingly short life of many smartphone batteries. The luxury chain is expanding a partnership with mobile charging station provider ChargeItSpot with a planned nationwide rollout that will result in 37 mobile phone charging stations installed across 30 locations.

Wayfair Inc. has appointed Chad Ghosn VP of IT infrastructure and security.

Ghosn will oversee a large engineering team that is responsible for scaling Wayfair’s infrastructure system to meet customer demands and company needs. Before joining the online home furnishings retailer, Ghosn led the infrastructure team at Expedia Inc.

Prior to his role at Expedia, Ghosn spent more than a decade in various infrastructure leadership positions at Dell Inc. Previously, he led network operations for Kaiser Permanente.

Fabulous Freddy’s, an eight-unit retail chain headquartered in Las Vegas, provides customers with a little bit of everything.   “We’re a full-service car wash, express lube operation, gas station and convenience store,” said Jeff Warwick, VP and CFO of Fabulous Freddy’s, during an interview with Chain Store Age. “We’re always exploring opportunities to lease store space to franchises or operate in-store franchises ourselves.”  

When the 300,000-sq.-ft. Shoppes at Mid Rivers opens in late 2017 the project will be the largest retail development the St. Louis area has seen in nearly a decade.   GBT Realty Corporation, a national commercial development company headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee, said the $54 million project located in St. Peters, Missouri, will have three anchor tenants, five to seven junior anchors, small shop space and four, approximately one-acre outparcels.  

Columbus, Ohio-based Nationwide Realty Investors’ $650 million Grandview Yard development has consistently been in the news over the past several years, as prominent components of the mixed-use project continue to fall into place and new buildings come online.  

New-build shopping center construction was plodding last year — discounting the outlet category, which continues to grow at record speed. And, yet, sometimes one has to look at the quality of what is coming out of the ground — or expanding — and not just the quantity.

Nordstrom Inc. is known for providing the best customer experience, and is now applying that ethos to its customer loyalty program.

The department store retailer is expanding its Nordstrom Rewards loyalty program to allow members to earn benefits regardless of how they choose to pay for purchases across its store, outlet store or digital channels.

Going-out-of-business sales will start before Memorial Day at Sports Authority’s remaining 450 stores nationwide.

The moves comes after the retailer, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March, was unable to find a buyer.

Wal-Mart Stores broke the retail gloom that has penetrated so many recent first quarter earnings reports as it posted higher than expected earnings and revenue gains, and gave an upbeat view for the current period.

Wal-Mart’s strong performance in a quarter that has challenged so many other retailers, including Target, offered evidence that its efforts to improve its U.S. stores are paying off. Among other things, the giant discounter has increased associate pay and taken moves to ensure its stores are more consistently in stock.

Not all teen apparel retailers are struggling. Just ask American Eagle Outfitters.

The company reported a better-than-expected rise in quarterly sales and profit as demand for its products rose even amid a sluggish retail environment.

American Eagle’s net income surged 39.3% to $40.5 million, or 22 cents per share, in the quarter ended April 30.

Net revenue increased 7% to $749.4 million. Same-store sales increased 6%, on top of a 7% increase in the year-ago period.