Corporate Governance

Amazon leads the way in the retail industry when it comes to creating an emotional bond with customers, but the industry as a whole lags behind two other categories.    That’s according to MBLM’s Brand Intimacy 2017 Report, in which Amazon placed first in the retail category. followed by Whole Foods Market and Target Corp. The remaining brands in the top 10 for the retail industry are: H&M, Macy’s, Nordstrom, Sephora, Ikea, The Home Depot and eBay.  

Want to stay ahead of the competition — or at least keep pace with it? Invest in a tech lab — or an accelerator.

With the pressure to innovate greater than ever, savvy retailers understand they can no longer wait for new solutions and technologies to be proven in the field. That’s why so many of them have invested in tech labs (aka “retail innovation labs”).

CEO Joe Coradino and PREIT are serious about recapturing vacant department store space and refilling it with new customer experiences.   Just weeks after the opening of a Legoland Discovery Center at its Plymouth Meeting Mall in the Philadelphia suburbs, PREIT announced it had executed a lease at that property with 5 Wits, a live-action entertainment concept that immerses people into one of three adventures: Tomb, Deep Space, or Drago’s Castle.  

As Congress reconvened after Easter, retail operators had a tremendous amount at stake. The industry is in an unprecedented state of strife with major legacy brands announcing large-scale closures.

If that’s not enough, here is another one to consider: Roughly 80,000 retail workers lost their jobs in the past year, a total that is greater than the number of workers in the entire coal industry. Clearly the disruptive impact of the online economy is quickly and permanently taking its toll on traditional retail operators.

New store format emphasizes convenience

In its most ambitious store redesign to date, Target Corp. will debut its next-generation format in October, in a 124,000-sq.-ft. store in Richmond, Texas. The new prototype is designed for flexibility and convenience, and will offer open sight lines and elevated product presentations. It also comes with a variety of timesaving features, physical as well as digital.

In addition, 40 additional Target stores will receive elements of the redesign when they are updated, also in October. And there is more to come.

Opportunistic acquirers continue retail’s reinvention, making business good for creative management companies

Unusual circumstances are forging the best of times for third-party shopping center managers. Rampant store closings, after-effects of the commercial mortgage backed securities crash, and opportunistic buyers are creating opportunities for innovative managers to reinvent properties for their clients.

Hudson’s Bay Co. has brought in professional advice regarding its potential merger with Neiman Marcus.    The Canadian department store company has hired a debt restructuring adviser, investment bank Evercore Partners Inc., to review the potential acquisition and provide Hudson’s Bay Executives with ways on how it could proceed without Hudson’s Bay assuming Neiman Marcus’ full debt, according to a Reuters report on CNBC.com.     

Office Depot’s profit in the first quarter more than doubled as its reduced store count led to lower operational costs.   The company's net income increased to $116 million, or 22 cents per share, in the quarter ended April 1, from $46 million, or 8 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Its results beat analysts’ expectations.