Corporate Governance

10 Corso Como, the eternally cool Milanese retailer, is coming to the Big Apple.   The Howard Hughes Corp, announced that the Milan-based retailer will open its first U.S. store in the Seaport District of lower Manhattan as part of the development’s ongoing transformation.    

Francesca’s Holdings Corp. posted better-than-expected sales and earnings for its second quarter, helped in part by higher online sales.   The retailer reported a profit of $10.6 million, or 27 cents a share, compared with a profit of $9.3 million, or 22 cents a share, in the year-ago period.      Sales increased 9% to $115.3 million, helped by a net gain of 44 stores over the year-ago period. Online sales rose 37%.    

If any retail CEO is going to endorse a candidate in this year’s presidential race, Howard Schultz would certainly rank at the top of the list.  

Students at Boston University have a new, convenient shopping option.   Target Corp. has opened one of its smaller format stores adjacent to the West Campus section of the university, reported BU Today. Similar stores are set to open in the coming months near the University of Chicago and at Penn State.   The 16,000-sq.-ft. Boston store carries merchandise specifically geared toward college students, from food staples like ramen noodles to bedding and bath essentials.  

On the heels of announcing plans to open smaller, “local” stores, lululemon athletica hopes to further extend the breadth of its brand by expanding its ship-from-store service — just in time for the upcoming holiday shopping season.    The program, which currently encompasses 11 stores, will grow to 65 locations, a move that will streamline fulfillment of online orders, Laurent Potdevin, lululemon’s CEO, said during the company’s fiscal second quarter 2016 earnings call last week.  

Kohl’s comprehensive omnichannel distribution network is about to get even bigger.   The department store chain is preparing to open a new distribution center in Plainfield, Ind., just in time to manage the 2017 holiday season.  

Target Corp. is putting out the red carpet for the opening of New York Fashion Week.     The retailer, in partnership with IMG, the parent company behind Fashion Week, opened a temporary sing-a-long piano lounge at The Park at Moynihan Station (on West 33rd Street), one of the official NYFW venues. It kicked off the fashion event with an opening party that drew such luminaries as Queen Latifah, Christie Brinkley, and Kendall Jenner.  

A pioneer in mobile ordering and payment capabilities, Subway is making a bold move to keep its digital strategies innovative.