Corporate Governance

Toronto – Sears Canada Inc. is reportedly reducing some departments while expanding others in a move to capitalize on the retreat of Target from the Canadian retail landscape. According to the Toronto Globe & Mail, Sears Canada plans to stop selling electronics altogether while also reducing its tool and hardware assortment by more than 50%.

New Albany, Ohio – Abercrombie & Fitch Co. is overhauling both how its stores operate and how it markets its brand image. According to the Columbus Business Journal, Abercrombie will focus on the in-store customer experience with features like order-in-store technology and techniques to keep lines short.

Hackensack, N.J. – Frequency of customer visits and customer delight are crucial indicators of customer loyalty. According to a new survey of 1,000 adult U.S. consumers from branding firm Strativity Group Inc., almost 40% of customers interact with their favorite company at least weekly.

In theory, the launch of a limited-time, 250-piece Lilly Pulitzer designer collection on Sunday, April 19 should have been a major coup for Target. Instead, it was a major disaster in marketing, CRM, and operations. By now, the story of how consumer demand for Lilly Pulitzer overwhelmed Target’s website and stores has been told many times. Let’s look at three lessons retailers (including Target) can learn from this experience.

Know Your Customer

Seattle – Increases in expenses including fulfillment, marketing and technology helped swing Amazon.com to a net loss of $57 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2015 from net income of $108 million the same quarter a year earlier. Amazon met Wall Street expectations with the loss.

Amazon fared better with net sales, which increased 15% to $22.72 billion from $19.74 billion. In North America, net sales grew 24% to $13.41 billion from $10.08 billion.

Seattle – Net earnings rose 16% to $494.9 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2015 from $427 million a year earlier at Starbucks Corp. Cost of sales grew at a slower pace than extremely strong revenue growth, which helped boost profits.

Starbucks plans to open 1,650 net new stores globally during fiscal 2015. This includes 600 new stores in the Americas, half licensed; 200 new stores in Europe/Middle East/Africa, primarily licensed; and 850 new stores in China/Asia-Pacific, primarily licensed.

Milan, Italy – Google Glass may not be dead, after all. According to the Wall Street Journal, global vertical eyewear retailer Luxottica Group is partnering with Google to release a new version of Google Glass in the near future.

Columbia, S.C. – Edens, an owner and developer of community shopping centers, has named Jodie W. McLean as CEO, effective June 30. McLean will replace Terry S. Brown, who is stepping down as chairman and CEO.

McLean has been a member of the Edens leadership team for 18 years. Brown became CEO and joined the company's board of directors in 2002, and became chairman of the board in 2013.
 

London - J Sainsbury PLC is increasing transportation productivity through enhanced accuracy. Sixteen Sainsbury’s depots are using an integrated transport management system from Paragon Software, which integrates Paragon’s planning optimization with wireless communications to enhance the accuracy and execution of each day's complex transport plans.

West Des Moines, Iowa - WineStyles Tasting Station, a boutique wine and craft beer retail chain, is launching expansion plans to grow its national footprint. The company currently has more than 20 locations across the country, and aims to grow the business to nearly 50 stores during the next several years through franchising.