Events

Retailers tend to be at their charitable best during key seasonal periods and that’s been the case with Office Depot and back-to-school season for the past 15 years.

Seattle – The sales success of the July 15 Amazon Prime Day sales event did not happen by itself. A new IPSOS survey of 1.005 U.S. consumers commissioned by Cumulus Media/Westwood One has revealed advertising drove significant awareness for Prime Day.   

Washington, D.C. - The National Retail Federation (NRF) is now a little less rosy in its sales expectations for 2015. The NRF has lowered its full-year retail sales forecast because of unexpected slow growth recorded during the first half of the year, similar to the industry’s experience in 2014.

However, NRF still expects sales will steadily increase through the remainder of the year. NRF forecasted in February that retail sales would grow 4.1% in 2015 from 2014, but today’s revision lowers the forecast to 3.5%.

What’s wrong with America? Plenty, according to the National Retail Federation which just slashed its full year retail sales forecast ahead of second quarter earnings announcements from major retailers next month.

Men's Wearhouse is enlisting the professional sports community to rally fans and reach a lofty goal for its eighth annual National Suit Drive.

One of the hottest new shows on HGTV is "Fixer Upper," and now Wayfair is looking to leverage some of that popularity by using the stars of the show in a new ad campaign.

Brooklyn, N.Y. - Home furnishings retailer West Elm will open its first South Carolina retail store in the Charleston on Aug. 13.

The nearly 10,000-sq.-ft. store will open with West Elm’s fall 2015 product assortment, a suite of complimentary design services and feature crafted goods by nine local artists and makers as part of West Elm’s “Local” initiative.

The new store is expected to bring an estimated 25-30 jobs to the Charleston community.

Washington, D.C. - Following up on last month’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the National Retail Federation (NRF) and other business groups today urged Congress to move quickly on reforms to the five-year-old healthcare law.

“We write to urge Congress to put priority attention toward easing the cost and compliance burdens associated with the Affordable Care Act,” the groups said in a letter to members of the House and Senate.

New York - Rizzoli will open its new flagship bookstore to the public on July 27 in New York City's NoMad district. The 5,000-sq.-ft. space occupies the ground-floor level of the historic St. James Building.

Houston - Sub Zero Ice Cream & Yogurt has leased 1,200-sq.-ft. of retail space in Vintage Marketplace, a Whole Foods-anchored shopping center, for its first Houston location. Jacob Grossman with The Weitzman Group handled negotiations as exclusive tenant representative for Sub Zero.

At Vintage Marketplace, Sub Zero joins a line-up that includes, in addition to Whole Foods, concepts including Verts, Orangetheory Fitness, Mod Pizza, Supercuts and several others.