Events

New York -- Bloomingdale’s is celebrating the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) 64th NBA All-Star Game in a big way with 16 basketball-inspired in-store pop-up shops filled with NBA team and All-Star merchandise.

The National Retail Federation’s Big Show 2015 is a prime opportunity to demo the latest tech advancements from leading retail solution providers. The Oracle Retail team will be onsite with a small army of product experts, partners and customers to showcase its new 14.1 innovations, combined with powerful new functionality through the acquisition of MICROS.

To simplify retailers’ IT environments while helping them deliver the commerce anywhere experience consumers expect, Oracle unveiled enhancements to its retail portfolio with the launch of Oracle Retail Release14.1. This release builds on Oracle’s strategy for the combination of Oracle and MICROS, as well as its retail offerings in the cloud.

Another January, another NRF “Big Show” in New York. The annual meeting officially kicks off on Sunday. Here’s my early take on what to expect from exhibitors at the show:

1. More Cooperation With Retailers

After a successful collaboration with the NFL last year, Bloomingdale's is turning its eye to the basketball court by teaming up with the NBA for the 2015 All-Star Game.

Bloomingdale's will set up 16 basketball-inspired pop-up shops at its stores across the country and on bloomingdales.com/nba. The store will offer fans retro-era jerseys, vintage graphic T-shirts, accessories from brands like Mitchell & Ness, Sportique, #BEENTRILL#, and Stance, and a special bomber jackets designed by Mark McNairy.

Washington, D.C. - The National Retail Federation has expressed its strong support for H.R. 30, the Save American Workers Act, a bill that would restore the traditional 40-hour workweek standard for health benefits under the Affordable Care Act. The NRF sent a letter to each and every House office stating that all votes related to the bill would be considered “key votes” and factored into its annual legislative scorecard.

Plano, Texas – It will not be a happy New Year for employees of some 40 J.C. Penney stores. The company on Thursday said that it plans to close approximately 40 stores, which represent less than 4% of its total store base, on or about April 4, 2015. The closures will affect about 2,250 employees.

New York – Barnes & Noble Inc. saw a sharp decline in holiday sales in its Nook e-reader division, even as its retail segment showed small improvement. The Nook segment (including digital content, devices and accessories), had sales of $56 million for the nine-week holiday period, decreasing 55% as compared to a year ago.

New York – Aeropostale did not deliver strong holiday sales in 2014. Total net sales for the nine-week period ended Jan. 3, 2015 decreased 11% to $507.8 million, down 11% from $572 million in the 2013 holiday season

Same-store sales, including the e-commerce channel, decreased 9%. The company said profit margins during the holiday period were higher than expected and same-store sales were within original guidance for the quarter.
 

Target is stepping up its efforts to attract new parents to its stores with a new partnership, educational classes and a social media campaign.

Bump Club and Beyond, the nation's largest social event network for new moms, is partnering with Target to present a national series of events designed to help expectant and new parents learn the "basics" of bringing up baby.