Displays & Signs

RadioShack is making progress on its turnaround, according to CEO Joe Magnacca, even if it wasn’t readily apparent in first quarter results the company reported on June 10.

As the largest retailer-owned hardware cooperative in the industry, Ace Hardware knows plenty about paint. But it turns out it may also know a thing or two about nail color. In the first-ever collaboration of its kind, Ace Hardware has partnered with nail lacquer brand OPI to create an exclusive color palette by Clark+Kensington, Ace’s premium paint line.

The new color palette will launch this month in more than 3,200 Ace Hardware stores nationwide and offer consumers the opportunity to adopt their favorite nail lacquer colors as part of their home décor.

Philadelphia — Urban Outfitters has opened a “lifestyle center” store,  in Manhattan’s Herald Square neighborhood. The 57,000-sq.ft. store is the brand’s largest location to date, and its13th store in New York City. It includes such extras as a hair salon, bookshop, coffee bar and photography shop that lets shoppers print their photos from Instagram.

New York — Coach Inc. will reportedly start offering 25% discounts on its luxury handbags at its stores in twice-a-year sales during June and December. According to Bloomberg, Coach will reduce prices on end-of-season and discount merchandise from 30-50%.

U.S. retailers reported 5% year-over-year growth in general merchandise, apparel, furniture and other (GAFO) retail sales. According to monthly figures from in-store retail analytics provider Euclid, shoppers made fewer trips to the store than expected, but were very engaged and showed a lot of intent to buy.

Euclid also reported 7% growth year-over-year in clothing and apparel sales and 2% growth year-over-year in general merchandise sales. Shopper traffic declined 11% compared to the same month last year, as travel plans appeared to cannibalize leisure time.

Although comparable-store sales at Fred’s declined slightly in May, the company said sales strengthened in the last week of the month thanks to the first ad in its new marketing and branding program, designed to increase traffic and heighten customer awareness of category diversity.

The company’s total sales for the month stayed flat at $151.9 million, compared with $152.3 million in May last year. Comparable-store sales for the month declined 0.4% compared with a 0.5% decrease in the same period last year.

Jelly Belly Candy Co. is prepping for Halloween 2014 with a mix of sinister and sweet  thanks to the company's new Disney Vile Villains themed bags.

Four Disney villains — Ursula, Captain Hook, the Evil Queen and Maleficent — will adorn the bags. Each bag is filled with a "Vile Villains" mix, which consists of Jewel Very Cherry, Jewel Sour Apple, Jewel Orange, Jewel Blueberry and new Jewel Grape Soda.

ECRM compared retail circular advertising in May 2013 versus May 2014 and noted trends occurring across top retail chains. Walmart experienced a 90.1% increase in ads per circular, largely due to a reduction in the number of circulars from 10 in May 2013 to six in May 2014. Despite this decrease, overall page count remained fairly stable. These fewer, lengthier circulars were the result of an increased willingness to promote a number of categories within one circular. Eight of last May’s 10 circulars consisted of four pages or fewer.