Retailer Campaigns

Specialty arts and crafts retailer The Michaels Companies Inc. knows that customer loyalty is not its own reward.  

A shift in the timing of a major holiday was cause for celebration at home furnishings retailer Havertys Furniture Companies Inc.   Sales in the second quarter of fiscal 2016 at Havertys rose 4% to $194.8 million, from $187.7 million the same period a year earlier. Same-store sales increased 2.8%. Written total and same-store sales for the second quarter both rose 6%.  

Walmart was offering its own July online savings event before Amazon Prime Day was officially announced, and now the discount giant is sweetening its deal.   Walmart is offering all customers free shipping with no minimum purchase on its e-commerce site from Monday, July 11 – Friday, July 15. This builds on a previously announced online promotion that offers a free 30-day trial of the retailer’s ShippingPass program, which provides consumers unlimited, two-day free shipping for a year.  

Beset by declining sales, growing competition and changing consumer tastes, Ralph Lauren has launched an ambitious turnaround plan that includes a heavy brand emphasis.    

Target Corp. is tapping into its consumer base, including kids, to stay on an upward trajectory.

The online space doesn’t have a lock on new retail concepts, but with its lower start-up costs and potential audience reach it has proved itself a great breeding ground for disruptive retailers.   Here’s a look at four innovative e-tailers that are generating buzz and revenue increases — enough to place them among the top 15 fastest-growing e-retailers in a recent study.*   Casper

Wilder Companies executives have an image upgrade in mind for the Nod Brook Mall in Avon, Connecticut, a 100,000-sq.-ft. open shopping center they bought this week. The affluent bedroom community outside Hartford boasts an average household income of almost $160,000, according to Wilder, which will recast the center as The Shops at Nod Brook.  

Amazon is bringing its bookstore concept to one of the largest retail projects to ever open in Manhattan.   The online giant is planning to open a bookstore and cafe at Hudson Yards, the massive retail, commercial and residential space being developed by Related Cos. and Oxford Properties Group, the New York Post reported.     Click here to read more.

Jeff Rubin, founder and CEO of It’Sugar, has always had a sweet tooth — and a passion for retail. Both are in his DNA. His father owned a chain of toy stores in the Midwest. After leaving the toy business, he went on to open a chain of bulk candy stores. Rubin worked on Wall Street for a while before returning home to help run the candy chain. In 1994, he left to go out on his own. He’s been on an upward trajectory since.

Experts credit Rubin with breathing new life into the candy store format.

Dyson, the consumer electronics brand best known for it pricey vacuum cleaners, has opened a store in the heart of London’s main shopping district.   The sleek, futuristic-looking store, on Oxford Street, is designed to allow shoppers to see and test Dyson’s complete line of vacuum cleaners, fans, heaters, humidifiers and other products, with some 65 items on display. It also has 64 different dust/dirt samples and four floor surfaces available on which customers can to test vacuum cleaners.