Marketing Tactics

Lululemon Athletica Inc. revealed that it plans to open smaller, “local” stores amid results that disappointed Wall Street.   Net revenue for the quarter ended July 31 increased 14% to $514.5 million, just shy of projections, from $453.0 million in the year ago period. Total comparable sales rose 4%, with in-store sales up 3% and direct to consumer sales up 6%.   Net income increased 12.5% to $53.6 million.  

Halloween has arrived at Macy’s flagship.   Home décor direct-marketer Grandin Road has opened its first-ever brick-and-mortar space, a pop-up at Macy's Herald Square flagship in Manhattan.    The space is designed to inspire, spook and entertain shoppers throughout the months of September and October.   

Department store retailer Belk is giving its Crown & Ivy private-label brand its very own freestanding location.    The brand, which Belk launched in in 2014, will open a store at Crabtree Valley Mall, Raleigh, North Carolina, according to a report by the Charlotte Observer.    Crown & Ivy offers preppy-styled apparel for women. 

Ikea is giving new meaning to do-it-yourself retailing.   The home furnishings giant will open a pop-up DIY restaurant in the Shoreditch section of London where patrons will build their own meals, serving as the chef and preparing food for their group.    

Vera Bradley in entering the New York City market, opening a digitally-savvy flagship in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood.      Scheduled to open in September, the two-level, 2,700-sq.-ft. store will carry the complete Vera Bradley collection, ranging from handbags and travel items to eyewear and jewelry, and debut the brand's newly redesigned logo and store concept.    

PREIT unveiled Amazon lockers at 15 of its mall locations on the East coast, making it one of the first mall owners to engage in this most physical of online-offline integrations.   Amazon shoppers who choose the locker option when checking out are notified when their packages have been delivered and can go to the locker location to pick them up. Consumers gain an added convenience and mall tenants get Web shoppers in their stores.  

Mexico City-based developer Grupo GICSA announced plans for 14 new experiential retail centers it will format under the trademarked term, “Mallterntainment.” GICSA is perhaps best known as the developer of the Paseo Arcos Bosques retail center in Mexico City (above).   Malltertainment developments will hew to four pillars, according to GICSA:   • Average area of 2 million sq. ft.;  

J. Crew Group’s efforts to pump up sales at its core brand didn’t quite take off in the second quarter.   Total revenues at J.Crew Group decreased 4% to $569.8 million in the second quarter.   Total same-store sales fell 8%, its eight consecutive quarterly decrease, with a 9% decline at the company’s namesake brand and a 3% increase at Madewell.   J. Crew reported a net loss of $8.6 million, compared with $13.6 million a year ago.  

In a deal that comes right before the all-important holiday selling season, Toys “R” Us has entered into an exclusive partnership with one of the toy industry’s premier doll brands.     Mattel’s American Girl division announced a multi-year partnership with Toys “R” Us that will make the toy giant the first — and only — U.S.-based retailer to feature American Girl in-store shops.   

The story of Hy’s Toggery has been in the making for nearly half a century. What began in 1969 as a move by company founder Hy Wakstein to establish his own high-end menswear operation after 20-plus years in the industry would ultimately become a brand that has matured into one of the most respected independent clothiers in the southeast.