Marketing Tactics

Dick’s Sporting Goods will be relocating one of its stores in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, metro to space formerly inhabited by Sears at PREIT’s Capital City Mall.  

Apple is going really big in Manhattan.   The retailer is expanding its flagship at the General Motors building on Fifth Avenue from its current 32,000-sq.-ft. to over 77,000 sq. ft. The Apple space is renowned for the glass cube located on the street level.    While the store is undergoing the expansion, Apple has temporarily moved into a space in the building that was formerly occupied by FAO Schwarz.     

H&M is saying yes to what is being described as a “data dress.”   The fast-fashion retailer is teaming up with Google to create and sell frocks based on customer-specific data tracked by an Android app, reported The Verge.   

On the heels of disappointing financial results, Tiffany & Co. said that Frederic Cumenal has stepped down as CEO, effective immediately.    Cumenal, who had run the company since April 2015, is being succeeded on an interim basis by chairman and former CEO Michael Kowalski, while the company searches for a permanent replacement.    

For the first time in more than 15 years, Abercrombie & Fitch is launching a new store format for its namesake banner.  

Starbucks Corp.’s plan to hire 10,000 refugees over the next five years (in its stores in 75 countries around the globe) has proved to be one of the socially progressive retailer’s most controversial moves to date.   The initiative, a response to President Trump’s executive order barring refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, has many conservatives and Trump supporters calling for a boycott of the coffee chain.   

Gap Inc. reported higher than expected sales for January and the fourth quarter, fueled by strong increases at Old Navy.    The retailer reported that net sales for the four-week period ended January 28, 2017 increased 2% to $828 million.    Total same-store sales for the month rose 1%, led by a 3% gain in the namesake brand and a 2% increase at Old Navy. The ailing Banana Republic continued to slump, with a 4% decrease.   

After all was said and done, the formerly high-flying and now bankrupt Nasty Gal had only one suitor.   Online British fashion retailer Boohoo moved a step closer to acquiring the Los Angeles-based fashion brand after no other qualifying bidders came forward.