Seasonal

A record number of openings in 2014 pushed 99 Cents Only close to the 400 unit mark, but the rapid pace of expansion did not translate to profitability during what the company called a transformative year.

New York - Target Corp. on Thursday opened a pop-up shop at Bryant Park in mid-t0wn Manhattan selling what many experts say will be one of its most popular designer collaborations to date:  A 250-piece Lilly Pulitzer for Target collection. According to reports, 500 to 600 people were waiting in line at 8 a.m. when the temporary store opened.

Portland, Ore. – Opt-in rates among consumers for push notifications from retail apps are on the decline. A new study from Urban Airship shows that average opt-in rates for retail apps fell to 37% in 2014, compared to 46% in 2013.

In 2014, retail apps doubled their notification send volume on the key shopping days of Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and consumer response rates also doubled, despite the majority of those notifications being general sales promotions sent to all users.

Meijer is incenting customers to make generous donations to hunger relief organizations by offering to double their contributions.

As part of the retailer’s Simply Give hunger relief program, plans call for Meijer to contribute $20 every time a customer donates $10 resulting in a combined $30 donation to local food pantries. The company conducts its Simply Given campaign three times a year. The Spring effort runs through May 7 but the generous matching offer is good April 17-18.

Leading department store retailer Nordstrom has developed a unique approach to community giving by returning 1% of gift card sales to local nonprofit groups.

Nordstrom will use funds from gift card sales to support two giving programs: Nordstrom-directed corporate contributions and a newly-launched Employee Charitable Match program. For more than 40 years, Nordstrom selects hundreds of organizations to receive cash grants.

San Jose, Calif. – Despite declining store traffic during March 2015, retailers benefited from increased sales per shopper (SPS), average transaction value (ATV) and conversion rates. According to the March 2015 RetailNext Retail Performance Pulse, SPS grew 5.8% compared to the same month a year earlier, perhaps reflecting pent-up consumer demand after a difficult winter.

In addition, ATV grew 3.5% and conversions increased 0.9%, further suggesting consumers who visited stores were looking to make purchases. Returns stayed flat.

L Brands continued to be a bright spot in specialty retail in March, reporting a 9% increase in same-store sales.

The company said an earlier Easter and the spring break season helped its March sales increase 6% from the year before. L Brands is the owner of Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works and its own eponymous brand. The company reported brisk sales at Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works in March.

San Francisco – Strong same-store sales growth at Old Navy helped drive a 1% increase in net sales at Gap Inc. to $1.53 billion in March 2015, compared with net sales of $1.51 billion for the same month the previous year.

Gap Inc.’s overall same-store sales were up 2%. The company said that the earlier timing of the Easter holiday peak shopping weeks in 2015 benefited March sales results and will likely negatively impact its April sales results.