Retail

Sears is going the private, members-only route this Black Friday in an effort to drive traffic to its stores.

For the first time ever, Sears will open all of its stores to select Shop Your Way members for a private night of shopping for many of its Thanksgiving/Black Friday doorbusters four days early. Sears will hold its "Members Private Night" in all stores on Nov. 22 from 6-9 p.m. While access to the event is by email or text invitation only, members can text the word "EXCLUSIVE" to 73277 to receive an invitation, while supplies last.

Strong back-to-school sales allowed Kohl's to upstage Macy's in the third quarter.

Kohl's reported that for the third quarter ended Oct. 31, same store sales increased 1%. It had net income of $120 million, or 63 cents per share, compared with net income of $142 million, or 70 cents per share, in the same period a year before. Revenue rose 1.2% to $4.43 billion.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc. is preparing to open its first store in a new state.

GBT Realty Corporation, a national commercial development company headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee, is developing the BJ’s Wholesale Club in South Carolina, in the city of Summerville. The $12 million development is situated on a 10.5-acre site. The 87,800-sq. ft. membership warehouse club that will feature a BJ’s gas station is expected to open in late 2016. Construction is set to commence immediately following the acquisition of the site in December.

Strong back-to-school sales allowed Kohl's to upstage Macy's in the third quarter.

Kohl's revenue rose a better-than expected 1.2% to $4.43 billion in the period ended Oct. 31. Same-store sales rose 1%. Earnings fell to $120 million, or 63 cents a share, from $142 million, or 70 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding a loss on the extinguishment of debt, adjusted per-share earnings were 75 cents a share, which also beat expectations.

Image-based e-commerce is becoming more popular on the consumer side, and now Shopify is making the retailer side more visually based.

The new Sello mobile app from e-commerce platform Shopify allows retailers to create a free online store by taking and posting photos of the products they want to sell, and then adding price and a brief description. No coding is involved.
Retailers can also use Sello to promote and sell products via platforms such as social media, email and SMS text. The only charges are fees from payment processors.

Orchard Supply Hardware is still marching toward its expansion goal of 100 stores and $1 billion in sales by 2017. And the San Jose, California-based retailer with deep Golden State roots has learned a thing or two during its journey, according to president Bob Tellier.

The 76-store chain is actively upgrading its fleet into a shopper-friendly "neighborhood format" while finding a comfortable home in various urban locations.

Grocery e-commerce has thus far mostly been the province of large vertical players like Kroger, mass merchandisers like Target and Wal-Mart, and online platforms like Amazon and Instacart.

However, a successful regional grocer is throwing its Stetson in the grocery e-commerce ring. Texas-based H-E-B, one of the nation's largest regional grocery retailers with more than 370 stores in Texas and Mexico, is making 50,000 food, drugstore and general merchandise products available to purchase and ship at its corporate site.

While all the major retailers will be offering deals and discounts on Black Friday weekend, Dick's Sporting Goods plans to woo shoppers with an exciting social media promotion.