Retail

Puma’s outlet-store prototype is streamlined, sporty and contemporary looking, with strong brand cues. The store model is built around sustainability and flexibility. It features a “design by subtraction” concept that is based on a mobile fixture kit of interchangeable stock parts that yield 30% lower energy consumption. A lack of partition walls results in fewer materials, and enables the entire store to be reconfigured without the need for permanent construction or installations.  

Ann Arbor, Mich. -- Seventy-seven percent of consumers say shipping costs factor into their willingness to shop online. Results of the CFI Group Retail Satisfaction Barometer for second quarter 2013 also show that the most common consumer activity on retail websites is browsing and researching before in-store purchase (59%).

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreens reported that same-store sales for the month of August rose 4.8%, beating Wall Street expectations of a 2.9% gain.

Results included a 6.4% gain from the pharmacy and a 2.2% rise from the front-end.

Total revenue for August rose 6% to $6.17 billion.

August seems to have delivered a mixed bag to various retailers, but Costco seems to have fared well with reported net sales of $7.95 billion for the four weeks ended Sept. 1, an increase of 7% from $7.44 billion during the prior-year period.

Comparable-store sales in the U.S., adjusted to exclude changes in gasoline prices, increased 5% for August and for the fourth quarter and increased 6% for the 52-week period.

For the fourth quarter, the company reported net sales of $31.8 billion, an increase of 1% from $31.5 billion in the prior-year quarter.

New York -- Fashion designer Robert Graham will open his first New York City branded retail store at 380 Bleecker Street in SoHo, joining high-end neighbors such as Burberry, Brunello Cucinelli, Marc Jacobs, rag & bone, and Ralph Lauren. The Robert Graham store is slated to open this fall.

Hampstead, Md. -- JoS. A. Bank Clothiers reported that net income for the second quarter dropped 38% to $14.2 million, compared with $23.2 million in the same period last year, amid weaker sales.

Total sales fell 10.7% to $232.5 million. Same-store sales plummeted 15.9%; direct marketing sales decreased 1.9%.

Washington, D.C. — Pret A Manger has leased a two-story retail building on Capital Hill in Washington, D.C., according to Douglas Development, the building’s owner. Located just two blocks from the U.S. Capitol Building, the restaurant will occupy 4,300-sq. ft. and offer two floors of indoor dining as well as a large outdoor patio.

Originally from London, Pret A Manger opened its first U.S. location in 2000 near the New York Stock Exchange. Today, there are over 300 Pret A Manger locations worldwide.

Old Bridge, N.J. — Thanks to absorptions of numerous empty big-box space on Route 22, the vacancy rate in retail properties along northern New Jersey’s six major shopping corridors inched own to 8.1% from a high of 8.2% a year ago, according to the latest survey by R.J. Brunelli & Co.