Footwear

Everyone is talking about the huge impact millennials are having on retail. Also known as Gen Y, they are usually considered to occupy the 18-to-35 age demographic. But what about Gen Z, the younger siblings (or even children) of millennials?
 
Based on what we’ve seen so far, here are three ways Gen Z will change retail in the next few years.
 
Video Killed the Retail Star

Aéropostale is closing its 19,000-sq.-ft. flagship in Manhattan’s Times Square.

Canadian footwear and accessory retailer The Aldo Group is streamlining e-commerce operations to better satisfy customers and ease international expansion.

Aldo’s previous e-commerce site had issues including inventory inaccuracy, a lack of flexibility and poor performance during high traffic periods. The retailer has overhauled its e-commerce architecture using the SAP Hybris Commerce solution as a new platform.

Academy Sports + Outdoors named Thomas "Tom" Lamb executive VP, chief marketing officer, effective May 23.

Tom, 50, joins Academy after 17 years with Lowe's Companies, where he most recently served as chief marketing officer. At Lowe's he led the marketing, advertising, brand management, private brand development, customer relationship management, and digital communication activities for the $59 billion retailer.

There is a lot of tenant activity going on at the Miracle Miles Shops in Las Vegas with several notable retailers expanding, renovating and growing new concepts.

The Pembroke Mall in Virginia Beach is home to the newest DSW footwear and accessories store.

The retailers said it opened a 16,000-sq.-ft. store at the Pembroke Mall and characterized the location as “the greatest shoe shopping destination in Virginia Beach,” offering more than 21,000 pairs of shoes.

Whatever you may have been doing at age 17, it was likely less impressive than launching a new e-commerce/ social media platform aimed at sneaker aficionados.

But that’s just what New York-based 17-year-old sneaker enthusiast Anthony Debrantt has done, founding a new online and mobile marketplace called Sneakmart. The site has offers hundreds of thousands of new and used sneakers, including major brands.

The nation’s largest western and work wear retailer is nothing if not supportive of its employees.

Boot Barn Holdings is donating $11,000 to charity in celebration of employee Mary Sarah advancing to be one of the eleven finalists on NBC's primetime singing competition, “The Voice.”

Sarah moved to Nashville and took a job at Boot Barn several years ago to support her life-goal of becoming a country music artist.

Troubled teen retailer Aeropostale Inc. has been dealt another blow.

On Friday, the New York Stock Exchange suspended trading of the retailer’s stock with immediate effect, due to an "abnormally low" trading price.

Aeropostale does not intend to appeal the delisting. It said its shares will instead be traded on the OTCQX Best Market, an over-the-counter market operated by OTC Markets Group Inc. The new ticker is "AROP".

The Finish Line said that John Hall will join the company in mid-May as executive VP, divisional president and chief merchandising officer.

Hall, a 30-year Nordstrom executive, most recently served as VP, corporate merchandiser of Rack Menswear.

At Finish Line, Hall’s focus will span across consumer engagement touchpoints including stores and digital operations, merchandising and strategies involving the company’s product vision. He will drive the retailer’s brand growth strategies.