Apparel

Last week, Oracle hosted its second annual Oracle Industry Connect conference in Washington, D.C. This seat of world power was an appropriate setting for a two-day summit explaining how retailers can use technology to obtain better control of every aspect of their enterprises.

Here are three key lessons attendees gleaned from Oracle Industry Connect:

Customers are the Best Salespeople

Minneapolis - Christopher & Banks Corp, has named Edwin J. Holman to its board of directors, following a search process with the assistance of a national search firm. Holman’s election increases the number of board members to nine and the number of independent directors to eight.

Holman is also expected to be a nominee for election at the company’s next annual meeting of stockholders. Holman, 68, served as interim CEO of The Pantry Inc. from October 2011 until March 2012.

Grapevine, Texas -- GameStop on Thursday said it plans to open between 350 to 550 stores in its technology brands segment (whose banners include Simply Mac, Cricket and Spring Mobile, which sells post-paid AT&T services and wireless products through its 358 AT&T branded stores) while closing about 3%,  some  200, of its 6,000 GameStop video locations in 2015.

Seattle -- Canadian outdoor clothing and gear retailer Arc’teryx has launched a new line of hiking footwear today using a 3D platform from Seattle-based startup Prizmiq's. The platform is designed to allow online customers to engage with the shoes the same way they would in the Arc'teryx store.

Indianapolis – Lids Sports Group fully understands the importance of the brick-and-mortar channel when it comes to omnichannel commerce and customer experience. As Kevin Thompson, director of application development for Lids, told attendees of the recent Oracle Industry Connect conference, the retailer has implemented the Micros Locate inventory visibility solution to enable full inventory access at stores.

“It’s a customer service issue,” said Thompson. “We don’t want to disappoint customers.”

New York -- From extreme-value discounters to c-store operators, retailers across the board are expanding their brick-and-mortar portfolios in 2015. Here’s a review:

• Dollar General will open 730 new stores and remodel 875 existing locations.

• DSW Inc. will open 35 stores, including locations in at least 12 new markets.

• Express is ramping up its new outlet format with 30 locations.

Forbes is reporting that Amazon.com is in the preliminary stages of a deal to buy luxury retailer Net-a-porter, which could be its biggest acquisition ever according to the magazine.

Seattle-based Amazon has been making moves to expand its presence in the world of upscale fashon retailing by increasing its luxury apparel offerings.

Swiss-owned Net-a-porter has been valued at $2 billion euro.

Belk blamed costs associated with strategic initiatives for its drop in profit in the fourth quarter.

The retailer reported a 7.8% decrease in net income to $146.1 million during the fiscal year that ended Jan. 31, compared with from $158.5 million in fiscal 2014.