Apparel

Brand-building consultant Denise Lee Yohn has released her annual “Brands to Watch” list for 2017. There are 26 companies on the list, with retail and social media brands accounting for 10 of the spots.  Here’s a review:   Barnes & Noble. The venerable bookstore chain has let its CEO go, lowered sales expectations, and shrunk its footprint by dozens of stores. Meanwhile Amazon Books is opening stores. Is 2017 the year B&N’s death will become imminent?!  

Michaels came up short in the third quarter, posting earnings and revenue that missed analysts’ forecasts.   The art and craft retailer reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of 40 cents per diluted share, missing analysts' estimates of 43 cents per share.   Net sales increased 5.0% to $1.227 billion, primarily a result of the acquisition of Lamrite West in February 2016 and sales from 19 additional stores.  

Gordmans Stores named Ramin Mozafari as senior VP of planning and allocation.   Mozafari joins Gordmans from Kohl's Department Stores, where he most recently was senior VP, divisional merchandise manager for accessories. Prior to Kohl's, from 2008 to 2012, he served DSW, where he held various merchandising roles including VP, general merchandise manager.  

Luxury jewelry brand John Hardy evokes its Balinese roots at its new, multi-sensory flagship in Manhattan’s SoHo.   

Rebecca Minkoff is looking to bring self-checkout to fashion retailing.   The fashion retailer has debuted a self-checkout system at its Manhattan flagship, Fastcodedesign.com reported, developed by tech startup QueueHop.  

There is one trend from the past couple of years shows no signs of stopping anytime soon: the movement of online-only retailers to the physical space. If anything, it’s gaining more momentum.      According to JLL’s Screens to Stores report, even more online retailers will experiment with physical locations in the next five years.    

With many Thanksgiving weekend digital purchases stemming from searches, the convenience of mobility is helping to drive this uptick.   That’s according to the “2016 Search Spend and Purchase Report,” from NetElixir. The study analyzing more than 11 million visits across four different verticals (food and gourmet, consumer electronics, apparel and gifting), starting on Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday.  

The new, 45,000-sq.-ft. adidas flagship in New York City is the athletic giant’s largest store in the world — and its most brand immersive.    Sleek and ultra-modern looking, the store marks the debut of adidas’ stadium retail concept, which is inspired by high school stadiums and celebrates creativity in sport. It features a tunnel entrance, high-school reminiscent bleacher stands for live-game viewing on big screens, locker room-styled dressing rooms and track and turf sections where customers can try out products.