Apparel

Lululemon Athletica will open the first U.S. outpost of the brand’s design incubator “lab” format in downtown Manhattan, in March.

It’s only the second location for the unusual concept. The first, opened in 2009, is in the company’s hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia.

Retailers may find themselves banished to the Island of the Misfit Toys if they do not improve their handling of returned holiday purchases.

According to new data from Kurt Salmon, it took an average of 13.3 days for retailers to credit returns to accounts during the 2015 holiday season. This marked an improvement from the prior year’s 16.8 days, but still far from customers’ expectation of about seven days.

Sports Authority is taking steps towards filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, according to Bloomberg.

The retailer has a debt payment due in 10 days and in talk with its lenders about a reorganization plan under which it would close as many as 200 of its more than 450 stores, the report said.
 
Sports Authority reportedly skipped a $20 million in interest payment in January on a $343 million loan. It has 10 days to make the payment.

The CEO of General Growth Properties caused a firestorm late Tuesday when he made a passing reference during the company’s fourth quarter earnings call that Amazon was planning to open 300 to 400 bookstores. On Wednesday, the mall giant issued a very short statement that poured water on the fire.

“General Growth Properties CEO Sandeep Mathrani has indicated that a statement he made concerning Amazon during GGP's earnings conference call held on February 2, 2016, was not intended to represent Amazon's plans.”

Positive trends with its online business were not enough to help Kohl’s offset in-store weakness and intense competition, which pressured profits and caused a significant downward revision in guidance.

Kohl’s said its fourth quarter same-store sales increased 0.4% while the digital business grew 30%. Full year same store sales increase 0.7%.

Chain Store Age on Thursday announced the winners of its first annual Breakout Retailer Awards, which honors emerging retail/restaurant concepts that are innovative in their segment and show strong potential for growth.

Fabletics, the fashion athletic brand co-founded by actress Kate Hudson, is setting up shop in the nation’s largest shopping mall.

The retailer is set to open at Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, this spring. The 2,000-sq.-ft. store will feature the brand’s signature fashion-forward activewear for women and also its new line of men’s high performance athletic gear and lifestyle basics.

Fabletics was launched online in 2013. It made the leap to brick-and-mortar in fall 2015, and currently operates six stores.

Boot Barn reported double-digit profit and revenue growth in the third quarter helped by its recent acquisition of Sheplers.