Apparel

Women’s lifestyle brand and retailer Vera Bradley is the latest company to feel the negative sales effects of weaning shoppers off promotions, but the strategic shift has done wonders for the company’s bottom line.

When it comes to promoting high-end retail and product brands on social media, different platforms suit different companies.

Douglas Tompkins, co-founder of The North Face and an ardent conservationist and outdoorsman, died following a kayaking accident in his adopted country of Chile. Tomkins, 72, was the co-founder of two clothing companies that would grow into multi-billion dollar enterprises. In addition to North Face, he was a co-founder, along with his wife at the time, of Esprit. “He flew airplanes, he climbed to the top of mountains all over the world,” his daughter Summer Tompkins Walker told the New York Times.

When it comes to promoting high-end retail and product brands on social media, different platforms suit different companies.

According to new research from Engagement Labs, on Facebook, high-end shoe brand Christian Louboutin ranked first with the highest overall proprietary “eValue” social media measurement score, as well as the highest engagement and responsiveness scores among luxury brands studied.

Doug Tompkins, the founder of the North Face and Esprit apparel companies, died Tuesday in a kayaking accident in Chile. He was 72.

Tompkins was boating with others on a lake in Chile when his kayak capsized. Tompkins was rescued but spent a lengthy amount of time in the freezing water. He died of hypothermia in a hospital in Coyhaique.

Tompkins founded The North Face in 1964 as an outdoor outfitter and in 1968 he co-founded Esprit clothing, which would grow to do a billion dollars in sales. 

While athleisure apparel is still quite trendy these days, the creator of the trend, Lululemon Athletica, is struggling to grow profits as competitors threaten its value proposition.

For the third quarter ended Nov. 1, the company posted a profit of $53.2 million, or 38 cents a share, down from $60.5 million, or 42 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 14% to $479.8 million. Same store sales rose 6% for the second quarter in a row on a constant-currency basis.

JLL has entered into an agreement to acquire Big Red Rooster, a brand experience and retail design services company based in Columbus, Ohio.

The acquisition, expected to close in January 2016, will expand JLL’s project management and design services with dedicated brand experience and design experts who can serve a broad mix of retail, food service, grocery and healthcare companies across the United States.

Big Red Rooster counts Under Armour, FedEx, T-Mobile, American Express and Nationwide Children’s Hospital among its clients.

Many mall retailers have been having a tough time lately attracting shoppers, and Christopher & Banks was not immune to struggles with weak traffic in the third quarter.

The women's specialty retailer posted a net loss of $0.3 million, or 1 cent per share, for the third quarter ended Oct. 31, versus a year-ago profit of $9 million, or 24 cents per share. Net sales totaled $103.6 million, as compared to $110.6 million for the prior year. Same-store sales decreased 6.5%.