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  • Commentary: Amazon accelerating e-commerce disruption of apparel

    Apparel is at a tipping point. E-commerce currently accounts for 17%-20% of total apparel sales in the U.S. Historically, when e-commerce surpasses the 20% threshold of a retail category Amazon comes in and makes a big wave, because Amazon is the main beneficiary of e-commerce capturing half of all growth in online retail. We’ve witnessed it time and time again in both media and electronics, and now it’s happening in apparel.  

  • Mini-Bellagio fountain debuts at Plano center

    Will public spaces be the new anchor tenants in the shopping centers and mixed-use facilities of the 21st Century?   That’s the opinion of J. Wickham Zimmerman, whose construction company Outside the Lines is unveiling a Bellagio-esque fountain that will present choreographed water shows at Legacy West in Plano, Texas.   “Retailers recognize the importance of integrating thoughtfully designed gathering spaces and artful show fountains to drive foot traffic,” Zimmerman said.

  • Survey: Employee theft on the rise

    In a sobering statistic, one out of every 27 employees was apprehended for theft from their employer in 2016.   That's according to “The 29th Annual Retail Theft Survey,” conducted by Jack L. Hayes International, a loss prevention and inventory shrinkage control consulting firm. The survey is based on reports on over 380,000 shoplifting apprehensions that took place in 23 large retail companies, representing 16,038 stores with combined 2016 annual sales in excess of $370 billion.   

  • Will a hole through a hill save a Mohave center?

    In the Mohave Valley of Arizona, a town has punched a hole through a hill to unite a challenged shopping center with the local mall to improve traffic.   Kmart will close its store in the City Square shopping center in Bullhead City, across the Colorado River from Laughlin, Nevada, leaving it without the anchor that was its prime draw. In fact, few locals even knew the name of the center, referring to it just as Kmart, according to the Mohave Valley Daily News.  

  • CBRE: E-commerce still lacks traction in some retail categories

    E-commerce has generated significant volumes of sales in the electronics and clothing industries, but has yet to gain traction in other retail sectors.  

  • Walmart doubling down on fashion with Bonobos acquisition

    Walmart is buying the hot men's clothing company Bonobos for $310 million in cash.    The move is in keeping with Walmart's recent efforts to beef up its online offerings and widen its appeal by buying digitally native brands that target millennials and younger consumers. Founded online in 2007, Bonobos has expanded its assortment over the years and has also opened 35 brick-and-mortar stores ("Guideshops"). It also has a partnership with Nordstrom.   

  • New company preps to relaunch the Bebe brand

    The Bebe brand is undergoing a transformation — thanks to a new parent company.   Global Brands Group Holding Limited, a leading branded apparel, footwear, and fashion accessories company — and a spin-off of global exporter Li & Fung Ltd., is partnering with the Bebe brand to relaunch a new e-commerce platform. In addition, the company will redesign the brand’s international brick-and-mortar stores to better meet the heightened shopping expectations of Bebe’s consumers.  

  • Report: Regional malls on the upswing since 2010

    Scads of national retail chains are seeing their concepts fade out, but regional malls are still firmly in the picture.   That’s the diagnosis put forth in a report titled “Why Mall Reuse is Just Beginning,” from the entrepreneur-driven real estate firm Transwestern. Some key data points include: *Regional malls have had positive net absorption since 2010, with the only blip in absorption occurring in 2009, at the height of the recession.
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