Department Store

Williams-Sonoma Inc. on Wednesday reported better-than-expected quarterly results, fueled by a strong performance at its millennial-targeted West Elm division.    The home furnishings retailer's first-quarter earnings were $39.6 million, or 45 cents a share, compared with $39.6 million, or 44 cents a share, in the year-ago period. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 51 cents a share. Analysts had forecast earnings of 49 cents a share.   

PREIT’s mall-pruning program picked up during the retail real estate industry’s big RECon show.   As the show floor opened in Las Vegas, the Philadelphia-based company announced it had put up for sale Logan Valley Mall in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and Valley View Mall in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. PREIT reported it had received unsolicited interest in these properties and was willing to dispose of them to increase its cash position.  

Sears Holdings Corp. has bought itself a little more time with regard to the maturity of some debt. It also has offloaded some of pension liability.      The retailer announced on Tuesday it has reached an agreement to repay $100 million of its secured $500 million loan facility at its original maturity in July, and extend the remaining amount until January 2018. The agreement includes an option to extend the maturity for an additional six months, to July 2018.  

A former Lowe's executive whose resume includes a 16-year stint at Stapes has joined the executive leadership team at J.C. Penney.   Penney said Marci Grebstein will join the company as executive VP, chief marketing officer, in June. Grebstein succeeds Mary Beth West who stepped down as Penney's marketing head on April 1, 2017, after two years on the job, and went on to join The Hershey Company.   

A current retail CEO and a former one found themselves at odds on Tuesday at a Capitol Hill hearing on the proposed border adjustment tax.    “Under the new border adjustment tax, American families – your constituents – would pay more so many multinational corporations can pay even less,” said Target CEO Brian Cornell. “Eighty-five percent of Americans shop at Target every year. We believe this new tax would hit those families hard, raising prices on everyday essentials by up to 20%.”

The proposed border adjustment tax would have a negative financial impact on retailers and consumers, as well.    Retailers would “have no choice” but to pass the higher costs on to consumers if Congress passes a proposed $1 trillion border adjustment tax as part of tax reform, the National Retail Federation warned on Tuesday.  

Someone forgot to tell Bluemercury about the slowdown in physical retail.    The beauty retailer, which was purchased by Macy’s in 2015, plans to open some 40 stores in 2017, according to a report by the Chicago Tribune, including six in Chicago. Currently, it has nearly 200 locations nationwide.   

Deborah Butler grew up in a college town. More importantly, she watched her family grow one store into a mega-retail-complex in Gainesville, Florida, that keeps on growing. The University of Florida has been very, very good to Butler and her family, and Butler has lots to say about the symbiotic relationship of higher education and retail.