Department Store

Iconix Brand Group has sold the rights to the Sharper Image brand and related intellectual property assets to the company that recently bought FAO Schwarz from Toys “R” Us.      Iconix sold Sharper Image to ThreeSixty Group, which manufactures and distributes toys and other consumer products to stores nationwide, for $100 million in cash. ThreeSixty is also Sharper Image’s largest licensee.   

Sears Holdings Corp. has received another lifeline courtesy of CEO Eddie Lampert.    The struggling retailer said it has received loan, called a secured letter of credit, for $200 million, with an option to expand the amount to as much as $500 million with the consent of lenders.  

Noted retail real estate expert Faith Hope Consolo has high hopes for 2017, predicting that bigger-spending millennials and recession-proof retailers will keep sales humming on high streets and in malls, if not in department stores.   “Millennials are going to start shopping differently this coming year,” Consolo told Chain Store Age. “It used to be they’d spend up to 75% of their disposable income on food, but that was a fad. This year, they will start spending more on fitness and fashion.”  

While most retailers reduced traditional advertising spend in favor of digital sources this holiday season, Amazon made an unprecedented move to television.   This was according to the “MediaRadar Trend Report” that examined holiday advertising spend among Amazon, Walmart, Target, Macy’s, Sears, Kohl’s, Nordstrom, and J.C. Penney, between October and November 2016.    When comparing holiday ad spend by retailer, here is how the companies fared:  

As the new year begins, it’s not looking very good for the ailing Limited Stores.   Reports are coming in from around the country of Limited store closings, The Columbus Dispatch reported. In Florida, some stores closed after business hours on Christmas Eve.  

Sears Holdings’ store portfolio continues to shrink.   The struggling retailer told employees on Tuesday that it will close 30 Sears and Kmart stores in early 2017, reported Business Insider.  

Los Angeles-based Nasty Gal, which filed for bankruptcy protection in November, may soon have a British owner.   Boohoo.com is bidding $20 million (£16.3 million) for the brand and its customer databases as the “stalking horse” candidate. Based in Manchester, England, Boohoo specializes in fast-fashion and targets teens and young women, the same audience as Nasty Gal.      

Holiday procrastinators may have saved retailers this year.       A jump in consumer spending in the final home stretch helped to offset a slow start to the U.S. holiday shopping season, and is likely to help many retailers beat sales forecasts, Reuters reported.