Department Store

The South Plains Mall in Lubbock, a dominant retail center in the Texas Panhandle for 40 years, this week unveils a series of updates for customers.   The Macerich-owned mall has redesigned all three of its entrances, added new flooring and lighting throughout the building, and introduced amenities including center-wide Wi-Fi, charging stations, soft seating, and new restrooms.  

Things are looking up at Chico’s FAS.   The women’s apparel retailer on Tuesday reported net income of $23.6 million for the third quarter, after reporting a net loss of $11.6 million in the same period a year earlier.   Chico’s had a profit of 18 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to 20 cents per share. The results topped Wall Street expectations.  

Cost cuts help improve Barnes & Noble’s profitability in the third quarter even as its sales continued to decline.    “While we are pleased to have improved our performance due to expense reductions, we did experience sluggish sales, which we believe are directly related to the election cycle,” said Len Riggio, chairman and CEO of Barnes & Noble. "With the election behind us, we hope and expect sales will improve over the holidays."  

Furniture manufacturer Herman Miller continues its transformation from a maker of modern office furniture to a lifestyle brand with the opening of its first retail store.     The 6,000-sq.-ft. Herman Miller store is located on the ground and second floors of Herman Miller's flagship building on Park Avenue South in Manhattan. The building houses corporate office space for Maharam, Design Within Reach, and Geiger — all Herman Miller owned companies — along with commercial showrooms for Herman Miller and Geiger.

In October of this year, Periscope By McKinsey conducted online research of more than 1,000 consumers in the U.S. to understand their attitudes towards Black Friday and expected shopping patterns.   

Nordstrom is taking its gift card program industry-wide.   Leveraging its partnership with CashStar, Nordstrom is using the CashStar Business platform to streamline the sale of its gift cards — both plastic and digital — to business partners.   Called the Nordstrom Gift Cards for Business program, the department store retailer is streamlining orders, and enabling partners to securely place, pay for and manage orders, as well as load cards with $5 to $2,000 per card.  

With the Black Friday weekend nearly here, there are clear winners when it comes to social media engagement.   At the head of the class is Sephora, with 2.4 million consumer interactions (reactions, comments, shares, retweets, favorites) across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Sephora’s top status is being driven by its success on Instagram, a site that reveals high consumer enthusiasm for the retailer’s offerings of makeup box sets and key brands, such as Bite Beauty and Urban Decay, as well as its own collection.

Neptune/6th, a redevelopment of the former site of Trump Village Shopping Center and the Royal Palace Baths in Brooklyn’s Coney Island section, has secured leases from CVS and Apple Bank as it looks toward a summer 2017 opening of its first phase. Cammeby’s is the developer.   That phase will include 161,000 sq. ft. of retail, office, and parking in a standalone space across from the old Trump Village site. Three further phases will add 165,000 sq. ft. of retail and parking and a 575-unit residential tower.