Department Store

Sears Holdings announced that Jason Hollar has been promoted to CFO, effective immediately.     Hollar succeeds Robert A. Schriesheim, who the chain previously announced would be departing to focus on his other business interests and pursue other career opportunities.    Hollar, 43, joined Sears Holdings in October 2014 as senior VP, finance, overseeing the financial planning & analysis function, the business finance relationship with centralized finance, and procurement. 

Clint Pierce is joining Shoe Carnival as its VP, divisional merchandise manager for athletic footwear.   Pierce, who will oversee the athletic footwear category for the entire enterprise, will report to Carl Scibetta, executive VP, chief merchandising officer.    Most recently, Pierce served as senior VP, general merchandise manager for footwear and apparel at Sports Authority.   

First the good news: Retail sales rose 0.6% in September, after falling a revised 0.2% in August, according to figures by the Commerce Department.     The increase, the most in three months, was helped by a rebound of automobile and restaurant sales.    On the less positive front, excluding autos and gasoline, sales were up only 0.1%, less than economics predicted.    

Macy’s on Friday became the first department store retailer to open an in-store Apple shop.   The shop is located on the main floor of Macy’s New York City flagship in Herald Square. Similar to in-store Apple shops at Best Buy, it features light wood tables. The product line-up includes iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, and Apple watches.  

Neil Saunders, CEO of Conlumino, a New York-based retail research agency and consulting firm, offers the following insights on September sales results.  

Thinking about setting up shop between 49th and 60th Streets on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue? Better be prepared to pay big bucks.   The upper part of Fifth Avenue is the most expensive retail street in the world (based on rental value), with rents rising to a whopping $3,500 per square foot in 2015, according to the 27th edition of Cushman & Wakefield’s report, Main Streets Across The World.  

An assessor processes your annually filed personal property tax return and assigns a value based on the cost of and age of your store fixtures. Is that assessment correct?    Increasingly the answer is “no” in a fast-changing retail environment in which online sales are turning in-store shelves into museum pieces. Online sales have increased 75.8%, to $341.7 billion, over the past five years alone. Statista forecasts that to double by 2020.  

Cole Haan has brought its new store design to the West Coast, opening a flagship at South Coast Plaza, in Costa Mesa, California.   Featuring an all metal and glass storefront with backlit frosted transom, the store has a natural elegance and warm residential feel.