Department Store

Kohl’s has been offering the Apple Pay mobile payment app for store purchases since June 2015. But the retailer is now taking it to another level, more tightly integrating its private credit and loyalty programs with the third-party platform.

In a move rumored for weeks, Aéropostale on Wednesday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The struggling teen apparel retailer said it would close 113 stores in the United States and all 41 of its stores in Canada. Store closing sales in the United States will begin this weekend (May 7-8), and in Canada during the week of May 9.

Aeropostale will reportedly file for bankruptcy protection this week and subsequently close more than 100 of its 800 stores, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The struggling teen apparel retailer plans to reorganize under a Chapter 11 filing this week ahead of May rent payments, the report said. On Aeropostale has been struggling for some time. The chain has recorded three consecutive years of losses as its struggles to deal with a teen audience whose spending tastes now favor fast-fashion giants such as H&M as well as online retailers.

Wal-Mart and other retailers who operate stores in Canada’s Quebec province are going to have make some changes to their store signage.

The Quebec government plans to modify the language laws of the province, where French is the predominant language, to add French to their exterior signage. Companies, however, will not have to change their trademarks.

Retailers who fail to maintain a clean, well-maintained store are putting themselves at a strong competitive disadvantage.

That’s the takeaway from a new survey conducted by Harris Poll for the Cintas Corp., which found that 93% of U.S. adults would not return to a retailer if they experienced some type of issue related to the facility. The top five factors that would turn patrons away from a store were:

• General bad odor – 78%
• Dirty restrooms (e.g., floors, stalls, mirrors, odor) – 66%

Online sales and returns are taking toll on retailers’ bottom lines.

Operating earnings as a percent of sales has declined by up to 25% due to a shift from in-store to online sales, combined with e-commerce and omnichannel investments and the high cost of fulfilling e-commerce transactions, according to a study by strategic retail advisory firm HRC Advisory.

Sears Holdings has been having issues attracting shoppers to stores, as evidenced by the recent decision to close 78 brick-and-mortar locations.

However, the department store retailer is not giving up on efforts to drive store traffic. Sears is combining the eternal appeal of Mom and its strong history of omnichannel customer service to give shoppers a good reason to visit their local store.

There is a lot of tenant activity going on at the Miracle Miles Shops in Las Vegas with several notable retailers expanding, renovating and growing new concepts.