Department Store

Minneapolis – The corporate restructuring that has led Target Corp. to lay off 17.600 Canadian workers and 2,200 U.S. workers has reportedly hit the retailer’s Indian operation. According to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, Target has laid off 180 Indian employees and closed 125 open positons in India this week.

Target has pledged to eliminate several thousand positions, many from its corporate headquarters in Minneapolis, as part of a $2 billion restructuring plan instituted by CEO Brian Cornell.

 

Gap Inc. is eyeing the 110,000-sq.-ft.

GS1 US has recognized three companies with GS1 US Apparel and General Merchandise Retail Industry Achievement Awards.

Dallas - Neiman Marcus Group customers will be able to purchase items through the new “Buyable Pins” e-commerce service across Pinterest, including the company’s Pinterest page, later in June. Millions of pins on Pinterest will now become buyable, meaning customers will be able to purchase Neiman Marcus items they have pinned or discovered on any iOS-enabled device with a few taps.

New York - Charming Charlie has unveiled its first New York City flagship store. Situated on Fifth Avenue, the flagship is a showcase for the brand's new store concept, and was designed in partnership with Callison Architects.  

Stockholm, Sweden – Sweden-based global specialty apparel retailer H&M is planning to open its first store in India in fall 2015. The 25,000-sq.-ft. store will be located in New Delhi.

H&M, which currently operates more than 3,600 stores in 58 global markets, may open as many as 50 new stores in India during the next few years.

New York – Same-store sales generally showed modest growth in May 2015, on the whole meeting Wall Street analyst expectations. The apparel vertical in particular generally outperformed analyst predictions, although Gap, Banana Republic and Zumiez all reported negative same-store sales growth.

Following is a review of May same-store sales by vertical:

Apparel
Banana Republic: – 5%
The Buckle: 2.4%
Gap: – 6%
L Brands: 5%
Old Navy: 6%
Stein Mart: 1.9%

Kohl’s is stepping up again to make summer activities free for families this summer through a partnership with Summerfest.

The partnership will offer educational, fun and creative activities for children of all ages and their families, as well as the opportunity for patrons to gain free admission to the Summerfest festival.