Department Store

Surging sales at Old Navy helped Gap Inc. offset sales declines at its namesake division and its Banana Republic stores in March. 

Gap Inc. reported that net sales for the five-week period ended April 4 increased 1 percent to $1.53 billion compared with net sales of $1.51 billion for the five-week period ended April 5.

New York -- Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th will open its first store in Los Angeles County, in the Beverly Connection shopping center in Beverly Hills California.

The new two-level, 27,000-sq.ft. store will be fashioned in an open, modular layout.

“Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th’s move to Beverly Hills is an exciting venture for us,” stated Jonathan Greller, president of outlets, HBC (Saks’ parent company).
 

New York -- Specialty retailer L Brands continued its winning ways in March, reporting a 9% increase in same-store sales, higher than expectations. Total sales increased 10% to $981.2 million, from $923.7 million in the year ago period.

The Cato Corp. also turned in a winning performance, with a 12% surge in March same-store sales. For the nine weeks ended April 4, sales totaled $197.5 million, up 5% from $188.98 million a year earlier.

An early Easter helped Stein Mart post an impressive 7.9% boost in same store sales for the first quarter.

Stein Mart reported sales of $244.4 million for the nine weeks ending April 4, a 10.6% increase over that period the year before. The sales growth was especially strong in March, according to the release.

The company reported $155.8 million in sales for the five weeks ending April 4, a 14.2% increase over that time the year before. Same store sales were up 11.2% for March. 

Union, N.J. – Bed, Bath & Beyond Inc. missed Wall Street expectations with its fourth quarter 2014 profit and sales results. In addition, the company indicated that it may join Walmart and other retailers in raising wages for employees.

During the fourth quarter, Bed, Bath & Beyond reported net earnings of $321.1 million, down 4% from $333.3 million a year earlier. Higher cost of sales and selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses helped drive down earnings.

Amazon’s Prime membership is starting to crowd out traditional retailers like Walmart and Target, according to Forbes.

The magazine reports that research consultant Millward Brown Digital found that consumers with Prime accounts –- of which there are reportedly 40 million subscribers –- are less likely to visit other retail sites when making online purchases.

Japanese retailer Uniqlo's U.S. expansion is picking up speed as the company prepares to open its first-ever stores in the Seattle, Denver and Washington, D.C.

Chicago -- ShopperTrak, a leading provider of consumer behavior insights and location-based analytics, is teaming up with the shopping app, shopkick, to deliver in-store beacon and analytics technologies that allow retailers to engage with shoppers throughout their time in the store and deliver an enhanced shopping experience.