Department Store

New York -- The consumer electronics and furniture sectors of the retail industry can look forward to growth in 2015, while the apparel sector faces a more mixed outlook. That was the message sounded by CIT Commercial Services executives during a roundtable discussion, "Everyone Looks Good in the Black: Retailers in the Economic Rebound,” part of the CIT Executive Insights series.

During the discussion, each CIT executive offered their views on the top trends they see ahead in various sectors of the retail market:

Ann Arbor, Mich. - Customer satisfaction with retail is down for the first time in four years. According to a report by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), all brick-and-mortar retail categories show weakening or flat customer satisfaction for the fourth quarter of 2014.  Internet retail satisfaction, however, is up from the same quarter in 2013.

Customer satisfaction with retail is on the decline for the first time in four years, according to a report by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI).

The report says brick-and-mortar retail show weakening or flat customer satisfaction, while Internet retail is up from a year ago.

Seattle – Nordstrom Inc. has named Shellye L. Archambeau, CEO of GRC/quality management software provider MetricStream Inc., to the company's board of directors. Her addition brings the total number of directors to 13, 10 of whom serve as independent directors.

Armonk, N.Y. - Consumers headed online for their Valentine’s Day shopping this year. According to IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark data, during Valentine’s week (Feb. 7 – 13) online shopping rose 10.2% from the same period in 2014.

In addition to overall sales, consumers ramped up their shopping efforts the week leading up to Valentine’s Day. Growth was seen in key verticals including:

Mahwah, N.J. -- Ascena Retail Group is eliminating its fledgling boys brand, Brothers, as part of a strategic review of its Justice business. Ascena launched the Brothers brand about three years ago as a way to enter the tween boys market. The company created Brothers stores inside some of its Justice stores.

Operations related to the Brothers brand are expected to be fully wound down by the end of the company’s fiscal year.

Urban Outfitters is taking its omnichannel strategy to the next level by relocating its e-commerce fulfillment center to a new, 1 million square foot building in Pennsylvania.   The retail company plans to relocate its Trenton, S.C., e-commerce fulfillment center to a new building in Gap, Pa. Construction of the fulfillment center in Gap is on schedule to be complete by July.  

Retail sales will accelerate in 2015 and grow at the fastest pace since 2011, according to a recent forecast from the National Retail Federation.

The trade group said Retail sales (excluding automobiles, gas stations, and restaurants) will increase 4.1% in 2015, up from 3.5% in 2014. The increase would mark the biggest annual growth since 2011 when retail sales for the year increased 5.1%. Non-store sales in 2015 are expected to grow between 7% and 10%.