Direct To Consumer (DTC)

Amazon is expanding its same-day delivery service not just to all of Manhattan, but to other New York City boroughs as well, with unknown implications for the retail industry.

The e-commerce giant won't say, but it will say it has expanded its Prime Now same-day delivery service out of Manhattan for the first time and into select neighborhoods in Brooklyn.

The service allows Amazon Prime subscribers in neighborhoods such as Brooklyn Heights, Fort Greene and Prospect Heights to get free delivery on a limited selection of goods within two hours of ordering.

New York - Kenneth Cole Productions Inc. has appointed apparel industry veteran Marc Schneider as CEO, effective Feb. 23. Schneider will assume responsibility for the company's retail, outlet, e-commerce, international, licensing and wholesale businesses. He takes over from founder Kenneth Cole, who has served as interim CEO since February 2011.

Melville, N.Y. -- A&G Realty Partners, a leading commercial real estate, advisory and investment group, has been retained by C. Wonder to manage the sale of the three retail store leases and several office locations in New York City and Long Island, following the company’s recent Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

Build-A-Bear Workshop was busy building a lot of bears this holiday season, if the retailer’s same store sales are any indication.

The company reported that same store sales were up 9.9% for the quarter, with a 8.5 percent increase in North America and 14 percent increase in Europe. Build-A-Bear also saw an $11.8 million profit for the fourth quarter, more than double the $5.4 million profit it reported in the prior-year quarter.

Kenneth Cole Productions Inc. has appointed an apparel industry veteran as CEO.

Marc Schneider will assume responsibility for the company's retail, outlet, e-commerce, international, licensing and wholesale businesses. He takes over from founder Kenneth Cole, who has served as interim CEO since February 2011.

Merrillville, Ind. - Homeowners looking to upgrade their backyard in time for summer can now enter membership-based buying club DirectBuy’s “Backyard Dream-Over” sweepstakes for a chance to win outdoor furniture, appliances, and more. DirectBuy is utilizing gamification techniques by letting consumers play a game on mobile phone, PC or tablet for a chance to win up to 600 sweepstakes entries while learning about DirectBuy.

Minneapolis – Target Corp. is reportedly localizing the assortments at its smaller-footprint Target Express stores to a high degree.  The Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune reported that since opening its first Target Express in the Dinkytown neighborhood of Minnesota in summer 2014, the discounter has carefully considered local customer demographics when stocking shelves.

Cincinnati - Multichannel grocery shopping is surging across the globe, with the birth of a new child being a primary driver of an increased propensity to buy online. In addition, according to findings of a new study from customer service company dunnhumby, emerging and nascent markets are seeing the most growth with 97% and 89% year-on-year growth, respectively.

Luxury online retailer Gilt Groupe has been preparing for an IPO for a year now, but didn’t have enough cash. Now the retailer says it has raised another $50 million from venture backers.

Founded in 2007, Gilt is a New York-based e-commerce retailer that holds flash sales of discounted luxury items from clothing to home décor. The $50 million infusion brings Gilt’s total amount raised to about $250 million.

Software Paradigms International Group (SPI) has completed another acquisition, nabbing Direct Tech Inc., to bolster the company’s omnichannel service offering.

Direct Tech is a 25 year old company regarded as an industry leader in merchandise and inventory planning software and services for direct-to-consumer retailers.