Direct To Consumer (DTC)

San Francisco -- Gap Inc. reported stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter results on Thursday, fueled by surging sales at Old Navy and strong online results. But it offered a disappointing profit outlook for 2015 as it feels the impact of the stronger U.S. dollar and West Coast port delays.

Old Navy navigated a big wave of sales during the holidays as Gap Inc. continued to try to revive its namesake Gap brand, with lackluster results.

The apparel retailing company reported that for the fourth quarter, same-store sales rose 11% and total sales rose 12% at Old Navy; company wide at Gap Inc, same store sales rose only 2%.

A new e-commerce startup is aiming to shift the paradigm in the world of online shopping with the release of a customizable deal dashboard.   Mytotefish.com offers a dashboard for users to organize their favorite stores (including coupons, sales and shipping deals) in one centralized location.   

Dublin, Calif. -- dd’s Discounts, a division of Ross Stores, Inc., will open a new store in north Jacksonville, Florida.  The opening is slated for Feb. 28.

The new store is located in Highland Square at Dunn Avenue and Monaco Drive off Interstate 95. Florida is the retailer’s third largest state with a total of 25 stores. Including this new location, dd’s Discounts will operate over 150 locations in 15 states.
 

New York - L.L. Bean provided the best overall customer service in the fiscal fourth quarter 2014, topping the first quarterly release of Stella Benchmarks. Companies included are part of StellaService’s daily customer care evaluations and weekly product orders.

Two companies – J.Crew and L.L. Bean – managed to rank in the Top 25 overall every month in 2014. So, it comes as no surprise that those two retailers are at the top of the most recent benchmarks.

Irvine, Calif. -- America's largest western and work wear retailer, Boot Barn, will open a store on March 6 at Arapahoe Crossing in Aurora, Colorado.

The new location will be the company's ninth store in Colorado and the 15th new store opened during this fiscal year.

With the opening of the new store in Aurora, Boot Barn has 166 stores from coast to coast.
 

American Apparel is bolstering its omnichannel effort with two new hires in marketing and digital engagement.

The company announced two leadership appointments: Thoryn Stephens has been named chief digital officer, a newly created position, and Cynthia Erland has been named SVP of marketing.

Seattle – Amazon.com is not the devil by any means, but the e-commerce giant is reportedly interested in “wearing” Prada and other high-end brand names on its site. According to Bloomberg, Amazon is in the midst of a major push to become a player in the word of designer fashion retailing.