Discount Store

Washington, D.C. – Back-to-school spending for both K-12 and college students is on the upswing this year. According to a study of more than 6,400 adults with children in K-12 and college conducted by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Prosper Insights, 29% of K-12 households plan to spend more in the current year than the previous year, as do almost 30% of college households.

All good things must come to end — including, after nearly four years, my contributions to this column. “Retail Rap” will soon be forging on without me. This is the first of two final columns I’ll be contributing, and I’ll beg your indulgence if I wax nostalgic at times in this, column number 99, and in my last submission two weeks from now, Retail Rap number 100.

Seattle – Nordstrom Inc. plans to open Nordstrom Rack at Waikiki Trade Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. The approximately 34,000-sq.-ft., two-level store is scheduled to open in spring 2016.

The property was acquired by Coastwood Capital Group, LLC in late 2013.

Columbus, Ohio -- Big Lots is diversifying its multicultural outreach. The off-price retailer announced the launch of Big Lots Latino, a new Spanish language information hub for Hispanic customers. The site provides culturally relevant information including tips and ideas on home decor, beauty & health, food & recipes, and crafts.

Big Lots is targeting Hispanic shoppers with a new Spanish language information hub for Latino customers. 

Big Lots Latino, which provides culturally relevant information including tips and ideas on home decor, beauty & health, food & recipes, and crafts, is just one additional way the company is diversifying its multicultural outreach to this rapidly growing segment of the U.S. population

T.J.Maxx has come up with a creative way to encourage shoppers to support children in need.

The retailer is launching the "Maxx Kids Art Contest" to support organizations that help children in need reach their full potential, such as Save the Children. Winning artwork will appear on future products sold in T.J.Maxx stores that will benefit children in need. In addition, all winners will receive a $250 savings bond.

Flying Tiger, the U.S. banner of Danish discounter Tiger, has landed in Manhattan, opening a 5,000-sq.-ft. outpost in the Flatiron district. The store has a modern Scandinavian look, with white walls, light wood flooring and a single aisle that winds through the space. The design focuses all the attention on the quirky, eclectic and very affordable product.

No great surprise that Walmart sits atop the Fortune 500 list of the world’s largest companies with its annual revenues of $485.6 billion.

Naturally, that raises familiar questions about future growth which were addressed by president and CEO Doug McMillon.

According to Fortune, Walmart is a crossroads as it transitions from the big-box era that propelled it to the world's largest company, to one in which customers are fussier about what they eat and can easily comparison shop thanks to the internet.