eCommerce

Samsonite has selected a cloud-based solution to enhance its omnichan-nel operations and improve order visibility, flexibility, profitability and speed.   The luggage company will deploy the Aptos Enterprise Order Management solution. The tool will serve as a central commerce hub and manage all orders throughout their lifecycle, from initiation to fulfillment and delivery.   

Kohl’s Corp. posted mixed results for its first quarter, as sales continued to decline but profit jumped amid expense control and more careful inventory management.    The retailer reported net income of $66 million, or 39 cents per share, in the quarter ended April 29, up from $17 million, or nine cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. The gain, much better than expected, came as the company cut general expenses by $33 million.   

Nordstrom beat the Street on earnings in its first quarter amid strong sales in its off-price division.     Nordstrom said it earned $63 million in the first quarter, compared with $46 million, in the year-ago period. The company earned an adjusted $0.43 a share, beating the $0.27 that analysts were expecting.   Total company net sales increased 2.7% to $3.3 billion. Same-store sales fell 0.8%, worse than expected.  Online sales accounted for 24% of total net sales.  

As Congress reconvened after Easter, retail operators had a tremendous amount at stake. The industry is in an unprecedented state of strife with major legacy brands announcing large-scale closures.

If that’s not enough, here is another one to consider: Roughly 80,000 retail workers lost their jobs in the past year, a total that is greater than the number of workers in the entire coal industry. Clearly the disruptive impact of the online economy is quickly and permanently taking its toll on traditional retail operators.

Trending Stores: The Frye Company’s location in Denver took top honors as Store of the Year in the 2017 Shop! store design competition. With a design that celebrates the artisan heritage of Frye, one of the country’s oldest footwear companies, the 2,460-sq.-ft. store has a warm and comfortable vibe, with a modern ski-lodge aesthetic. Local references include a massive working fireplace dressed with stone from local quarries, and rugs woven with American Indian motifs.

New store format emphasizes convenience

In its most ambitious store redesign to date, Target Corp. will debut its next-generation format in October, in a 124,000-sq.-ft. store in Richmond, Texas. The new prototype is designed for flexibility and convenience, and will offer open sight lines and elevated product presentations. It also comes with a variety of timesaving features, physical as well as digital.

In addition, 40 additional Target stores will receive elements of the redesign when they are updated, also in October. And there is more to come.

Abercrombie & Fitch may sell itself.   The teen apparel chain on Wednesday confirmed it is in preliminary discussions with several parties regarding a potential transaction with the company.   Abercrombie confirmed the news after Reuters reported that the retailer had hired an investment bank, Perella Weinberg Partners, to field takeover interest from other retailers.