eCommerce

While the phrase gateway markets can be a little bit nebulous – and different people have different ideas about the exact list of cities that qualify – the term is well understood to refer to large mature cities with a track record of population growth, great demographics and a strong and diverse economic foundation.

Online specialty luggage retailer eBags Inc. has restructured its senior leadership ranks with several new hires and the promotion of long-time executives.

Scott Erdman has been named chief merchandising officer and Krista Paul is joining as VP of content innovation. eBags also appointed Mike Frazzini CTO and Chris Seahorn VP of marketing.

The Sports Authority on Wednesday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and said it plans to close or sell as many as 140 of its 463 stores nationwide. The beleaguered company has struggled in recent years under increased competition not only from online players, but also from the likes of Dick’s Sporting Goods and specialty retailers such as Lululemon that have capitalized on the “athleisure” boom in fitness apparel.

Abercrombie & Fitch's efforts to attract more shoppers are paying off, as the company reported an increase in same store sales for the fourth quarter.

The teen retailer announced adjusted earnings of $1.08 a share for the period ended Jan. 30. Net sales were $1.11 billion. Same store sales jumped 1%, the first gain in overall same store sales since the third quarter ended October 29, 2011, according to Bloomberg.

American Eagle Outfitters didn’t exactly soar in the fourth quarter, but its low single-digit same-store sales increase was better than most and benefitted from recent store closures.

Total company sales increased 3% to $1.11 billion and same store sales grew 4% after a flat performance in the fourth quarter the prior year. Earnings per share increased 17% to 42 cents from the 36 cents earned from continuing operations the prior year. The company expects its first quarter same store sales to increase in the mid-single digits.

Nordstrom Rack is coming to Memphis.

The off-price retailer plans to open a 33,000-sq.-ft. store at Poplar Commons in Memphis, in the fall of 2017. The store is leased from Seritage Growth Properties who is replacing an existing Sears building with a 135,000-sq.-ft. shopping center.

“We're excited to bring our first Nordstrom Rack to Memphis and can't wait to open our doors in 2017," said Geevy Thomas, president of Nordstrom Rack.

Teen and pre-teen retailer Five Below has big plans to bring its brand of extreme value retail to the Sunshine State.

The company will hold a grand opening of its first store in Miami on March 2, giving it a total of 15 locations in the state, and said over time is expects to open 100 more stores. This store is located at Causeway Plaza, 12195 Biscayne Blvd, North Miami.

Product discovery is not a game, and GameStop Corp. is using a newly expanded ship from store program to bring goods as close to its customers as possible.

“We discovered 66% of our total unique SKUs were only represented on our store shelves, not in the warehouse,” Jason Allen, VP of multichannel operations for Grapevine, Texas-based GameStop told Chain Store Age in an interview. “Unless the customer came in a particular store that had that product on the shelf, there was no discovery.”