eCommerce

Lands' End will be back on its own as a publicly traded company following a formal announcement by parent company Sears Holdings to spin off the well-known apparel brand.

The move follows years of speculation that Sears would divest the brand, which it acquired in May 2002 for $62 a share. At the time, Lands' End was a publicly traded company with revenues of nearly $1.6 billion, profits of $67 million and earnings per share of $2.23. The $62 a share Sears paid 12 years ago represented a 21.5% premium over the closing pricing of $51.02 prior to the announcement of the deal.

New York -- Sears Holdings Corp. said its board has approved the spin on of its Lands’ End business, effective April 4, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
 
The agreement, which was announced in December, will make Lands' End an independent company that will trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol “LE.”

Sears stockholders on record as of March 24 will receive about 0.3 shares of Lands' End common stock for each share of Sears they own.

By David Coleman, CEO and founder, Brandoogle

According to a recent IBM report, retailers should no longer feel threatened by the practice of retail showrooming. Agreed, and also great news for traditional brick-and-mortar retailers.

Retail showrooming is a known margin killer.

Bloomfield Hills, Mich. — Jimmy Johns has signed leases for three new restaurants in the Detroit metropolitan area, two in Livonia and one in Northville.

In Livonia, Jimmy Johns signed a 2,277-sq.-ft. lease on Middlebelt Road. Mid-America Real Estate-Michigan (www.midamericagrp.com) represented Jimmy Johns and the landlord, CVS, in the transaction.

Retailers are not giving shoppers the omnichannel experience they desire, according to new research from Accenture and Hybris, creating a huge opportunity for those able to successfully execute against elevated digital expectations.

Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores said fourth-quarter same-store sales declined 3.4% as two of the company’s best known brand had disappointing results. Sales in the fourth quarter declined 4.5% to $602.4 million due to the combination of a 3.4% same-store sales decline and an extra week in the fourth quarter the prior year, which added sales of $36.5 million. The same-store sales decline was made up of a 4% decline at the Hometown division and 1.5% decline at the outlet division.

Amazon plans to open a nearly 1 million-sq.-ft. fulfillment center in Kent, Wash. This will be the company’s fourth fulfillment center in the state. Amazon’s other Washington fulfillment centers are located in Sumner and Bellevue, and a DuPont site is near completion.

Austin, Texas – In addition to wanting to efficiently find and purchase products, online shoppers also want to have fun. According to a new survey from Compare Metrics and The E-tailing Group, 70% of shoppers want to go online to browse and have fun, but find current online shopping experiences uninspiring. When asked about their discovery experiences on top retail sites, shoppers gave a “mixed bag” average rating of six-out-of-10. Other key takeaways from the study include: