eCommerce

Specialty retailer Francesca’s says its third-quarter sales show initiatives such as reducing inventories and enhancing assortments are producing results ahead of a new growth strategy for the company.

For the third quarter ended Oct. 31, the company posted a net income of $6.95 million, down 4.4% from a year earlier, and earnings of 16 cents per diluted share, down 1 cent from the third quarter of 2014. Net sales were up 19% from one year ago, to $103.7 million. Same-store sales rose 4%.

Nashville, Tenn. -- GBT Realty Corporation announced it acquired a 13.1-acre site along Memorial Blvd in Murfreesboro, Tennessee for $2.4 million. The company plans to develop the site into The Shoppes of Northgate, a 98,000-sq.-ft. center anchored by a 30,000-sq.-ft. Sprouts Farmers Market, along with retail tenants PetSense, Liquor Barn and Newk’s Eatery. The construction of the $16 million retail center is expected to begin this month with store openings set for spring 2016.

What kinds of searches, ads and content are consumers interacting with before and after a tech purchase?

Women’s lifestyle brand and retailer Vera Bradley is the latest company to feel the negative sales effects of weaning shoppers off promotions, but the strategic shift has done wonders for the company’s bottom line.

Four Silicon Valley veterans are looking to reinvent brick-and-mortar retailing with a first-of-its-kind experience built on an unusual business model.

While athleisure apparel is still quite trendy these days, the creator of the trend, Lululemon Athletica, is struggling to grow profits as competitors threaten its value proposition.

For the third quarter ended Nov. 1, the company posted a profit of $53.2 million, or 38 cents a share, down from $60.5 million, or 42 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 14% to $479.8 million. Same store sales rose 6% for the second quarter in a row on a constant-currency basis.

Don’t be fooled by Costco’s tepid sales growth and first quarter profit decline. The company is accelerating expansion and pursuing some intriguing digital partnerships while members continue to renew at record rates.

Executives from Staples and virtual reality firm Magic Leap have joined the strategic advisory board of leading online handbags, luggage and backpacks retailer eBags.

Mike Edwards, eBags president and CEO, said Faisal Masud, executive VP of global e-commerce at Staples, and Scott Henry, CFO at Magic Leap, would bring a wealth of wealth of entrepreneurial and operational experience and an understanding of what it takes to excel in a fast-paced technology to eBags as the newest members of the board.