eCommerce

Much has been said lately about the proliferation of mobile and online shopping. But brick-and-mortar retail continues to thrive – a fact that tends to get glossed over.

Seattle – The flop of Amazon’s Fire smartphone device last year continues to have repercussions.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Amazon has laid off dozens of employees who worked on developing Fire at its Lab126 innovation center in Silicon Valley.

GameStop Corp. grew sales and revenue in the second quarter, but it also took steps to expand its non-gaming business.

For the second quarter ended Aug. 1, the retailer’s net income rose 3% to $25.3 million from $24.6 million. Total global sales rose 2% to $1.76 billion from $1.73 billion, and consolidated global same-store sales increased 8.1% (10.8% in the U.S. and 1.8% internationally).

Brisbane, Calif. – Bebe Stores Inc. continues to expand its global presence.

Bebe announced it has signed a five-year strategic cooperation agreement with Shanghai-based brand agency Longgoal LLC to open between 60 and 150 Bebe stores, shop-in-shops and third-party retailers in Greater China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. The first store is expected to open in the summer of 2016.

Dallas – Some major retailers are participating in the 30th Retailing Summit conference hosted by The Texas A&M University’s Center for Retailing Studies at Mays Business School.

Marvin Ellison, the new CEO of The J.C. Penney Co. Inc. and Barry Beck, co-founder and COO of Bluemercury, which was recently purchased by Macy’s, will be among the speakers at the conference, held Oct. 8-9 at the Westin Galleria in Dallas.

New York -- Macy’s is set to unveil its new store banner, the off-price Macy’s Backstage, in the Queens borough of New York City and Huntington, New York, on Sept. 2.

The store offers a no-frills shopping experience, according to the Associated Press, which was given a sneak peek at the new format.

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Workwear brand Carhartt has opened a flagship in the city where it was founded in 1889.  

Birmingham, Ala. – Books-A-Million needs more best-sellers.

A lack of hit books hit fiscal results of Books-A-Million Inc. during the second quarter of fiscal 2015. Net loss grew to $5.8 million from $3 million the same quarter a year earlier, with costs and expenses rising or staying flat in the face of slipping revenues.

Net sales dipped to $107.9 million, from $108.3 million. Same-store sales dropped 0.3%.