eCommerce

Smyrna, Ga. -- A groundbreaking ceremony has officially launched construction on Belmont, a 48-acre mixed-use development that will feature restaurants, retail shops, single-family homes and luxury rental apartments on the site of the former Belmont Hills Shopping Center in Smyrna, Georgia.
 
The development will include a 153-home single-family residential subdivision by David Weekley Homes; a 274-unit luxury apartment community by Wood Partners; and a 47,593-sq.-ft. neighborhood retail center, which developer Halpern Enterprises will build.

San Jacinto, Calif. -- Circle K Stores, Inc. has broken ground on its newest flagship prototype in Southern California, a 4,500-sq.-ft. convenience store offering fresh food, a gas station with eight fuel pumps, and a self-serve state-of-the-art carwash. The combo concept, located in the city of Jacinto, is expected to be open for business in late 2014.

Abercrombie & Fitch credited an ongoing profit improvement initiative as driving its net income growth in the second quarter, which increased 13% to $12.9 million, from $11.4 million a year ago, and beat Wall Street estimates.

But the company’s revenue decreased 5.8% to $890.6 million in the quarter, and same-store sales dropped 7%, with U.S. same-store sales down 5%. The third quarter may see some progress, however, since it will include back-to-school sales.

Hamilton, Bermuda – Sixty-five days of performance from its new Zale division cut net income at Signet Jewelers Ltd. but boosted sales at Signet Jewelers Ltd. in the second quarter of fiscal 2015. Expenses related to the Zale acquisition helped reduced net income 13% to $58 million, from $67.4 million a year earlier.

Grocery-anchored centers respond to changing consumer tastes and consolidation

As supermarket tenants are challenged to meet the needs of an increasingly diversified and sophisticated consumer base, and given the significant trend toward consolidation, landlords are tasked with delivering top-notch grocery-anchored centers — with a diminishing number of anchors from which to choose.

Add in growing pressure on the grocery segment from competitors in the mass merchandise, discount and even dollar store verticals, plus small — but real — grocery in

AccuStore, a leading provider of site intelligence for retailers and multi-site operators, has added former ShopperTrak president and CEO Jan Davis to the board of AccuStore’s parent company, GSP.

Fort Myers, Fla. – Chico’s FAS Inc. reported net income of $30.1 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2014, down 31% from $43.6 million in the year-ago period. Price cuts needed to clear seasonal merchandise were a primary driver of Chico’s lower net income. Its results missed Wall Street expectations.

Net sales for the quarter ended August 2, 2014, were $671.1 million, up 3.3% from $649.5 million in the previous year, primarily reflecting the addition of 98 net new stores.  

Total same-store sales rose 0.3%.

Leading U.S. bookstore chain and online bookseller Books-A-Million has named James Phelps as VP of e-commerce.

“We are pleased to welcome James to Books-A-Million, and look forward to him bringing his expertise to our team as we continue to build our digital business,” said Cy Fenton, Books-A-Million’s CIO and president of Booksamillion.com.