eCommerce

AUSTIN, Texas — Whole Foods Market sees demand for 1,000 new stores in the U.S. and thinks Canada and the U.K. hold great promise as well, based on its sales increase of 12% to $3.1 billion for the third quarter ended July 7, from $2.7 billion for the same year-ago period.

Sandy Springs, Ga. -- Online consumers in the United States are motivated by the ability to conduct transactions across multiple channels with convenience and positive shipping experiences. These are two of the key findings of a new study from UPS and comScore, “Pulse of the Online Shopper.”

Los Angeles -- Candy emporium Sweet! Hollywood has opened its flagship location at the Hollywood & Highland Center, in Hollywood, Calif.

The store is designed as a one-of-a-kind retail entertainment experience by envisioning the proverbial kid in a candy store and bringing that vision to life.

Chicago -- Fashion Outlets of Chicago, a 530,000-sq.-ft. retail destination located just minutes from O'Hare International Airport and 15 miles from downtown Chicago, will open its doors for the first time on Aug. 1.

By Tom Friedman, [email protected]

New York -- Coach Inc. on Tuesday reported a 12% drop in net income in its fourth quarter amid weaker same-store sales in North America, and also said it would sell its Reed Krakoff business to a group led by Reed Krakoff, who will depart the company as executive creative director when the deal is completed.

Seattle -- Nordstrom said it plans to open a Nordstrom Rack at 505 Fulton Street in Brooklyn, N.Y. The approximately 41,000-sq.-ft. store is scheduled to open in spring 2014.  The developer for the project is United American Land LLC.

The store will feature a unique design that will blend the architecture of the site — the landmark Offerman building — with the contemporary style of an adjacent, newly built structure. The single-level store will occupy the second floor retail space.

Emeryville, Calif. – Consumers in the U.S. and U.K. feel overwhelmed by targeted apparel marketing messages, but are responsive to messaging that includes genuinely personalized information. A new study of 409 U.S. and U.K. consumers from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) indicates that 66% of consumers say that many personalized apparel messages are annoying because attempts at personalization are superficial.

Boca Raton, Fla. -- Office Depot reported a net loss, as well as declining total sales and same-store sales, during a disappointing second quarter of fiscal 2013. The retailer’s net loss of $64 million was the same net loss it reported in the second quarter of fiscal 2012. Excluding pre-tax charges, including some relating to the planned OfficeMax merger, and non-cash store asset impairment charges, the net loss would have been $28 million.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Sports Authority has named Stephen Binkley as the company’s new CMO. He replaces EVP, chief merchant and CMO Greg Waters, who has decided to resign his position to pursue personal interests after 24 years at the company. 

During his tenure at Sports Authority, Waters held several leadership roles, including EVP, marketing and merchandising, COO and SVP of store operations.