eCommerce

Don’t let the grocery sector shake-ups fool you.

While there are individual failures, the category as a whole continues to find favor among developers that place a premium on having a traffic magnet in their shopping centers.

Foot Locker is kicking up its heels in the United Kingdom. The footwear giant has opened a new format — The Locker Room — with an eye to rolling it out throughout England and continental Europe. The concept expands Foot Locker’s core strength in athletic footwear to include apparel and accessories for a wide range of performance sports.

With more and more consumers accessing social network sites to gather input and post reviews, Chain Store Age spoke with Dick Reed, CEO of Just Media, on a subject that is a top priority for retailers across the board: how to reach out to consumers in today’s social media world.

Your company has done some detailed research on how consumers make buying decisions in today’s social media world. Tell us about it.

All eyes are on J.C. Penney Co. as it rolls out the first wave of its branded shops to nearly 700 stores nationwide. 

The Annual State of the Industry Report is the centerpiece of this issue of Chain Store Age, and it’s a great read. It’s also very timely.

The addition of new stores and a 3.8% same-store sales increase enabled Dick’s Sporting Goods to report record second-quarter results, so long as a botched investment in a leading U.K retailer is excluded.

Sale for the quarter ended July 28 increased 10% to $1.4 billion due primarily to a 3.8% comps increase combined with the addition of four new stores. The 3.8% increase consisted of a 2.9% increase at Dick’s Sporting Goods stores, a 4.4% increase at Dick’s Golf Galaxy stores and a 34.6% increase in the company’s e-commerce business.

Glenwillow, Ohio -- Fashion retailer Dots announced Tuesday it has named former Wal-Mart Stores senior VP Lisa Rhodes as its new CEO.
   
Rhodes, who led Wal-Mart’s U.S. apparel merchandising division, has been charged with leading Dots’ march toward 1,000 stores, also announced Tuesday.
    
Prior to her role at Wal-Mart, Rhodes was executive VP and chief merchandising officer for Maurice’s.
   

New York City -- The New York Post reported Tuesday that Sears Holdings Corp. may be mulling over a sale of its Lands End unit. The move would dovetail with the massive restructuring effort the company has launched.

According to the report, chairman Eddie Lampert has been meeting with investors to discuss the divestiture of Lands End.
 

Purchase, N.Y. -- A SpendingPulse report Tuesday by MasterCard Advisors, in partnership with Wells Fargo, found that July spending at small retailers slowed to 6% year over year. 

This was lower than June’s small retailer growth rate of 8%. The July report also found that with or without food service and gasoline sales, July’s small business growth was the lowest for the past 12 months.

New York CIty -- Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. reported Tuesday that first-quarter profit more than doubled to $68.6 million, from $24.1 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue surged 71% to $414.9 million, after the company opened 76 new stores and grew same-store sales by 37%. Wall Street forecast revenue of $368.3 million.