eCommerce

The time to ponder that question is when everything is going right, which pretty much seems to be the case at Target these days. The company’s stable senior leadership team has articulated a clear strategy that is being well-executed and delivering expectation-exceeding results such as a 5.5% gain in November same-store sales and third quarter earnings per share that surged 28.5% to 74 cents.

Fayetteville, Ark. - A report Monday said that Wal-Mart Stores is preparing to test a small-format store it is calling “Walmart on Campus” at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.

According to the report by Advertising Age, the pilot appears to be part of a series of tests of Walmart’s smaller-format stores.

Walmart removed all doubt about how it intends to enter Russia this week when it announced the closure of its office in Moscow. The office was opened two years ago to investigate opportunities in the country, but international division president and CEO Doug McMillon said it no longer made business sense to maintain the facility.

SADDLE BROOK, N.J. - Rug manufacturer Nourison has named Sabrina Roberts has been director of national accounts. Roberts will be responsible for the opening and development of key national accounts at Nourison, as well as assist in expanding business with existing national retail accounts. 

Roberts was most recently with JCPenney, where she helped grow the company's home division online and served as senior buyer for its area and accent rug division. 

NEW YORK - Everlast Worldwide announced the signing of a long-term, direct-to-retail licensing deal with Sears Holdings. Through the agreement, Sears Holdings will have the U.S. license for the Everlast brand in their 850 Sears doors and the Everlast Sport brand in 1,325 Kmart doors as well as launching on sears.com and kmart.com. The long-term agreement gives Sears and Kmart the rights to the Everlast brand for apparel, footwear and accessories for men, women and kids. Sears and Kmart plan to launch the brand nationwide beginning in the spring of 2011.

The word competition gets tossed around a lot in the retail industry as operators talk about market positioning -- who they do and don’t compete with. Oftentimes, companies will refer to direct competitors, but one thing about Walmart is that it has always tended to take the broad view of competition in that any company, no matter how small, who sold anything offered at Walmart was viewed as a competitor.

According to a new survey from customer intelligence firm, Market Force Information, The Children's Place is consumers' top pick for young children's (10 and younger) apparel when the votes are indexed for the number of stores. The Children's Place earned 17% of the votes, while Gymboree ranked second (13%), and Kohl's and Carter's tied for third with 12%. For children 11 and older, Aeropostale was ranked favorite retailer with 17% of the votes, followed closely by Kohl's (16%) and then Old Navy (10%).

BRUSSELS - Ikea announced that it has been named the winner of 'Retailer of the Year Europe' 2010. Retailer of the Year is the largest consumer survey in Europe and this year the survey was held in no less than 10 European countries. More than 1.45 million consumers participated in the consumer survey and assessed over 1,100 retail chains, according to the company.

In seven out of the 10 countries, Ikea is in the top five of the 'best' retail chains, the company reported.