Retail

Kellwood Company, a leading apparel manufacturer and marketer owned by affiliates of Sun Capital Partners, has elevated Lynn Shanahan to the position of CEO of Kellwood Company, following the initial public offering of Vince, completed Nov. 27.

With the holiday shopping season underway and many retailers bracing for stiff competition, Kohl’s plans on keeping its doors open for more than 100 hours, from 6 a.m. Friday, Dec. 20 through 6 p.m. Christmas Eve, Tuesday, Dec. 24.

Although the strategy is familiar to retailers such as Toys “R” Us, it is a first for Kohl’s. The move comes following a comparable-store sales increase of 0.9% for the second-quarter which fell short of Wall Street estimates.

The Clarks Group, the company behind the Clarks and Bostonian brands that sells more than 50 million pairs of shoes annually, has named a new chairman.

The privately held United Kingdom-based company, which operates specialty footwear stores in the U.S. and worldwide, elevated Thomas O’Neill to the role of chairman from his position as a non-executive director on the board. He fills a position previously held by Peter Davies to lead the world’s number one non-athletic footwear brand with annual sales of roughly $2.4 billion and a presence in 100 markets.

Stuart Weitzman Holdings has named François Kress as the company’s global president.

In this newly created position, Kress will oversee all aspects of the global retail and wholesale business plus take on the role of strategic leader for new initiatives and brand extensions. He will report directly to Wayne Kulkin, CEO, and will be based out of international headquarters in New York City.

Kroger has extended its streak of consecutive same-store sales growth to 40 quarters — an impressive feat in light of the slow economic recovery.
 
The company reported a same-store supermarket sales increase of 3.5%, excluding fuel, for the third quarter.

"The resiliency of our Customer First strategy … was on full display during the quarter, even as our internal research shows that customers remain uncertain about the economy," Dave Dillon, Kroger chairman and CEO said.

Lux Beauty Boutique is rolling out in-store mobile app SelfPay, which lets shoppers handle payment and look up product information on their own devices, enabling shopper-controlled in-store checkout from anywhere within a brick-and-mortar store. Lux Beauty Boutique will host a SelfPay launch party at its store on Dec. 6.  

Walmart chief marketing and merchandising officer Duncan Mac Naughton told investors during an October meeting that the retailer would have the largest share of voice during the holiday season and that was certainly evident during November, according to data released this week from Kantar Media Ad Intelligence and Placed.

A strong increase in shopper traffic at Costco during November translated to a 3% increase in same-store sales, excluding gas, at U.S. locations during the four-week November reporting period which ended December 1.

Costco didn’t comment specifically on Thanksgiving weekend sales during a recorded call to recap results, but the company did say that traffic increased a little more than 4% while average transaction sizes were down slightly. Costco and its direct competitors Sam’s Club and BJ’s Wholesale Club were closed on Thanksgiving Day.