Retail

New York -- One of the nation’s most well-known toy stores welcomed its last shoppers on Wednesday.

FAO Schwarz closed its store on Manhattan’s 5th Avenue, a victim of rising rents. Shoppers flooded the store in its final hours. For more, click here.
 

Dollar Tree Inc. has promoted one of its senior executives to be its next chief operating officer.

The company announced that Michael Witynski has been named COO and be responsible for store operations of Dollar Tree bannered stores in the United States, real estate for Dollar Tree bannered stores in the U.S. and all retail operations and real estate in Canada.

Hartland, Wis. – Batteries Plus Bulbs, a 650-store chain specializing in batteries, lightbulbs and personal electronics repair, has a fairly traditional offering of products and services. But that doesn’t stop the retailer from delivering a modern omnichannel customer experience.

“We’re a needs-based business,” said Jayson Serrault VP of omnichannel marketing and analytics, Batteries Plus Bulbs. “Customers come to us with a specific need that has some sense of urgency and immediacy.”

While the social buzz regarding Amazon Prime Day on Wednesday, July 15, has been not so prime, early reports indicate the event was a success sales-wise.

Montvale, N.J. – A supermarket chain that was founded two years before the Civil War began may be going the way of the Confederate flag.

According to the New York Post, The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. (A&P) may file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as soon as this week.

New York & Company has recruited an Oscar-winning actress and singer to be the new face of its Soho Jeans Collection. 

The retailer has named Jennifer Hudson to appear in an in-store, print, digital and social (#ItJustFits) marketing campaign wearing the New York-designed denim line that is inspired by a downtown Soho attitude. The new Soho Jeans Collection and Jennifer Hudson hit stores on July 22.

New York -- Ollie’s Bargain Outlet raised $143 million in a wildly successful initial public stock offering that positions the company for steady expansion of its 181 unit store base beyond core markets.

Ollie’s co-founder and CEO Mark Butler told Retailing Today that although the company has identified 950 suitable store locations, proceeds from the IPO will be used to repay debt and the company will maintain a measured pace of expansion.

New York -- Google made two announcements on Wednesday, both of which will impact retail.

In the first, the search engine giant said that the “buy” buttons it announced earlier this year will be deployed on a test basis in the next few weeks. The feature, called Purchases on Google, will allow consumers to purchase products directly from ads in select promoted mobile search ads.