Sales & Marketing

A strong performance by Hollister helped Abercrombie & Fitch Co. beat first quarter sales and earnings expectations even as its namesake brand continues to struggle.    The teen apparel retailer's better than expected quarterly showing comes as speculation about its future heats up. Abercrombie previously confirmed it is in preliminary discussions with several parties regarding a sale of the company. 

A tough February couldn't keep Tilly's down, which reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter.    The teen apparel and footwear retailer narrowed its loss in the first quarter to $161,000, or 1 cent a share, compared with a net loss of $2.7 million, or 10 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Its results were better than expected.    Net sales inched up 0.6% to $120.9 million, better easily beating the Street. Same-store sales rose 0.6%.  

Sephora is all about offering top-notch service to its customers — even its business partners.   According to the Incentive Research Foundation and Incentive Gift Card Council, business-to-business (B2B) gifting is becoming more prevalent across U.S. companies, as they spend $22.7 billion per year on gift cards. Sephora’s new partnership will enable the company to claim a bigger portion of this market share.  

A luxury retail giant just made a move that could step up its digital efforts.    Nordstrom appointed Stacy Brown-Philpot to its board of directors, and she will also serve as a member of the board’s finance and technology committees. She replaces Enrique 'Rick' Hernandez, Jr., who announced earlier this year that he would not be seeking re-election.   

Great personal experiences are what separate brick-and-mortar retail from its virtual cousin on the Web, and high-end experiences will soon be coming to luxury stores.   That’s one of 10 key elements to increase foot traffic introduced at RECon this week by Vicki Eickelberger, managing director of Big Red Rooster, a store design unit of JLL.  

CBRE’s Melina Cordero, an expert in consumer behavior, has produced a series of videos to instruct brick-and-mortar retailers in how to get more results at the point-of-sale.   The first three of these can be viewed on CBRE’s new retail innovation website.   

Although overall sales at Lowe's increased by double digits, the somewhat softer comparable numbers and the decline in net income have taken a little of the shine off first quarter performance.  

Start your engines: Ace Café, a motorcycle and car-themed chain, has parked itself in downtown Orlando.     The 35,000-sq-ft. entertainment, dining and retail destination is the first North American location of the London-based brand and the sixth Ace Cafe in the world. Ace Cafe Orlando spans two floors and features a full-service restaurant, four bars, a coffee bar, a stage, a mezzanine that overlooks the main floor dining area and stage, and private and semi-private spaces for groups.