Sales & Marketing

Nordstrom is continuing to grow its footprint in Canada.     The retailer on Friday opened its store at CF Toronto Eaton Centre, the company's second international flagship location since opening at Pacific Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia, last fall.     

Industry observers are reporting that customer service is on the decline. The culprit: contact centers.  

HSN has become one of the first retailers with a fully functioning augmented reality app for tablets and mobile devices.   HSN has launched an augmented reality design app across two of its home and lifestyle brands in its Cornerstone portfolio: Frontgate and Ballard Designs. The technology, powered by augmented commerce provider Cimagine, allows users to virtually place desired objects in their own homes, and engage with more than 1000 home décor and furnishings.  

Saks Fifth Avenues’ value-luxury brand opened its fourth Virginia outlet this week in Springfield, just outside of Alexandria.   The new store occupies a 30,000-sq.-ft. space on two levels in the PREIT-owned Springfield Town Center, its first mall location in the Washington, D.C., area.   

A first-of-its kind arrangement has saved Aeropostale.    A consortium made up of Authentic Brands Group (ABG) and two of the nation’s largest real estate companies — General Growth Properties and Simon Property Group — announced it has finalized the acquisition of the teen apparel retailer. It is the first time that mall operators have participated in a deal to acquire a retail chain.  

Photo: Brian Cornell
  Target Corp. CEO Brian Cornell made a rousing appeal to the chain’s associates at the company’s annual fall meeting.   "We have 137 days in front of us to turn this into a winning year, to start that second-half rally," he said, the Star Tribune reported.      

Uncertainty among the upcoming presidential election is not dampening holiday sales outlooks.   Indeed, retailers need to be ready to present their holiday best as U.S.-based retail performance over the November through December holiday period is expected to see a 3.2% year-over-year (YoY) lift in sales. This jump is driven partly by a 14.9% increase in YoY sales through digital channels, according to new data from RetailNext.  

Retail sales fell more than expected in August after a strong June and a relatively flat July.   The National Retail Federation said that retail sales, excluding automobiles, gasoline stations and restaurants, were down 0.3% over July. On a year-over-year basis, however, NRF calculates that retail sales increased 4.1%.    The slowdown in August was broad-based and, notably, there was a drop-off in non-store sales, NRF noted. Clothing sales increased 0.7% in August, driven by back-to-school shopping.