Sales & Marketing

Howard Hughes Corporation this week topped out the second of three residential towers destined for Ward Village, a 60-acre, master-planned community in Honolulu that will deliver 4,000 new residences when completed.    The finished Anaha tower, set to welcome residents in 2017, will house a Merriman’s restaurant and Oahu’s flagship Whole Foods Market.  

Uber riders in San Francisco and Los Angeles are getting even more benefits when they book a ride. A partnership between Uber and Visa will enable customers to earn discounted rides when they use their Visa credit card on file with Uber at their favorite local merchants.  

Sears Holding Corp. is hoping to capitalize on the upswing in home improvement projects.   The retailer announced it is bringing back paint and related accessories to its stores under three different brands: Craftsman, Weatherbeater and Easy Living. It’s the first time the Craftsman brand will be extended to the paint category.        Sears will test the new offerings in 23 stores nationwide before a chainwide rollout.   

Things are looking bleaker for bankrupt Aeropostale.   A bankruptcy court judge on late Monday rejected a request from Aeropostale to blame its bankruptcy on Sycamore Partners and block an offer from the private equity firm.   Sycamore Partners confirmed it submitted a bid for the chain after the judge issued the opinion. The amount of the bid is unknown, but it may have been $150 million, which is how much Aeropostale owes two affiliates of Sycamore, Aero Investors and MGF Sourcing Holdings.

Christopher & Banks Corp.’s loss widened in its second quarter amid soft sales its outlet channel and a temporary shutdown of its e-commerce site.   The company reported a net loss of $3.9 million, or a $0.11 loss per share, compared to a net loss for the prior year period of $0.7 million, or a $0.02 loss per share. Same-store sales decreased 5.8%, compared to a 12.4% decrease in the same period last year.  

Abercrombie & Fitch Co.’s turnaround was called in to question on Tuesday as the chain posted a wider loss in its second quarter, hurt by a decline in tourist traffic at its flagship locations.     The teen apparel retailer also revealed that it expects to close up to 60 U.S. stores as their leases expire this fiscal year. On its quarterly conference call, company executives said the chain has flexibility to close even more stores, with about half of its U.S. leases expiring by the end of 2017, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Eager to streamline the in-store shopping experience, Lowe’s will introduce a fleet of retail service robots this fall throughout select stores in the San Francisco Bay area.  

Chain Store Age unveils its first-ever SPECS/2017 Ambassadors Club, created to recognize 12 retailers who have made significant contributions to the industry and to SPECS, the annual Retail Event for Store Innovation. Produced by CSA, SPECS is attended by retail and food-service executives involved in the planning, design, construction and maintenance of stores and restaurants nationwide.