Sales & Marketing

London -- Fast-fashion giant H&M doesn’t let any grass grow under its feet.

H&M is expanding its higher-end, minimalist-styled brand, COS (short for Collection of Style). The retailer plans to open four stores in the United States in 2015, starting this fall, with two new markets on tap. COS is also expanding into Canada, with stores set to open in both Montreal and Toronto later this year.

For the first time in history, business and consumers can be robbed and conned by strangers who are thousands of miles away and nearly impossible to catch. The e-commerce ecosystem is clearly struggling to cope with all the new and multiplying forms of fraud.

Procter & Gamble Co. has named a successor to the man who led the company's recent transformation.

Pittsburgh – GNC Holdings Inc. missed Wall Street expectations for profit and revenue in a generally disappointing second quarter of fiscal 2015. GNC reported net income of $67.4 million, a decrease of 4% from $69.9 million for second quarter 2014.

Cost of sales increases were a key factor in reduced net income. GNC reported consolidated revenue of $678.5 million, an increase of 0.5% as compared with $675.2 million. Revenue growth was limited by a 2.8% same-store sales drop in company-owned stores, including GNC.com.

Atlanta – A rising cost of sales kept net income at Havertys Inc. essentially flat at about $4.83 million during the second quarter of fiscal 2015. Profit stayed even despite net sales rising 7% to $187.73 million, from $175.13 million the same period a year earlier.

Same-store sales increased 4.8%. Havertys plans to open a net total of three new stores by the end of the fiscal year.

New York -- Saks Fifth Avenue is going to open a freestanding store dedicated to a hot category.

The department store retailer plans to open a shoe store in Greenwich, Connecticut, in fall 2016, Women’s Wear Daily reported.

The store, whose name has not yet been revealed, will be located close to an existing Saks Fifth Avenue store, which will no longer sell shoes.

The new format will be modeled after Saks’ in-store 10022 shoe department, according to the report.

 The Kroger Co.’s first female corporate officer is retiring.

Boston – Massachusetts will have a tax holiday the weekend of Aug. 15-16, if the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) has anything to say about it. The ICSC has sent a letter to Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker asking him to sign the sales tax holiday legislation currently on his desk.