Supply Chain & Merchandising

The Tile Shop has expanded its presence in greater Detroit with the opening of its sixth metro store in Troy.    The new location features 14,750 sq. ft. of showroom space and over 4,000 tile designs for consumers and the professional trade. It also features more than 30 fully decorated displays providing design inspiration  

Gap Inc. CEO Art Peck is refocusing the 3,000-store company on the areas with the biggest potential for driving growth — and they do not include its oldest divisions.   “We’re certainly not giving up on Gap or Banana [Republic], but we’re acknowledging the world continues to change,” Peck said in an interview with Bloomberg.  “And those are the two most mature brands in the portfolio.”  

Fewer stores translates into reduced holiday hiring for Macy's this year.   Macy's plans to hire a total of 80,000 workers for the holiday rush, down from about 83,000 last year. The company has been closing underperforming stores and currently operates some 70 fewer stores than it did last year.  

Oregon passed Senate Bill 828, known as the “Fair Work Week” law, last month. This law requires foodservice, retail and hospitality employers to give hourly workers reliable work week schedules upon hire, maintain a voluntary list of standby employees to address unanticipated customer needs or unexpected employee absences, and provide their workers with advance notice of schedule changes.  

Marketplaces are taking an increasing share of business-to-consumer (B2C) online retail sales.    Last year, shoppers did half of their online spending through marketplaces — a level that could rise to 66% by 2022, according to “Half of B2C Online Retail Spend Came from Marketplaces in 2016,” a report from Forrester.  

Amazon has evolved into a destination for a variety of categories, and now it’s adding sweets and snacks to this portfolio.    Out of $49 billion in total sales across sweets and snacks in 2016, Amazon rang up $240 million in 2016. And between January-August 2017, the online giant has already grabbed $215 million — a year-over-year (YoY) growth of 42%, according to “Sweets & Snacks: The Amazon Effect,” a report from One Click Retail.  

Consumers were cautious in their spending during the summer months.   Retail sales in August decreased by 0.2% from July on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the National Retail Federation. (The NRF numbers exclude automobiles, gasoline stations and restaurants. Also, the Commerce Department said data for July was revised to show sales increasing 0.3% instead of the previously reported 0.6% jump.  

Women's footwear brand Aerosoles has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as it looks to shutter nearly all of its U.S. stores.   The company has about 80 stores in the United States, and also sells its shoes through other retailers. It has begun store closing sales and is seeking approval from the Bankruptcy Court to proceed with the sales. Aerosoles said it plans to maintain four flagships, in New York and New Jersey, and will also enhance its e-commerce, wholesale and international businesses.