Distribution

Just in time for the holidays, Amazon.com has extended its addictive Prime Now service to Southern California by establishing four distribution hubs.

Toys “R” Us and Kohl’s are among the first retailers to announce their holiday hiring plans this year, and the numbers are more or less the same as last year for both companies.

Toys “R” Us plans to hire 40,000 employees at its stores and distribution centers throughout the country (about 5,000 less than last year). The retailer also plans to allow seasonal workers the opportunity to take on significantly more hours than in previous years, while also continuing to provide extra hours to current employees.

Men’s Wearhouse founder George Zimmer has returned to the retail arena with a new concept that aims to do for men’s evening wear what Rent the Runway did for fancy dresses.

Zimmer, the founder and ousted CEO of Men’s Wearhouse, is launching Generation Tux, an online tuxedo and suit rental company. The start-up will rent 17 different styles of house-brand tuxedos, with a flat rate of $95. But customers can also add accessories, including shoes and cuff links, to put together a complete for $150 or less.

Oak Brook, Ill. -- Inland Real Estate Acquisitions, Inc. announced the acquisition of three properties, located in Florida, California and Colorado, purchased in August on behalf of an Inland affiliate. The acquisitions collectively total more than $104 million for approximately 607,000 sq. ft. of commercial real estate.

Toys ”R” Us says a planned decrease in promotions led the retailer to report a drop in same-store sales in the second quarter.

The retailer singled out declines in the baby, entertainment and seasonal categories as contributing to the comp drop as well. However new CEO Dave Brandon sounded a positive tone regarding the company’s profit potential.

Today’s consumer is driven by an “I want it now” mentality, yet retailers are still not prepared to deliver. Reducing the time it takes an order to arrive at a customer’s home is every retailer’s objective, but while quicker fulfillment makes customers happy, it comes at a cost.

Consumers may have an “I want it now” mentality, but most retailers are still struggling to deliver on the demand.

That’s one of the key findings of a survey by HRC Advisory, a leading strategic retail advisory firm and unit of Hilco Global, which revealed that 80% of retailers are not prepared for the “magnitude of change” required to transform their supply chains to a customer-centric, omnichannel model.

Corte Madera, Calif. – Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc., which is set to launch two businesses in its third quarter, had generally rewarding second quarter of fiscal 2015.

Net income rose 9% to $29.93 million from $27.25 million the same period a year earlier, with costs and expenses not growing at the same rate as sales.