Data & Analytics

Boston -- Boston-based City Sports has entered a new state.

The specialty store retailer announced the opening a 10,000-sq.-ft. store at Mosaic District, a mixed-use lifestyle center located in Merrifield, Virginia.

The Woodlands, Texas – Conn’s Inc. named a new CEO as part of a planned succession, and also announced it beat Wall Street expectations for profit in the second quarter.

Following a year-long repositioning initiative, Conn’s has appointed Norman Miller to serve as CEO and president.

Miller brings more than 30 years of business leadership experience, most recently serving as president of Sears Automotive, and as president and COO of DFC Global Corp.

New York -- While the use of technology in shopping is almost universal, brick-and-mortar stands strong, with the “omnishopper” choosing physical stores for better customer service and a faster, more social buying experience.

That’s one of the key findings of a report released on Wednesday by MasterCard, which notes that the continued appeal of physical retail might be a contributor to e-commerce’s relatively flat growth as a share of total retail sales (7.5% globally).

On a day when his company reported its fifth straight quarter of sales declines, the CEO of Barnes & Noble sounded a positive note, telling the Wall Street Journal that the retailer is looking at a new store prototype.

Houston – Rising expenses resulted in falling profits at Francesca’s Holdings Corp., which plans to slow its store expansion going forward.

Francesca’s net income fell 10% to $9.3 million in the second quarter, from $10.3 million the prior year period.

Rising boutique and payroll expenses related to new store openings were the primary factor in decreasing Francesca’s profits. However, new store openings also helped drive a 9% increase in net sales, to $106.03 million from $97.02 million.

A California-based teen retailer is launching a major expense reduction initiative in the wake of disappointing second quarter results.

San Diego - PriceSmart Inc. demonstrated intelligence when it comes to sales in August 2015. The U.S.-based operator of warehouse club stores in the Caribbean and Latin America increased net sales 13% to $232.7 million from $206.7 million in August a year earlier.

Same-store sales rose 3%. PriceSmart will release fourth quarter and fiscal year 2015 results on Oct. 29.
 

Issaquah, Wash. – Costco Wholesale Corp. is finally getting its online photo center partially up and running following a July 2015 data breach at the third-party hosting provider.

Returning users will have to create a new password before re-entering the site.

All photo center products except the mobile app, framed prints and mail order products are once again fully available. Costco expects to have the mobile app and mail order option available by the end of September, and framed prints available by mid-October.