Data & Analytics

I recently attended the 2014 SPECS (Store Planning, Equipment, Construction Services) conference in Grapevine, Texas, and came away with some fascinating food for thought. The event, which is produced by Chain Store Age, celebrated its 50th anniversary this year.

Newton, Mass. – Clark’s Americas Inc., a division of the global shoe brand with more than 300 stores in the U.S., is deploying the Yottaa Engagement Cloud to optimize user engagement and business performance on its U.S. e-commerce site. In fall 2013, the e-commerce team at the Americas division of Clarks sought a solution that could help scale and provide a consistent, engaging Web experience throughout the busy holiday shopping season and beyond.

Boston -- The single biggest challenge for retailers is to understand, empower and represent the digitally empowered consumer across all touch points, according to new research from Oracle.

Gordmans Stores president and CEO Jeff Gordman has resigned his post. According to the company, he is retiring to spend more time with his family as well as to pursue outside interests. Board chairman T. Scott King will serve as interim CEO while the company searches for Gordman’s successor.

Although fourth-quarter sales at J. Crew increased, the retailer saw profit drop 42% in the quarter amid higher costs.

Net income fell to $5.92 million in the quarter, down from $10.2 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue increased 6.7% to $686.2 million. Retail store sales rose 5% to $438.6 million and direct sales jumped 10% to $238.1 million

Same-store sales, which include direct sales, increased 3%. Excluding a calendar shift, comparable-store sales increased 4%.

New York -- Kohl’s Corp.’s chief merchandising officer, Donald A. Brennan, resigned his position, effective as of April 1, 2014. Kohl's disclosed Brennan's departure in a filing this week with securities regulators.

Under a separation agreement with the department-store operator, Brennan will receive a one-time severance payment equal to 2.9 times his annual salary plus the average of the three most-recent annual incentive compensation plan payments paid to him, according to a regulatory filing.

Balance Innovations has appointed Al Ruth as EVP of technology innovation.

Ruth is a veteran of the retail technology industry with 17 years of experience managing data warehouse database solutions and customer support for top-tier retail accounts. In this role, Ruth will be responsible for providing technical perspective in sales efforts, working with the account management team and driving key innovation efforts.

Philadelphia -- Five Below on Tuesday reported better-than-expected results for its fiscal fourth quarter, ended Feb.1. The tween/teen retailer also said it is on track to open 62 stores in 2014

The company posted net profits of $24.8 million, slightly higher than estimates of $24.6 million, up from $19.2 million in the year-ago period.

Sales jumped 22.1% to $212 million, beating analysts' expectations for $207.78 million in sales. Same-store sales increased by 0.3%.