Omnichannel

New York — Finish Line Inc.'s third-quarter earnings rose 35% amid rising digital sales and higher demand for running and basketball gear. The chain has reported nine consecutive quarters of same-store sales growth, including a 7.7% jump in the latest period.

For the quarter ended Nov. 26, the company posted a profit of $5.5 million, up from $4.1 million a year earlier. Revenue increased 8.1% to $282 million. Digital sales jumped 61%, following similar increases in the first two quarters of the year.

Westboro, Mass. — Micros-Retail, a division of Micros Systems, announced that Barneys has launched the Micros-Retail miStore mobile point-of-sale solution in Barneys’ flagship New York store, starting this holiday season. The retailer is a long-time customer of Micros-Retail for point of sale, loss prevention and order management solutions.

Throughout the industry, retailers are reinventing strategies, changing formats and resizing footprints. While many are downsizing prototypes, Casual Male Retail Group is transitioning from traditional 3,500 sq. ft. Casual Male XL stores to a big-box Destination XL format. Dennis Hernreich, who holds the dual titles of COO and CFO for Casual Male Retail Group (CMRG), talked with Chain Store Age contributing editor Connie Gentry about the opportunities and challenges of transforming the business to better serve an expanded market. 

Westboro, Mass. -- Micros-Retail, a division of Micros Systems, said Wednesday that Barneys New York has launched the Micros-Retail miStore mobile point-of-sale solution in its flagship New York store, starting this holiday season. 

PITTSBURGH — With the opening of stores in the new international markets of Morocco, Jordan and Egypt, as well as expansion plans in Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, American Eagle Outfitters is establishing quite a presence in the Middle East.

Move over, “Like” button. There’s a new feature on the social media block that makes it easy for retailers to know what shoppers really want.

SAN BRUNO, Calif. — Walmart announced that its Vudu entertainment service is now available Xbox 360. Xbox LIVE customers can now shop Vudu’s library using new, interactive features such as voice search, voice control and Kinect gesture commands to rent or own the latest Hollywood hits, TV shows, cinema classics and independent gems in standard or high definition, the company said.

As an incentive to get customers to try Vudu on Xbox, Walmart announced that Vudu is offering a $4.99 credit toward their first rental or purchase. 

The physical and virtual retail worlds continue to converge thanks to innovative technology, especially as consumers rapidly adopt digital solutions and apply them to their retailing experiences.

“Consumer-driven solutions are what keep customers at the epicenter of the shopping experience, and that’s what retail is all about,” said Sahir Anand, VP and research group director for Aberdeen Group, Boston.