News Briefs

And then there were none.

Former discount giant Kmart, which once operated more than 2,000 locations nationwide, is closing its one remaining full-size store in the continental United States. Located in the posh town of Bridgehampton, N.Y., the store is set to close its doors on Oct. 20, reported the AP.

A smaller, convenience store-sized Kmart in Miami will remain open. Kmart also has several stores outside the 50 states that will remain open in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam, the report said. 

Kmart was known for its 15-minute-long “blue light specials.” A store would flash a blue light and announce “attention Kmart shoppers” over the public address system, and customers would rush to buy the discounted goods. 

The decline of Kmart has been slow but steady. In 2005, it merged with Sears, creating Sears Holdings, with a total of about 3,500 stores. At the time, however, both brands were already in decline and closing stores, failing to keep up with changing shopper behaviors and such fast-moving competitors as Walmart and Target. The growing dominance of Amazon and other online competitors only hastened their downward spiral. 

In 2018, Sears Holdings filed for bankruptcy. It emerged in early 2019 when its CEO Eddie Lampert secured a roughly $5 billion deal using his hedge fund ESL to buy the retailer’s assets out of court. The deal kept about 400 Sears and Kmart locations up and running under a new private entity, which is now called Transformco.  

The NRF Foundation has partnered with the Crisis Prevention Institute on a new program to help frontline employees resolve conflict situations. 

The new Customer Conflict De-escalation training program is focused on fostering a safe and positive environment for both retail employees and the millions of customers they serve. In a recent Worker Safety Survey, conducted by Theatro, a wide majority of employees said they felt unsafe on the job and ill-equipped to deal with conflict situations. 

 “As the nation’s largest private-sector employer, retailers help millions of customers find the items they want and need on a daily basis,” NRF Foundation executive director Adam Lukoskie said. “The Customer Conflict De-escalation program provides customer-facing employees with the knowledge and training to identify situations of potential conflict, and, most importantly, abate them successfully and ensure an enjoyable shopping experience for all.”  

The NRF Foundation partnered with the Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI) to create the 30-minute online program. Developed specifically for front-line, customer-facing and distribution center employees, the course teaches associates how to identify and manage customer conflict within a retail environment.

"At CPI, we understand that retail employees face unique challenges on the front lines every day, said Susan Driscoll, president of Crisis Prevention Institute. "Our partnership with the NRF Foundation to develop the Customer Conflict De-escalation training ensures that these vital skills are accessible to those who need them most, fostering safer and more positive environments for both employees and customers.”

The new offering is part of NRF Foundation’s RISE Up educational training program.

Small-to-mid-sized businesses and non-profits have a new printing option at Walmart.

Walmart Business, which was introduced in January 2023 and offers a broad assortment of more than 100,000 items with categorization and navigation tailored to organizational shoppers, is rolling out Walmart Business Print.

Organizational customers can visit the Walmart Business site to browse, design and place an order, then choose items with no-to-low minimum quantities to be shipped directly to them. 

In addition, a limited number of items are also available to be printed and picked up from a nearby Walmart store, as soon as the same day. 

"When I think about the impact of printed materials, it’s clear how much they elevate the way businesses communicate and build brand loyalty," said Ashley Hubka, senior VP and general manager of Walmart Business. "Whether it’s leaving behind a striking business card, offering coffee in a branded mug, or creating colorful displays that catch customers’ eyes in store, these tangible pieces leave a lasting impression. Extra touches, like including a beautifully printed thank you card or informative flyer in packages, are the kinds of details that foster brand loyalty and keep customers coming back."

[READ MORE: EXCLUSIVE: How Walmart Business serves commercial, nonprofit customers]

Headquartered in Bentonville, Ark., Walmart Inc. operates more than 10,500 stores and numerous e-commerce websites in 19 countries.

A leading footwear/apparel/accessories brand is leveraging artificial intelligence to enhance online search, discovery, personalization and merchandising.

Steve Madden Ltd. is deploying Fast Simon AI technology to 25 online stores operating on five continents and in multiple languages, representing all its brands including Steve Madden, Dolce Vita and Betsey Johnson.

Steve Madden will utilize Fast Simon AI capabilities to support activities such as creating smart collections, visual merchandising, and machine learning-based vector search which can utilize unstructured data such as images and text in delivering results. 

"We are constantly exploring the most innovative technology to ensure a seamless path to purchase for our customers. We are excited to expand our partnership with Fast Simon’s AI," said Colleen Waters, VP of e-commerce at Steve Madden. "Fast Simon’s no-code interface gives our businesses the power and agility to respond to trends in the moment."

The retailer will also utilize Fast Simon technology to drive personalized product recommendations and visual discovery, including for cross-sell and upsell promotions. In addition, the Fast Simon Smart Rendering solution will enable Steve Madden to provide faster site search and page loads, as well as improved SEO performance. 

[READ MORE: EXCLUSIVE: Steve Madden ensures sustainability compliance]

"Steve Madden is home to some of the most well-known global retail brands on the market today," said Zohar Gilad, founder and CEO of Fast Simon. "With our AI shopping optimization solutions, Steve Madden brands can deliver better e-commerce experiences, boosting customer satisfaction and business results."

Ollie’s Bargain Outlet has expanded its footprint in the Lone Star State. 

The retailer of closeout merchandise and excess inventory has opened 10 stores in Texas. The new locations were all former 99 Cents Only Stores. 

In May, Ollie’s concluded the purchase of 11 former 99 Cents Only Stores locations through the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The deal came nearly two months after the extreme discounter went out of business, closing all of its nearly 371 stores located in California, Texas, Arizona and Nevada.

"We are incredibly excited to open ten more stores in the great state of Texas where the folks have been so good to us," said John Swygert, CEO of Ollie's Bargain Outlet. "With the closing of 99 Cents Only Stores throughout the state, we're thrilled to provide shoppers in the Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and McAllen areas with a treasure hunt experience where they can find a huge selection of brand name bargains at prices that won't break the bank!"

Ollie’s offers discounts on brand name products in a variety of departments, including housewares, food, books and stationery, bed and bath, floor coverings, toys, health and beauty aids and more. The company currently operate 542 stores in 31 states.

DoorDash has been utilizing a flexible ERP platform to expand its business.

Founded in 2013 as an on-demand delivery service for restaurants, DoorDash offers deliveries in more than 25 countries in a continually expanding selection of retail verticals. Since 2015, the company has been running on the Oracle NetSuite ERP platform.

“With NetSuite’s scalable and flexible platform, we have grown from a startup to a publicly traded company, integrated numerous acquisitions, delivered new services and subscriptions, and expanded our offerings to tens-of-millions of customers around the world,” said Gordon Lee, chief accounting officer, DoorDash. "NetSuite has been a valuable partner as we’ve evolved our business for each stage of growth."

Utilizing NetSuite, DoorDash says it has able to automate business processes, improve the speed and accuracy of reporting, and efficiently scale its operations as it has expanded its services, to include grocery, convenience and retail delivery, added new subscription business models, and executed an IPO in 2020. 

In addition, DoorDash has utilized NetSuite’s learning and support services have provided hands-on technical support to help solve growth-related business challenges. 

"We’re incredibly proud of supporting DoorDash’s journey to become the number one food delivery operator in the United States," said Evan Goldberg, founder and executive VP, Oracle NetSuite. "We look forward to continuing our partnership with the DoorDash team as they unlock even more success, and we’ll work to ensure their core business processes evolve with changing customer demands so they can grow efficiently."