News

Liquidation efforts took a toll on J.C. Penney in its second quarter, which reported earnings and same-store sales below estimates.    Penney's net loss widened to $62 million in the quarter ended July 29, or 20 cents per share, from $56 million, or 18 cents per share, in the year-ago period.   

The chief executive of the nation's largest specialty pet retailer of services and solutions has left the building.   PetSmart announced that Michael J. Massey has stepped down from his position as CEO, president and board member. Raymond Svider, managing partner at BC Partners, will serve as executive chairman and oversee the company’s operations with the senior leadership team while the board searches for a new chief executive.   

The next generation of Nike's sneaker-focused boutique concept has opened in Tokyo.  

Amazon is looking at food-prep technology first developed for the U.S. military that would allow the online giant to deliver meals that do not require any refrigeration.   The technology, known as microwave assisted thermal sterilization, or MATS, was developed by researchers at Washington State University, CNBC reported, and is being brought to market by a Denver-based startup called 915 Labs.  

Costco Wholesale Club has tapped its longtime director as its new chairman.   The company announced the election of Hamilton “Tony” James to the position of chairman. He replaces Jeff Brotman, who co-founded Costco with James Sinegal in 1982. Brotman passed away unexpectedly on Aug. 2.  

Amazon is making great strides in the home and kitchen space with its Amazon Home store, which curates home and kitchen wares, furniture and appliances.   Housewares account for 15% of Amazon's growth in 2016, according to a report from One Click Retail. During the first two quarters of 2017, the growth of the home & kitchen product group has continued on an upward trajectory.   

After a torrid opening quarter, Macy's second quarter numbers come as a relief. Certainly, a same-store sales decline of 2.8% is far from good, but it is one of the better performances Macy's has turned in over recent periods. Of course, the question is whether this gentler decline represents a genuine turning point for Macy's, or whether it is simply a bottoming out after years of sharp deterioration.  

Macy's appears to be making some headway in its turnaround efforts, reporting second quarter sales and profit that topped estimates. But the retailer still reaffirmed its downbeat guidance for the year.    Net income increased to $116.0 million, or 38 cents per share, up from $11.0 million, or 3 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings per share was 48 cents.  

Increased traffic gave a boost to Kohl's, which reported sales and earnings that topped analysts’ estimates in the second quarter.   The company's net income rose to $208 million, or $1.24 per share, in the quarter ended July 29, from $140 million, or 77 cents per share, in the year-ago period.  

With 20% of emails being filtered into spam folders, retail marketers are missing out on the opportunity to drive an ROI from email.   This was according to “2017 Deliverability Benchmark Report,” a study from data solutions provider Return Path. The report analyzed 2 billion brand emails.