News

Neiman Marcus Group is not going public anytime soon.    In a filing on Friday, the luxury department store retailer said it would withdraw its initial public offering, having determined "that it is not in its best interests" to proceed with the initial public offering at the current time.     

Online spending, and the amount of purchases made after the standard shipping deadline, were on the rise this holiday season.  

Going undercover isn’t easy. But it can definitely be worth the effort. Just ask Sharon Price John, president and CEO of Build-A-Bear Workshop.   

The annual consumer electronics trade show (CES) is considered a launch pad for new innovations and technology. One concept garnering attention at this year’s show: in-vehicle digital shopping.   Honda and Visa presented the first proof-of-concept demonstration of in-vehicle payments at this year’s show, held in Las Vegas, Jan. 5-8.   

Sprouts Family Market is expanding its footprint.     The Phoenix-based grocer plans to open 35 stores in 2017, with 11 of the locations opening in the second quarter of the year.     The 11 stores opening in the second quarter include three in California, two in Georgia, two in Florida locations, two in Texas locations and two in Colorado, the Phoenix Business Journal reported.  

New Yorkers will have a new way to browse Amazon’s best-selling book titles — in a physical store.   Later this year, the retail giant will open a bookstore at the Time Warner Center in Manhattan.   Also on the slate for 2017 is a location in Chicago, and the Boston suburb of Dedham, Mass.   Stores are also planned for Lynnfield, Mass., and Paramus, N.J.  

Poor holiday sales results from Macy’s, Sears, and Kohl’s do not bode well for the already embattled department store sector. And now J.C. Penney has reported its own disappointing results.   

The 388,000-sq.-ft. Flagstaff Mall has been acquired by Dallas-based Cypress Equities for an undisclosed sum. The single-level center opened with two anchors in 1979 and added a third anchor when it was expanded in 1987.   Cypress plans to add three outparcel pads amounting to 18,000 sq. ft. to the former Woodmont property, and is exploring the conversion of select inline retail space to new uses. “It is our goal to establish Flagstaff Mall as the dominant retail destination in northern Arizona,” said Cypress CEO Chris Maguire.

Gap Inc. turned in a positive holiday performance, reversing a string of declines, fueled by strong results from its Old Navy division and improvements by its namesake unit. The apparel giant also boosted its guidance for the year.    Gap’s net sales for the November and December holiday season edged up 1% compared to the year-ago period. Total same-store sales rose 2%.  

A six-month battle between Walmart Canada and Visa has come to an end.   The retailer, which threatened to ban the card processor from all of its stores nationwide due to “unacceptably high” credit-card transaction fees, has ended its feud, and will resume accepting Visa cards at its more than 400 stores starting Friday, Jan. 6.