News

Ulta Beauty turned in another winning quarterly performance, besting analysts' earnings and sales estimates. The beauty powerhouse also raised its fiscal 2017 guidance.   One of the few specialty retailers with an aggressive store opening program, Ulta Beauty said it remains committed to opening 100 new locations in 2017. It will also remodel 11 stores and relocate seven others.  

Restaurants, off-price retailers, dollar stores and furniture outlets are likely to remain firmly in the brick-and-mortar corner even with the continued rise of online shopping.   That is according to a new report by JLL, which explores the relationship between how shoppers value goods and the way 13 retail categories will be sold.  

Disney's marketing firepower will be on full display starting at  12:01 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 1, when it launches a global merchandise promotion — complete with augmented reality — of toys and products inspired by its upcoming film, "Star Wars: The Last Jedi."  

Mobile payments processor Square has set up shop in New York City.   The company has opened a store, called Square Showroom and located in downtown Manhattan, that provides hands-on support for merchants using its technology and space to display — and let sellers experience — its POS hardware. The store includes a Genius Bar-like support desk, where sellers can make appointments with Square employees to troubleshoot a specific issue or get training on a new product.  

Big Lots topped Street estimates in its second quarter as shoppers continue to seek out bargains.    Net income rose 28.2 % to $29.1 million, or $0.67 per diluted share, in the quarter ended July 29, 2017, from adjusted income of $23.4 million, or $0.52 per diluted share, in the year-ago period. Analysts had expected the company to earn $0.62 per share  

That didn't take very long.    Amazon said on Thursday — the day after the Federal Trade Commission gave the green light to the deal — that its $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods Market will close on Monday Aug. 28. Starting that same day, Whole Foods will offer lower prices on select products. And with time, Amazon will place lockers in Whole Food stores, and make Amazon Prime the grocer's customer rewards program.   

Signet Jewelers Limited is acquiring a fast-growing and innovative e-commerce company.   Signet, whose banners include Kay Jewelers and Zales, said that it has agreed to acquire R2Net, owner of online jewelry retailer JamesAllen.com, for $328 million in an all cash transaction. R2Net also owns Segoma Imaging Technologies, a technology provider for the jewelry industry.   

Sears Holdings Corp.'s second-quarter earnings beat the Street as it benefitted from cost-saving initiatives. But it continued to struggle with weak traffic and declining sales, and added 28 more locations to its long list of store closings.    Sears reported that its second-quarter loss narrowed to $251 million, or $2.34 per share, in the quarter ended July 29, helped by cost savings resulting from the streamlining of operations and store closings.