News

Saks opens unusual health and wellness mecca
Shoppers at Saks Fifth Avenue’s Manhattan flagship can now take a fitness class taught by ex-cons in addition to shopping for the latest fashions. They can even learn how to meditate. The luxury department store has transformed its second floor into a health and fitness hub dubbed The Wellery. The 16,000-plus-sq.-ft. space is comprised of 20 individual spaces offering everything from fitness classes and exercise equipment to athleisure apparel and specialized beauty treatments. It will be open through October 2017.
Supermarket chain files Chapter 11
Struggling Marsh Supermarkets is looking for a buyer, but it doesn’t have all that much time. The 86-year-old grocery store chain on Thursday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and said it is seeking a buyer for all or part of its business. The company’s 44 locations will continue normal operations throughout the process. But the stores will be shuttered if the company does not find a buyer within 60 days.

Big earnings, sales miss for Macy’s

Macy’s reported disappointing earnings for its first quarter, as its sale continued to slide. Macy's posted a first quarter profit of $71 million, or 23 cents a share, down from $116 million, or 37 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding some costs, Macy's adjusted per-share profit fell to 24 cents from 40 cents, below analysts' expectations for 35 cents.
Nordstrom mixed in Q1

Nordstrom beat the Street on earnings in its first quarter amid strong sales in its off-price division. Nordstrom said it earned $63 million in the first quarter, compared with $46 million, in the year-ago period. The company earned an adjusted $0.43 a share, beating the $0.27 that analysts were expecting. Total company net sales increased 2.7% to $3.3 billion. Same-store sales fell 0.8%, worse than expected. Online sales accounted for 24% of total net sales.
Young women’s apparel retailer to open Chicago flagship

Canada’s Aritzia Inc. is expanding its Chicago footprint as it targets both brick-and-mortar and online expansion. The fashion retailer will open a flagship on Rush Street in Chicago this fall. The Vancouver, British Columbia-based company already operates a store in the Windy City, at Water Tower Place.
Canada Goose winging its way to new locations

Canadian outwear brand Canada Goose is continuing its expansion, both offline and online. The company will open two flagship stores this fall, in London and Chicago. It also plans to expand its e-commerce channel to seven new markets including Germany, Sweden, Netherlands, Ireland, Belgium, Luxembourg and Austria.
Kohl’s Q1 profit up sharply but sales still slide

Kohl’s Corp. posted mixed results for its first quarter, as sales continued to decline but profit jumped amid expense control and more careful inventory management. The retailer reported net income of $66 million, or 39 cents per share, in the quarter ended April 29, up from $17 million, or nine cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. The gain, much better than expected, came as the company cut general expenses by $33 million.
Amazon to build homeless facility — at its new headquarters
Thomas Pink Deploys Real-Time Solutions

Menswear retailer bullish on Internet of Things, RFID
While most retailers continue to dip their toes in the Internet of Things waters, Thomas Pink has jumped in with both feet — and is seeing results.
The luxury menswear brand is involved in an IoT proof-of-concept test at its store on Wall Street in downtown Manhattan. Using a cloud-based IoT platform from Acuitas Digital, the retailer has the backbone it needs to seamlessly integrate networking, hardware, software and analytics solutions — all necessary pieces to digitize the physical store.
Big shakeup at Whole Foods Market

There’s been a reorganization at Whole Foods Market. On Wednesday, the natural-foods retailer named a new chairwoman and five new independent directors, effective immediately. It also appointed a former Kohl’s executive as CFO. The changes come as activist investors and restless shareholders have been demanding Whole Foods accelerate the turnaround its business. The board shakeup came on the same day as the retailer released second quarter earnings that met analysts’ expectations.