News

First Look: Warby Parker goes Hollywood
No two stores are exactly alike at Warby Parker. But its new store in Los Angeles — the eyewear brand’s 50th outpost to date — is more unique than all the others. Located on Melrose Avenue, the new Warby Parker pays homage to Hollywood’s moviemaking history. It even has its own green screen studio where customers can create their own mini-movies.
Specialty flooring retailer completes IPO
The fast-growing Floor & Decor Holdings announced the closing of its initial public offering. The company’s shares are now trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “FND.” Founded in 2000, Floor & Decor is a multichannel specialty retailer of hard surface flooring and related accessories. It offers a broad in-stock assortment of tile, wood, laminate and natural stone flooring along with decorative and installation accessories.

Online plus-size brand to open first store

A pure player specializing in activewear for plus-size women is making the leap to the offline world. Juno Active will open its first store this spring, at Mall of America, in Bloomington, Minn. The 3,200-sq.-ft. space will offer activewear and swimwear, starting at size 14, along with intimates. Originally called Junonia, the company was founded in 1995 as a catalog operation. It rebranded itself as Juno Active in 2012, and switched to an exclusive online model.
Study: Associates complain they can’t access necessary info

Despite retailer efforts to deliver information, store employees still struggle to access the information needed to complete tasks. In fact, 75% of decision makers said their employees frequently ask about procedures that are documented, and 73% indicated that critical information is scattered across many disparate locations.
Gifting retailer’s Q3 revenues slip

While sales across floral divisions were strong, a late Easter impacted 1-800-Flowers.com’s third quarter revenues. For the quarter ended April 2, 2017, revenues were $233.7 million, a slight dip compared to $234.2 million in the prior year period. This reflects lower year-over-year profits across the Gourmet Food and Gift Baskets divisions due to the Easter holiday shifting into the company’s fiscal fourth quarter this year.
Washington Spotlight: May Day Becomes International Day of Anger

Monday's May Day demonstrations across the country and world are yet another reminder that we are in a politically precarious position in this country. The intensity of anger within our populace far outweighs the ability of our government mechanisms to address it.
Department store giant on hunt for a CFO

Hudson’s Bay Company is losing its finance head. The retailer said that CFO Paul Beesley has made the decision to resign in order to return home to Canada to be closer to his family. Beesley will continue in his role over the next two months to ensure a smooth transition. His last day with HBC will be July 7. HBC has engaged an executive search firm to assist in recruiting a new CFO.
Staples continues to explore sale

Two private equity firms are “actively” exploring a buyout of Staples, according to a report by CNBC. Cerberus Capital Management and Sycamore Partners have emerged as the leading frontrunners pursuing a deal, the report said. While other private equity firms, including Clayton Dubilier & Rice LLC, Advent International Corp and Bain Capital LLC, held discussions with the retailer include, they appear to be walked back and are less interested in the deal.
Leadership shakeup, layoffs at Etsy

There’s been a couple of change in the C-suite of hand-made goods marketplace Etsy. The company said chairman and CEO Chad Dickerson is stepping down, to be succeeded as CEO by board member Josh Silverman, effective May 3. Fred Wilson, who has served as lead independent director of the Etsy board, since October 2014, will succeed Dickerson as chairman.
Coach profit tops Street as efforts to reduce discounting help bottom line

Coach reported better-than-expected profit for its third quarter as its turnaround efforts to reduce discounts on its goods sold in the United States gain increased traction. The upscale retailer reported net income of $130 million, with earnings per diluted share of $0.46, in the quarter ended April 1, compared to $124 million in the year-ago period. Its results exceeded Wall Street expectations.