News

San Jose, Calif. – Retail sales dropped 7.6% in May 2015 compared to the same month the prior year. According to the monthly Store Performance Pulse from store analytics provider RetailNext, a 9.8% decrease in traffic and 8.3% drop in transactions drove the sales decline.

Much of these declines were concentrated in the third week of the month, leading to an earlier-than-usual Memorial Day weekend.

Lands’ End Inc. reported profit and sales declines in the first quarter as the retailer grappled with West Coast port delays and headwinds from foreign exchange rates.

Kohl’s is stepping up again to make summer activities free for families this summer through a partnership with Summerfest.

The partnership will offer educational, fun and creative activities for children of all ages and their families, as well as the opportunity for patrons to gain free admission to the Summerfest festival.

Gainesville, Fla. - The developer of Celebration Pointe, a 225-acre mixed-used regional development located in Gainesville, Florida, has secured a $125 million construction loan for Phase I of the project.  Celebration Pointe partner Ralph Conti made the announcement.

“We are very pleased to have secured this key piece of our capital stack,” said Celebration Pointe partner Ralph Conti.   

The Michaels Companies overcame weak same store sales growth to deliver strong profit growth in the first quarter.

The Texas-based retailer reported that for the first quarter ended May 2 its net income increased to $67 million or 32 cents per share from $47 million or 25 cents per share in the prior-year quarter. Net sales for the quarter grew 2.4% to $1.08 billion from $1.05 billion in the same quarter last year. Same store sales increased by 0.3%.

San Jose – A new privacy policy which will take effect at PayPal Inc. on July 1 will require users to allow PayPal, its affiliates and service providers to contact them at provided telephone numbers via autodialed or prerecorded call or text message. While the policy prohibits PayPal from sharing user contact information with outside third parties, contracted billing and collection companies are permitted to use customer phone numbers.

The CEO of Best Buy says brick-and-mortar stores are absolutely vital to beating Amazon.com and other retail rivals.

According to MPR News, Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly told students at the University of Minnesota that "the chain's roughly 1,400 U.S. stores allow the retailer to demonstrate new products for customers and deliver the goods faster than Internet-only merchants."

Read more by clicking here.

San Jose, Calif. – The eBay Valet professional selling service will now accept high-end clothing in addition to shoes, handbags, electronics and other popular household items. eBay Valet provides features such as price estimates for potential buyers, taking professional pictures, and shipping.

eBay partnered with fashion blogger Garance Doré to officially debut the expansion of eBay Valet. Dore provided tips and tricks on what to sell and how to sell fashion items.