News

NRF live: Outline of 2015’s retail priorities
NRF president Matthew Shay told attendees of retail’s Big Show in New York City this week that the industry is well-positioned for 2015 – with a little help from friends in Washington, D.C.
Express finishes holiday strong; raises profit forecasts
Columbus, Ohio -- Express is lifting its fourth-quarter and full-year profit forecasts, citing a better-than-expected performance at the end of December and beginning of January.

CEO Michael Weiss said that Express Inc. experienced slowing sales during the first three weeks of December, but that its performance has bounced back since.

Fourth-quarter same-store sales are now predicted to fall 3%-4%; Express previously forecast a mid to high single-digit decline in the figure.

Fresh start for Burlington in 2015

After posting stronger than expected holiday sales, Burlington Stores Inc. has named a new chief financial officer.

Marc Katz, formerly the company’s EVP of merchandise support and information technology, is replacing Todd Weyhrich, who retired this month.
Survey: Retailers’ top IT priority is payment security

Boston -- Survey results released by Boston Retail Partners found that the top IT priority for retailers in 2015 is focused on improving payment security, and protecting the confidentiality of sensitive information.

For the first time in 16 years, more than 63% of the retail respondents in the BRP 2015 POS/Customer Engagement Benchmarking Survey indicated that payment security is among their top priorities for 2015.
Mitchells Family of Stores implements M World and virtual closets

New York -- Family-owned luxury apparel retailer Mitchells Family of Stores has partnered with ThoughtWorks Retail to reenergize the luxury shopping experience through its e-commerce and brick-and-mortar channels. The newly launched, customized responsive-design website, developed by ThoughtWorks, allows the Mitchells loyal customer base to access personal shopping profiles via M World, a platform where customers can see their own virtual closets of wardrobe purchases made both in the physical store or on the e-commerce site.
Body Central going out of business, to close all remaining stores

New York -- Embattled apparel retailer Body Central has gone out of business and closed its entire remaining store base, effective Sunday evening, according to attorney for the company Gardner Davis.

Based in Jacksonville, Florida, the 265-store Body Central Corp. had said earlier this week that it was "experiencing significant liquidity challenges" and was working with advisers to evaluate its options. With the closure announcement, about 2,500 employees lost their jobs.
Dunkin' Brands added 422 net new Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins restaurants in 2014

Canton, Mass. -- Dunkin' Brands Group, the parent company of Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins, announced that in 2014 its U.S. franchisees opened a total of 422 net new Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins.
Survey: Half of U.S. consumers are unfamiliar with mobile payment

New York -- As the use in-store mobile payment becomes more pervasive, consumers require increased education on the performance and ease of use of mobile pay services, a recent survey by Verifone of U.S. consumer attitudes suggested.
A future-proof terminal from Verifone?

While an increasing number of retailers are using smartphones and tablets as mobile payment terminals, the payment process can be tricky. Now leading payments provider Verifone has a solution to that problem: PAYware Mobile e355.

Verifone’s new mPOS terminal will support all mobile payment platforms and devices, and will be a valuable option for retailers looking to deploy a mobile POS system without being locked into a single ecosystem.
Hardee’s and Microsoft pilot customer self-order kiosks running on Windows

New York -- At the National Retail Federation’s Annual Convention & EXPO on Monday, Microsoft Corp. and CKE Restaurants Inc. (parent company of Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr.) showcased a self-order kiosk solution running on Windows 8 devices that enables Hardee’s customers to customize and place their own orders.