News

WAYNE, N.J. — Toys “R” Us plans to open more than 100 stores, including new locations, the relocation and conversion of 14 stores to its side-by-side format and 22 new licensed stores. The openings represent the net addition of more than 900,000 sq. ft. of retail space to the company’s store portfolio.

FAIRFIELD, Calif. — Halloween may still be a couple of months away, but Jelly Belly Candy Company has unveiled the third edition of its BeanBoozled collection of jelly beans.

The third edition features new flavors such as Stinky Socks and its twin Tutti-Fruitti and Lawn Clippings with its double Lime. BeanBoozled jelly beans come in 20 flavors — 10 “weird and wild flavors” which look exactly like 10 “tasty flavors,” according to the company. 

Top executives from Walmart, seven governors and more than 500 supplier companies are scheduled to gather in Orlando next Thursday for a first-of-its-kind domestic manufacturing summit.

Deborah Cavanagh has joined women’s specialty retailer Coldwater Creek as SVP and chief marketing officer after serving in a similar capacity at the LOFT division of Ann Taylor.

Cavanagh will join the company September 16 and lead multi-channel brand marketing and creative services, reporting directly to Coldwater Creek president and CEO Jill Dean. Her appointment follows the release of disappointing first quarter results that saw same store sales at the operator of 347 stores decline 10.5%

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Strength in ladies accessories and lingerie contributed to a 1% second quarter same store sales increase that helped Dillard’s exceed profit forecasts.

New York -- Jos. A. Bank Clothiers on Tuesday came under criticism from BeaconLight Capital LLC, which owns more than 1% of the men’s apparel chain. In an open letter to the company’s board, the investment manager called for a reorganization of the retailer's board and return of cash to shareholders, preferably through buy-backs.

Washington, D.C. -- Following negative numbers in four of the last five months, import volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to grow 1.7% in August over the same month last year and should continue to see gains through the holiday season and the remainder of 2013, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released Tuesday by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates. The year is expected to end with a 2.4% increase over 2012.

Costa Mesa, Calif. -- Anna’s Linens is optimizing its e-commerce site for mobile device users. The retailer says nearly one-third of its online traffic originates from mobile devices, prompting the move.

Sterne Agee chief economist Lindsey M. Piegza comments on July retail sales gain of 0.2%:

Headline retail sales rose 0.2% in July, slightly less than expected but last month’s sales were revised up two-tenths from 0.4% to 0.6%. This is the fourth consecutive monthly increase in retail sales. Excluding autos, retail sales rose 0.5%, the strongest monthly gain since February.

By Ron Menich, Ph.D., EVP and chief scientist, Predictix

Wherever you turn today, Big Data is impacting every facet of society and business — and retail is no exception. For example, consider the impact of weather patterns on retail sales.