News

Dick's Sporting Goods will be busy in August, opening five stores in three different states.   The nation's largest sporting goods retailer will open two namesake stores and three Field & Stream stores in the first half of August. In Prosper, Texas, Dick's and Field & Stream will open under one roof at the Gates of Prosper. And in Houston, Dick's will open at Post Oak Shopping Center.   

The back-to-school shopping season is in full swing, and Office Depot is ready.   With back-to-school spending expected to reach $83.6 billion, an increase of more than 10% over last year’s $75.8 billion, according to the National Retail Federation, Office Depot is eager to grab its portion of this back-to-school wallet share. To achieve this goal, the office supplies retailer is diversifying assortments and stepping up fulfillment efforts.  

American Apparel’s website has been hinting about a summer relaunch for some time — now its parent company is making good its promise.   Gildan Activewear, which purchased the specialty retailer at a bankruptcy auction earlier this year, is preparing to relaunch the brand’s e-commerce website, according to Bloomberg. However, this is only the first project on its list of retail plans.  

Someone forgot to tell At Home that big-box stores are passé.    Since Lee Bird took the reins as chief executive at the beginning of 2013, the Plano, Texas-based home decor superstore retailer has been on a steep upward trajectory — and it shows no signs of losing momentum anytime soon.   

Another retail sector continues to consolidate.   The Aldo Group Inc. said it will acquire the footwear and accessories businesses of the Camuto Group. Both companies are family owned. The news comes just over a week after Michael Kors announced it was buying Jimmy Choo.   

Costco Wholesale Corp. turned in a winning performance in July, fueled by strong traffic trends.   The company reported that its net sales in July rose 8.8% to $9.41 billion, compared to $8.65 billion during the similar period last year. Total company same-store sales rose 6.2%, with a 6.0% increase in the U.S. Excluding the impacts from changes in gasoline prices and foreign exchange, total same-store sales rose 5.3%, and 5.5% in the U.S.   

Amazon’s Australian online store is one step closer to launching.   In addition to announcing the site of its first Australian warehouse, the online giant also named a German executive as its country manager. Both moves indicate that Amazon is preparing to launch its online store in the world's 12th-biggest economy, according to Reuters.  

A furniture e-retailer is putting its augmented reality-based app into more shoppers’ hands.   Wayfair’s AR application, WayfairView, has been integrated into its mobile shopping app on the newly released ASUS ZenFone AR. The smartphone, which launched on Thursday, is equipped with Google’s Tango AR platform.  

Sugarfina is looking to expand its luxury candy offerings, online and in stores.    The company announced it has closed a $35 million growth equity financing from Great Hill Partners, bringing Sugarfina's total funding to over $50 million. The new funding will be used to continue scaling the brand across retail, digital, wholesale, and corporate gifting, and to expand internationally to the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. Sugarfina will begin its overseas expansion in early 2018.  

Thousands nationwide turned out Wednesday for the chance to join Amazon’s growing workforce.   The online giant hosted a multi-state job fair on Aug. 2, focused on hiring full-time and part-time associates for positions across nearly a dozen of its U.S.-based warehouses. The event had such a massive turnout that Amazon said it received "a record-breaking 20,000 applications,” according to CNBC. This is almost half of the 50,000 roles the company says it has available across its fulfillment network.