News

Aeropostale Inc. will live to see another day after all.    A consortium, including Simon Property Group Inc. General Growth Properties Inc. and Authentic Brands Group, won the bankruptcy auction for Aeropostale Inc. The group, which also includes liquidators Gordon Brothers Retail Partners LLC and Hilco Merchant Resources LLC,  plans to keep at least 229 of the teen retailer’s stores up and running along with Aeropostale's e-commerce business and  international licensing business.   

Hanjin Shipping Co., the world’s seventh-largest container shipper, is working to ease the potential cargo chaos caused by its bankruptcy filing last week.    The filing rose concerns among some of the nation’s biggest retailers that some merchandise may not arrive in time for the crucial holiday season, blooomberg.com reported.  

Lululemon Athletica Inc. revealed that it plans to open smaller, “local” stores amid results that disappointed Wall Street.   Net revenue for the quarter ended July 31 increased 14% to $514.5 million, just shy of projections, from $453.0 million in the year ago period. Total comparable sales rose 4%, with in-store sales up 3% and direct to consumer sales up 6%.   Net income increased 12.5% to $53.6 million.  

Changing footwear trends took a bite out of Genesco Inc.’s sales in the second quarter.   The company reported net income of $14.6 million, up from a year-earlier profit of $7.5 million.   Genesco’s revenue for the second quarter, ended on July 30, fell 4.6% to a less-than-expected $625.6 million.   Total same-store sales fell 1%, with a 4% decline at the Journeys Group.   

The offices of Chain Store Age will be closed for the Labor Day holiday weekend. We will resume publishing on Sept. 6. The CSA team wishes you and your family a happy and safe holiday.    

To uphold its reputation of providing the fastest possible delivery to its shoppers, Amazon is preparing to open a new fulfillment center in Monee, Ill. This is the third warehouse planned for the suburbs of Chicago.   The 850,000-plus-sq.-ft. facility will facilitate the picking, packing and shipping of small items, such as books, electronics and consumer goods.  

Walmart is eliminating about 7,000 back-office positions at its U.S. stores, with the majority of the cuts in the accounting and invoicing areas.     The move, which was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, follows a test earlier this summer at 500 stores in the West to cut three administrative accounting and invoicing jobs at each store.    

Halloween has arrived at Macy’s flagship.   Home décor direct-marketer Grandin Road has opened its first-ever brick-and-mortar space, a pop-up at Macy's Herald Square flagship in Manhattan.    The space is designed to inspire, spook and entertain shoppers throughout the months of September and October.   

Vera Bradley in entering the New York City market, opening a digitally-savvy flagship in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood.      Scheduled to open in September, the two-level, 2,700-sq.-ft. store will carry the complete Vera Bradley collection, ranging from handbags and travel items to eyewear and jewelry, and debut the brand's newly redesigned logo and store concept.    

While some specialty chains struggle to meet earnings predictions, Dollarama reported better-than-expected second quarter results. The Montreal-based discount chain’s net income was $106.4 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2017, ended July 31, 2016 — up 11.4% from $95.5 million for the same period last year.