News

Signet Jewelers attracted large numbers of Christmas shoppers over the fourth quarter as the parent company of Zales, Kay and Jared posted a jump in same-store sales.

The world's largest retailer of diamond jewelry reported that for the period ended Jan. 30, same-store sales increased 4.9%. Diluted earnings per share grew over 20%. Adjusted EPS increased over 18% and ahead of the guided range.

Salt Lake City -- Vestar, in a joint venture with funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, announced that it has acquired a 623,205 sq. ft. open-air retail and entertainment center within The Gateway located in downtown Salt Lake City.

Macy’s is continuing its expansion into off-price and specialty retailing.

On Tuesday, the department store retailer said it will expand its off-price Macy’s Backstage format in 2016, opening one freestanding location and 15 in-store locations in traditional Macy’s stores.

On the specialty store front, Macy will open approximately 42 Bluemercury beauty stores, with 24 freestanding locations and 18 in-store shops in Macy’s stores.

Chain Store Age will honor the winners of its first-ever Breakout Retailer Awards, which honors emerging retail/restaurant concepts that are innovative in their segment and poised for growth, at its annual SPECS Conference, March 13-15, 2016, at the Hilton Anatole, Dallas. This year’s awards are sponsored by The Paint Folks.

The Retail Design Institute will hold its 45th Annual Awards Gala & Fundraiser on March 12, 2016, at the Hilton Anatole, Dallas, the night before the kickoff of Chain Store Age’s SPECS Conference.

The winners of the competition, including the Store of the Year, will be unveiled at the event, which will also showcase the latest trends in materials, signage, fixturing and in-store technology.

J.C. Penney continues to be a bright spot in the retail sector with impressive increases in same store sales and earnings, as well as a new marketing campaign that is generating a lot of buzz.

On Thursday the retailer announced that same store sales grew 4.1 % for the fourth quarter ended Jan. 30. A combination of strong sales growth, accelerated gross margins and disciplined expense reduction resulted in full year adjusted EBITDA of $715 million, a $435 million increase.

Perhaps no other retailer is profiting as well from Americans' changing eating habits than Sprouts Farmers Market, which reported record sales and earnings for the fourth quarter.

The Arizona-based grocer said that same store sales during the period ended Jan. 3 rose 7.4%. Net income was $28.2 million and diluted earnings per share were 18 cents. Net sales were $3.59 billion, a 21% increase compared to reported net sales in 2014. Adjusted diluted earnings per share of $0.86, a 19% increase from 2014.

The CEO of Foot Locker credits the company's revised strategic framework with single digit sales gains and double digit earnings gains in the fourth quarter.

For the period ended Jan. 30, Foot Locker reported net Income of $1.14 Per Share, a 13% increase from the prior year quarter. Earnings per share were $1.16, 16% above last year. Same store sales increased 7.9%. 

Although mobile payment is still very much an emerging technology, the next stage of its evolution is occurring. The introduction of Apple Pay is September 2014 could be said to be mobile payment’s introduction as a mainstream technology, and the landscape has been steadily shifting since then.

Here are three key ways mobile payment is changing before the industry’s eyes.

This year's Sweets & Snacks Expo attendees will be treated to panel discussions by experts from the Consumer Electronics Show, Canadean, and the Center for Advancing Retail & Technology.

All three sessions on the latest advancements taking place in retail will be held at the Expo’s new Discovery Theater located in Skyline Hall, which will host more than 130 new exhibitors and is home to “Innovation Avenue”.