News

Fourth quarter sales at CVS Health surged 11% to $41.1 billion, enabling the operator of nearly 10,000 stores to surpass a significant annual sales milestone.

Lane Bryant is launching a new marketing campaign aimed at women who love the skin they're in and are confident with the bodies they have.

Lane Bryant's new This Body campaign serves as a declaration and an invitation to let the world understand how this plus size woman feels about her body. The idealized smaller size body type, which is constantly referenced as the norm in the media, is simply not realistic for the vast majority of female consumers, Lane Bryant says.

Retailing Today sister publication Chain Store age announced the winners of its first annual Breakout Retailer Awards, which honors emerging retail/restaurant concepts that are innovative in their segment and show strong potential for growth.

It’s a matter of checks.

Burberry Group Plc on Tuesday filed suit against J. C. Penney Co., accusing the U.S. retailer of trademark infringement regarding the high-end brand’s signature "Burberry check" pattern, which dates back to the 1920s.

In a U.S. district court in Manhattan, Burberry claimed that Penney illegally sold "quilted jackets" with the pattern, as well as "scarf coats" in which scarves carrying the pattern were sold with matching coats, Reuters reported.

Consumers are generally willing to use mobile apps to assist with grocery shopping, and there is one retailer whose app is the clear favorite.

According to a new study from Blackhawk Engagement Solutions,’ “How Grocery Shoppers Shop: Changing Trends in Grocery Shopping,” the top used grocery app among U.S. consumers by a wide margin is Amazon (71%). This is followed by grocery store apps (28%), Walmart (26%) and Target (25%). Third-party savings apps are not used much, with use in the low single digits for the grocery channel.

Transition versus transformation. Evolution versus revolution. These strategies inherently plague the retail sector as companies decide what to do next to stay ahead of the curve.

Starbucks is giving customers a front row seat on the famed Las Vegas Strip.

The coffee giant has opened a 3,200-sq.-ft. location in Grand Bazaar Shops at Bally’s Casino complex. The store is unusual in that, instead of the typical tables with chairs, it offers theatrical stadium seating (for 30 to 40 people) in the center of the store and surrounding bench seating.

Old Navy, the division that has been performing the best for Gap Inc. for years, suffered a serious sales slump in the fourth quarter.

For the fourth quarter ended Jan. 30, Gap Inc.’s net sales were $4.39 billion compared with $4.71 billion for the fourth quarter last year. Same-store sales at Gap Inc. were down 7% versus positive 2% last year. Same-store sales by global brand for the fourth quarter were as follows:

• Gap Global: negative 3% versus negative 6% last year

Strength in the furniture and mattress category during the fourth quarter wasn’t enough to help Conn’s avert same-store sales decline with each of the company’s other merchandise classifications reporting weakness.

Conn’s said its total sales for January increased 7.9% to $101 million and for the three months ended Jan. 31, sales increased 7.4% to $376.5 million. The gains were the result on news stores as same stores sales at the specialty retailer of furniture, mattresses, home appliances and consumer electronics declined 2.3%.

Fourth quarter sales at CVS Health surged 11% to $41.1 billion, enabling the operator of nearly 10,000 stores to surpass a significant annual sales milestone.

The company opened 53 new retail stores and acquired 1,672 pharmacies from Target to end the year with 9,655 retail stores, including pharmacies in Target stores, and annual sales of $153.3 billion, an increase of 10%.