News

Tommy Bahama brings its combination retail/restaurant concept to Honolulu, opening a 19,200-sq.-ft. flagship in the beachfront neighborhood of Waikiki.

The three-level space houses a ground-floor retail space, a second story restaurant, and a rooftop lounge complete with a patio featuring a sand floor and fire pits.

Uniquely Hawaiian details demonstrate authenticity throughout the space, which is open and airy has a traditional indoor/outdoor feeling.

Stein Mart reported negative same-store sales growth on the same day that the company also lost its chief merchant to an off-price rival.

For the third quarter ended Oct. 31, Stein Mart comps fell 2.3%.

"Unseasonably warm weather impacted traffic and our sales during the third quarter," said Jay Stein, CEO. "We continue to have a positive outlook on our important fourth quarter holiday sales which will include incremental sales from six new stores opened through the third quarter plus four more new stores opening in November."

Gap Inc. is reportedly steering its store networking strategy away from hardware such as switches and routers.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Gap network architect Snehal Patel told attendees at a recent New York University networking conference that the retailer is transitioning its store network traffic to software-defined routers from Vipeta Inc. The new routers allow Gap to route traffic over the public Internet, maintaining security with encrypted connections.

While Whole Foods Market and The Fresh Market struggle to eke out sales growth and profit, Sprouts Farmers Market is quietly emerging as a perennial winner in the grocery sector.

Sprouts reported its third quarter results this week, and the company's financials exceeded company guidance and even Wall Street estimates.

The grocery chain reported results for the 13-week third quarter ended Sept. 27 that included:

• Net sales of $903.1 million, an 18% increase from the same period in 2014

The changes that will come to the retail supply chain are just as profound as the changes that are happening now in the selling environment.

Breaking the cycle of promotional ridiculousness at Jos. A. Bank is proving to be a far worse drag on sales and profits than parent company Men’s Wearhouse expected.

Men’s Wearhouse revealed the cost of breaking the promotional cycle at the acquired Jos. A. Bank stores on Nov. 6 when CEO Doug Ewert announced a huge downward revision to the combined company’s third quarter and full-year sales and profit outlook.

The Oct. 1 EMV deadline has come and gone, but for some merchants, the technical headache still remains, and continues to interfere with fourth quarter planning.

While some retailers have proactively met the challenge and are already EMV-enabled, (and to them, kudos!), data shows that by the end of 2015, only half of U.S. retailers will have made the change.

Now that its service has gained traction with retailers, on-demand delivery provider Instacart has created a new promotional platform for brands to connect with shoppers.

The New York attorney general's office has reached a settlement with Lowe's to refund up to 10% of flooring installation fees paid by more than 16,000 customers. The Associated Press reports that Lowe’s, with 64 New York stores, overcharged the customers with a deceptive sales practice that it has since agreed to halt. The retailer had offered installation of carpeting, tile, wood and laminate flooring by third-party contractors at square-foot rates that were applied to materials bought, not those actually installed.

The New York attorney general's office has reached a settlement with Lowe's to refund up to 10% of flooring installation fees paid by more than 16,000 customers.

The Associated Press reports that Lowe’s, with 64 New York stores, overcharged the customers with a deceptive sales practice that it has since agreed to halt. The retailer had offered installation of carpeting, tile, wood and laminate flooring by third-party contractors at square-foot rates that were applied to materials bought, not those actually installed.