News

Bankrupt American Apparel has started the final, most painful chapter in its drawn out saga.   Approximately 2,400 employees of bankrupt American Apparel will soon be out of a job as the company begins to close or sell its three factories in Southern California, reported The Los Angeles Times.    

Consumer electronics and furniture retailer Conn’s has named a COO, along with heads for logistics and service.   The retailer named Coleman R. (“CR”) Gaines as president and COO, effective February 1, 2017.   Gaines previously spent seven years at TMX Finance in Savannah, Georgia, a consumer retail finance company, where he was most recently the company’s executive VP of store operations.     

Wawa has big plans for the Sunshine State.    The privately-owned, Pennsylvania-based convenience store chain plans to open 25 to 30 stores every year throughout Florida during the next several years.   In 2017, Wawa will start its push into the southeast part of the state, with a first wave of stores opening in Palm Beach and Broward Counties.  

Ahold USA can now boost it has “smarter stores” for its increasingly connected consumers.   The supermarket giant has rolled out a new wireless platform from Verizon Enterprise Solutions across its divisions, which include Stop & Shop New England, Stop & Shop New York Metro, Giant Landover, and Giant Carlisle, The platform has resulted in a digitally rich in-store experience for the grocer’s smartphone-using shoppers.   

Holiday sales not only beat expectations among industry observers, it hit a five-year high.   Retail sales grew by 4.8% through the holiday season, as compared to the same period in 2015 — and November and December spending growth is the strongest it’s been in five years, according to a new report from Visa.   “The Visa Retail Spending Monitor” tracks retail sales, with the exception of autos, gas, and restaurants, among retail goods, services and stores on Visa payment products. 

Retail in 2016 had its share of ups and downs. While several major businesses filed for bankruptcy, others in the category saw incredible growth, leveraging technology to connect with customers in new and exciting ways. For instance, Walmart tripled its online catalog and opened more stores that allow shoppers to pick up online orders in-person. In an often-cluttered retail landscape, Walmart and others have shown that technology can be a key differentiator.   

Crate and Barrel is taking its omnichannel experience into its own hands.   The home furnishings chain is the latest retailer to join forces with Infor to co-develop the Infor CloudSuite Retail, a suite of application offerings that can be tailored to an individual retailer’s needs. The software prod-uct is designed to deliver superior interactions for store associates and consumers.   

Walmart has made some big changes in its executive ranks, bringing together management of its Web and retail teams.     The changes, which the chain has not officially announced, come on the heels of media reports that Karenann Terrell would step down as CIO of Wal-Mart Stores on Feb. 24. As reported by CNBC.com, Walmart’s executive realignment includes the following: