News

The Tile Shop is expanding, in new markets and existing ones.   The specialty retailer opened its first location in Washington, D.C., a 10,400-sq.-ft. store in the historic neighborhood of Tenleytown.    The Tile Shop also opened its twelfth location in the Chicago metro area, in Schererville, Indiana.   

Initial reports about holiday spending bode well for retailers.   Consumers spent 16% more on holiday purchases this year than in 2015, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers Post-Holiday Shopping Survey.  

Making an even bigger push into private-label foods, Amazon launched a new line of natural snacks.   Already a player in non-food private label categories, including household goods and other items under the Amazon Basics and Amazon Elements brands, Amazon’s newest line, Wickedly Prime, is making a push into grocery — specifically among “foodies.” The line currently features popcorn, blue corn and sweet potato tortilla chips, and soft shell almonds.  

Nasty Gal is moving ahead with plans to be acquired by a British online fast-fashion retailer.     

Sears Holdings Corp. has received another lifeline courtesy of CEO Eddie Lampert.    The struggling retailer said it has received loan, called a secured letter of credit, for $200 million, with an option to expand the amount to as much as $500 million with the consent of lenders.  

A Delaware developer’s plan to create a green space and shopping center in Lewes, Delaware, an idyllic shore town that was the site of the first European settlement in the state, has encountered a new obstacle.   After overcoming opposition by some residents to the commercial re-zoning of 11 acres in this town north of Rehobeth Beach, J.G. Townsend Jr. & Co. now must content with protestors who say that its proposed Gills Neck Village Center would desecrate a Native American burial ground.  

While most retailers have already bid adieu to the 2016 holiday shopping season, Amazon has one more trick up its sleeve.  

Big Lots is looking to attract shoppers with more than deep discounts.   The retailer is working with Big Red Rooster, Columbus, Ohio, and Alloy, Westerville, Ohio, to develop a store of the future, according to a report in The Columbus Dispatch.