News

Build-A-Bear Workshop cuts loss
St. Louis -- Build-A-Bear Workshop retains its come-back momentum.

By limiting growth of costs and expenses and improving sales, Build-A-Bear Workshop reduced its net loss to better-than-expected $628,000 in the second quarter of fiscal 2015 from $4.3 million the same period a year earlier.
Survey: Thrift store customers want, don’t need, savings
Bellevue, Wash. – Thrift shop customers appreciate the deep savings, but most of them do not shop out of necessity.

According to a new survey of 1,001 U.S. adults from the Savers thrift shop chain, 76% of Americans are choosing thrift with the top two reasons being that it’s cost-effective and feels like a treasure hunt. The new data about Americans’ shopping behaviors also highlights:

• 77% agree that it’s important that they get a good deal or value on the items they buy.

Breach hits Sally Beauty Q3 profit; will close 16 German stores

Denton, Texas – Sally Beauty Holdings is feeling the impact of its data breach.

Costs related to a data breach discovered in May 2015, as well as higher selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses, helped reduce profit at Sally Beauty during the third quarter of fiscal 2015. Net earnings fell 8% to $62.46 million, from $67.76 million the same period a year earlier.
Mixed results for HSN

St. Petersburg, Fla. – HSN Inc. had a mixed second quarter, meeting Wall Street profit projections but falling short of sales estimates.

HSN’s net income totaled $41.6 million, up 2% from $40.9 million the same period the prior year.

Net sales grew 4% to $885.6 million from $855.2 million, including an 11% increase in digital sales.
Second life for C. Wonder — with a celebrity stylist as pitchman

Photo via Getty Images
L Brands on a roll

Columbus, Ohio - L Brands Inc. continues its winning ways.
Dropped products affect Conn’s Q2

The Woodlands, Texas – The decision to stop selling video game products, digital cameras, and certain tablets affected same-store sales at Conn’s Inc. during the second quarter and July fiscal 2016. However, Conn’s still reported total preliminary net retail sales of $325 million during the quarter, up 13% from the prior year period.
Stein Mart sales sail in Q2, July

Jacksonville, Fla. – Stein Mart Inc. reported rising total sales in both the second quarter and July 2015. Total sales for the quarter rose 4% to $311.6 million, from $298.1 million.
Want clothes? Alibaba has a bunch

Hangzhou, China – The apparel selection on Alibaba Group’s Tmall.com third-party marketplace is getting a lot bigger.

Tmall has formed strategic partnerships with more than 160 brands from 110 global apparel chains. It will work with apparel brands in areas of new product launches, online-to-offline initiatives, data-driven operations, digital marketing campaigns and other services to enhance consumer shopping experiences.
City Sports leaps across channels with customer experience

Boston - Shoppers are coming to retailers across a variety of channels and touch-points, and need to have a consistent and personalized experience wherever they are.

Boston-based, 26-store specialty sporting goods chain City Sports is preparing to meet the needs of omnichannel shoppers with help from cloud-based digital marketing platform provider BlueConic,
New tenants announced at mixed-use center near Las Vegas Strip

Henderson, Nev. -- Vestar recently completed a $120 million buyout from its joint venture partner, Rockwood Capital, to take full ownership and operations including property management, leasing and marketing of The District at Green Valley Ranch, a 37-acre, 384,107-sq.-ft. mixed-use center in Henderson, Nevada.
Hhgregg off to not so solid start

The CEO of hhgregg says his company is off to a “solid start” despite first quarter numbers that clearly show otherwise.

The retailer reported that for the first quarter ended June 30, net sales decreased 6.6% to $441.1 million compared to prior year first quarter. Same store sales decreased 6.3% compared to the prior year first quarter. Revenue for the quarter came in at $441.1 million versus the consensus estimate of $445.99 million. And net loss per diluted share was $0.32 versus net loss per diluted share of $0.36 in the prior year first quarter.