News

The National Retail Federation filed suit in U.S. District Court on Wednesday on behalf of the millions of employers and employees who it said will be drastically affected if the Labor Department’s changes to the federal overtime rules go into effect on Dec. 1.   Retailers have argued that the new rule will force employers to reduce hours and base pay in order to make up for increased payroll costs.  

While much emphasis is placed on optimizing the front-of-the-house retail experience, improving back-of-the-house operations can also help retailers better meet customers’ evolving expectations – and intelligent lighting systems may be a key to improving those operations.    

Francesca's Holdings Corp. has found a chief executive.   The retailer appointed Steven P. Lawrence, who currently serves as chief merchandising officer for Stage Stores, as president and CEO. Lawrence, who was also appointed to the company’s board, will officially join Francesca’s in October 2016.   Lawrence replaces Richard Kunes, who has been serving as Francesca’s interim chairman, president and CEO since May 2016. Kunes will become the company’s chairman of the board.

Target Corp. on Wednesday announced its board has authorized a $5 billion share buyback plan.   The retailer will begin repurchasing shares under the new plan upon completion of its current $10 billion program, which is expected before the end of fiscal 2016 in January. Under that program, the company has purchased $8.8 billion worth of shares.   Target also declared a dividend of 60 cents per common share for the fourth quarter, unchanged from the third quarter.  

Magnolia Bakery, the Greenwich Village shop that ignited the cupcake craze with its appearance on "Sex in the City," opens this week at Woodbury Common Premium Outlets in Central Valley, New York.   This is the first storefront for Magnolia on the East Coast, aside from its original location. It maintains shops in Los Angeles, Chicago, Honolulu, Japan, Korea, Mexico, and the United Arab Emirates.  

Consumers have made it clear: they want to shop across a brand holistically, not a company’s individual channels.   Yet, a lack of unified customer experiences continues to haunt customer service, and fails to drive customer loyalty. These details were revealed in “In-Store Meets Online: Unifying the Retail Customer Experience,” a report from Kibo, a cloud-based unified omnichannel commerce platform provider.   

While most of the industry is focused on the upcoming holiday season, Party City has bigger fish to fry — hiring for Halloween.   To prepare for the retailer’s make-or-break season, the chain will hire an additional 35,000 employees nationwide over the next four weeks.  

Forget apparel, electronics and gift cards. Free shipping is expected to be the most-coveted wish among many shoppers this holiday season.   That’s according to the “The September 2016 Holiday Retail Report” from Radial and CFI Group, in which 91% of respondents said they would be willing to increase the size of their online order to qualify for free shipping.