News

A&G Realty Partners has been retained by The Sports Authority to manage the sale of retail store leases and assist in reducing the retailer’s occupancy costs following its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

A&G Realty is currently accepting bids on the leases, which range from 10,000 to 75,000 sq. ft. and are located in many of the major retail markets in the country including prestigious locations in California, Florida, Puerto Rico and Texas.  The auction will take place in mid-April.

Online specialty luggage retailer eBags Inc. has restructured its senior leadership ranks with several new hires and the promotion of long-time executives.

Scott Erdman has been named chief merchandising officer and Krista Paul is joining as VP of content innovation. eBags also appointed Mike Frazzini CTO and Chris Seahorn VP of marketing.

Phoenix-based PetSmart and the Arizona Diamondbacks are teaming up to create the first-ever season-long dog-friendly ballpark in America.

The retailer worked with the team on new PetSmart Patio, PetSmart Park and the Dog Days of Summer program, where dog-loving fans can bring their dogs to all 13 Sunday Diamondbacks home games in the 2016 season (the first game will be on April 10 vs. the Chicago Cubs).

When it comes to marketing technology spend, retailers are overwhelmingly allocating dollars to a particular consumer touchpoint.

According to a new survey of more than 200 retail marketing executives from digital savings platform RetailMeNot Inc., "The Rise of Mobile Marketing Spend in Retail," 87% of retail marketers plan to invest more in mobile marketing in 2016.

In comparison, 73% of respondents plan to increase non-mobile digital advertising spend and 62% plan to increase their offline advertising spend.

Walgreens Boots Alliance is exploring the possibility behind opening a retail pharmacy stake in Australia, The Sydney Morning Herald reported Friday. Though current government restrictions prevent corporate-owned pharmacies from setting up shop, that could change as "the government has commissioned an independent review of pharmacy regulations, which is due to report in March 2017," the paper reported.

Warm weather was a problem for most retailers in the fourth quarter, but Houston-based Stage Stores also got hit by weakness in the energy sector and the Mexican Peso.

Market Track compared retail circular advertising in February 2016 vs. February 2015 and noted trends occurring across top retail chains.

Kohl’s added four comparable circulars in February 2016, promoting mainly short duration sales like “50% Two-Day Sale,” “Doorbusters,” and “Make a Point to Shop.” They attempted to leverage their rewards program with 3X the points during the “Make a Point to Shop” sales.

In fourth quarter 2015, mobile phones served as the primary engine of online retailing.

According to the fourth quarter “Demandware Shopping Index,” mobile phones were responsible for all growth in digital visit (112%) and basket (104%) size. Rates exceeding 100% indicate that digital visits and baskets actually shrank among users of tablets and PCs.

Mobile phones also accounted for a solid 68% of majority of digital order growth, with tablets and PCs accounting for the other 32%.