News

Burlington Stores says a big decline in cold weather apparel led same-store sales to be mostly flat over the holiday season.

Tom Kingsbury, president and CEO at Burlington Stores, said: “While we are pleased with the strong response to our gift assortments especially in fragrances, bath and body and home, these increases have been offset by headwinds affecting our cold weather assortments, especially in coats and outerwear. Accordingly, we now expect comparable store sales to be approximately flat for the fourth quarter.”

Vertical specialty apparel retailer Brooks Brothers is known for neat and tidy fashions, and that ethos extends to how it manages the flow of goods from source to shelf.

Brooks Brothers has selected the SAP Fashion Management platform to gain better control of movement of merchandise through the supply chain, which in turn supports an omnichannel customer experience. The retailer began the process of revamping its demand chain by implementing the SAP Apparel and Footwear application, which provides better insight into inventory and financials.

Healthy checklanes free of bad-for-you impulse items are coming to nearly all Aldi stores by year end, and that’s just the beginning of the retailer’s stepped up commitment to offering healthier options at its expanding network of 1,500 stores.

Aldi isn’t shooting itself in the foot and getting rid of all impulse items from its checklanes, but rather re-merchandising select checkout lanes to feature healthier options such as single serving of nuts, trail mixes, dried fruits and granola bars.

Build-A-Bear Workshop is still expecting a third consecutive year of positive same store sales despite a decline in traffic over the holiday period.

On a preliminary basis, for the fourth quarter ended Jan. 3, the company said it now expects:

Retailers frequently misjudge the omnichannel needs of their shoppers when they visit stores.

According to a new study of 500 consumers and 150 retail decision-makers in the U.S. and U.K. by Forrester Consulting on behalf of RetailNext, “Real-Time Data Drives the Future of Retail,” only 49% of consumer respondents feel they receive consistent seamless experiences across all channels.

In an effort to control cost, Aeropostale is reducing its corporate headcount by 13% and CEO Julian Geiger is relinquishing one million stock options that will be doled out to others for retention purposes.

The mall-based specialty retailer of casual apparel for young women and men plans to eliminate 100 corporate position by the end of its 2015 fiscal year and said the move would save between $35 million and $40 million annually.

Catering to a tech-savvy millennial shopper base, specialty retailer Zumiez Inc. cannot afford to offer a Gen X-style customer experience.

To meet customer expectations of being able to purchase goods anytime, anywhere, via any mix of channels they choose, Zumiez needed a flexible, customer-focused platform. In 2015, Zumiez ran a multi-store pilot of the Starmount Customer Engagement suite platform.

Warm weather, as well as layoffs in the oil and gas industry hindered sales Boot Barn during the holiday quarter.

Boot Barn announced preliminary results for the third quarter ended Dec. 26 as follows:

• Preliminary net sales increased 49% to approximately $194 million;

• Opened 5 new stores and completed the rebranding of 19 Sheplers stores;