News

OMG! PBTeen debuts nail art-inspired collection
PBteen is hoping a new omnichannel collaboration with a popular teen app may appeal to a wide swath of its target market.

The retailer is teaming up with a Disney star on a new furnishings collection inspired by a trendy new app called Make Me Nails. The app was created by the star of Disney's "A Dog with a Blog," G. Hannelius. Make Me Nails is a fully-customizable nail wrap iPhone app and e-commerce platform that allows consumers to create individual nail wrap art for each finger, for the ultimate custom manicure.
The remarkable rise of Mattress Firm
The combination of acquisitions, new unit expansion and same-store sales growth enabled Mattress Firm to achieve record third quarter results and the company’s biggest deal ever is expected to close in 2016.

Nordstrom invests in on-demand custom shoe experience

Nordstrom continues to invest in new shopping models with the announcement that it is expanding its partnership with Shoes of Prey, a start-up that enables women to customize shoes online.
FTC blocks Staples and Office Depot merger

It’s like it is 1997 all over again with the Federal Trade Commission stepping in to block a merger between Staples and Office Depot on grounds that the deal would diminish competition.
Tech Bytes: Three Lessons from Cyber Week Site Fails

Looking back on the 2015 edition of Cyber Week, we can reminisce on big traffic, big sales … and big fails?

Several high-profile site outages hit major retailers during a period of historically heavy online shopping. While nobody would call these positive events, they do offer retailers a few valuable lessons about the need to stay one step ahead of digital customer demand.

Not Too Big to Fail
Sears connects mobile shoppers to stores

Sears Holding Corp. is trying to turn surging mobile traffic into a driver for store visits and purchases.

Sears has refreshed its mobile app with a number of features that help provide a seamless, store-centric customer experience. For example, members of its Shop Your Way loyalty program who enable location-based services can place mobile orders for out-of-stock items while in the store and get free home shipping.
Giant Eagle flies to the cloud

The latest autumn migration involves grocery chain Giant Eagle.

The Pittsburgh-based, 420-plus-store retailer is in the initial stages of overhauling its IT infrastructure with a hybrid cloud solution from IBM Cloud. The new solution, based on IBM Cloud's SoftLayer Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), is designed to provide Giant Eagle flexible, consumption-based pricing, as well as faster procurement and customized deployment of applications.
Barnes & Noble swings to loss on lower sales

Barnes & Noble posted disappoint results for its second quarter, but sounded a positive note about holiday sales.

The company posted a wider-than-expected loss of $39.2 million, or 52 cents per share, for the quarter ended October 31, compared to a profit of $12.3 million, or 12 cents per share, a year ago.

Losses, adjusted to account for discontinued operations and severance costs related to the spinoff of its college bookstore division, were 28 cents per share.
Muji, New York City

The minimalist Japanese lifestyle brand Muji has opened its largest U.S. location yet, a two-level, 12,000-sq.-ft. flagship on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. It’s the company’s fifth location in the Big Apple.

The store, designated as Muji’s U.S. flagship, includes such extras as an embroidering station where customers can have their items customized, choosing from more than 100 designs, and an Aroma Lab, where shoppers can create custom scents choosing from some 48 essential oils.
H-E-B decks the halls with online deals

H-E-B is blazing another new trail in the online grocery market with a special holiday promotion.

The Texas-based grocery chain is hosting 12 Days of Deals, online only, Dec. 5 through Dec. 16. Each day, HEB says, it will feature a doorbuster deal with something for everyone, from TVs and toys, to crockpots and coolers.