News

Survey: Nordstrom, Amazon most engaged brands on Pinterest
New York - Nordstrom was the most engaged retail brand on Pinterest, followed by Amazon, according to Curalate, which collected more than 180,000 Pins and analyzed nearly five million interactions associated with the Top 100 brands from November 1st to November 21. Rounding out the top five: Urban Outfitters, American Eagle Outfitters and Zulily.
DSW steps up, beats Q3 expectations
DSW Inc. exceeded Wall Street expectations for net income and sales in the third quarter.

Net income fell a less than expected 10% to $49.5 million from $54.9 million the same quarter a year earlier, with higher operating expenses and lower pretax income contributing to the decline.

Sales totaled $670 million compared to $633 million in the prior-year quarter and same-store sales rose 2.6%.

Retail Forecast 2015

Recent trends bode well for consumer spending

Blue skies and cool breezes. That’s the economic forecast as the calendar turns for a new year.
Going to Market

Gordmans enables growth in underserved markets with new technology platform

When Gordmans Stores Inc., the Omaha, Nebraska-based chain of 95 Midwestern discount stores, decided to expand into underserved markets in the central U.S., the retailer discovered its legacy IT systems would not adequately support its planned growth. Outmoded applications across a range of functions in the enterprise created such problems as the setting of a double-digit limit for location numbering.
Reawakenings

Prolific developer Trademark Property Company is doing its part to ramp up the country’s new development and active redevelopment stats. The Fort Worth, Texas-based firm has five projects under construction:
Twitter in pilot to deliver discounts via Tweets; offers redeemable in stores

New York - Twitter keeps on coming up with new ways to let advertisers connect with consumers—and now it’s moving into the brick-and-mortar space. In its first On Tuesday, the social media giant launched a pilot for a new feature called Twitter Offers, which enables brands and companies to create card-linked promotions and share them directly with Twitter users. The user can redeem the discount simply by paying with the synced card in the retailer’s physical store or online shop.
Chico’s swings to loss in Q3

Fort Myers, Fla. – Chico’s FAS Inc. reported a net loss of $28.5 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2014, compared to net income of $35.8 million in the third quarter of the previous fiscal year and below Wall Street predictions. Non-cash goodwill and trade name impairment charges drove Chico’s into the red. Sales totaled $665.6 million, an increase of 1.5% compared to $655.6 million. Same-store sales dropped 1.6%.
Books-A-Million reports higher Q3 sales

Despite continuing to lose money, Books-A-Million announced higher same store sales for the third quarter.
Macy’s launching online video ads on Facebook

New York - Macy's continues its aggressive social media push with the launch of online video ads on Facebook starting on Thanksgiving evening. The ads are part of the retailer’s Black Friday weekend campaign. The ads will feature cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants, who will also appear in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. They will target women age 21 and over.
Retail Rap: Holi-delays?