News Briefs

Nordstrom has appointed Jason Morrisas as chief technology and information officer, effective May 1, 2023. He succeeds Edmond Mesrobian, who departed the company in October 2022.

Morris joins the department store retailer from Walmart, where he most recently led global enterprise technology as senior VP, enterprise business services.  Prior to that, Morris was Walmart’s VP of customer-facing technology and led strategy, system development and implementation of hardware and software in more than 10,000 locations globally.

Previously, Morris was responsible for technology development across many aspects of Walmart's retail business, including merchandising, replenishment, supplier management, real estate and global compliance.

At Nordstrom, Morris will oversee the company's technology functions, including engineering and data science and analytics. The retailer is on track to deploy radio frequency identification chain-wide this year.

"Jason has a wealth of experience leading large, global teams to create and implement best-in-class retail technology solutions," said Erik Nordstrom, CEO of Nordstrom. “He will play a critical role as we continue to advance our Closer to You market strategy, and we look forward to welcoming him to the team."

Unveiled earlier this year, Nordstrom’s “Closer to You” strategy is a comprehensive initiative that puts the focus on the retailer’s biggest growth opportunities, which include expanding its outlet division and digital sales.

"I have long admired Nordstrom as a retail leader in redefining the importance of digital," said Morris. "I am excited to join this talented technology team to continue enhancing Nordstrom's digital capabilities and support the company's ongoing focus on using technology to serve customers in new and better ways."

A 32-year Nordstrom veteran has joined the executive leadership team at Tilly’s.

The young men’s and women’s casual apparel, accessories and footwear retailer has appointed Laura Janney as executive VP, chief merchandising officer, effective May 8, 2023.  Janney will oversee all aspects of the Tilly’s merchandising operations, including buying, sourcing, and product development, along with coordinating consistency in merchandising experiences both in-store and online.

Prior to joining Tilly’s, Janney was with Hudson’s Bay Company, from July 2019 to January 2023, most recently as chief merchant for The Bay.  Before that, she spent 32 years at Nordstrom, 1987 to 2019 in a variety of retail store and merchandise management roles, including most recently as VP, omnichannel divisional merchandise manager for innovation/full price stores.

“I am excited to have Laura join our Company,” said Tilly’s president and CEO Ed Thomas. “We believe her extensive experience in retail merchandising and track record of growth and strategic leadership will bring great value to Tilly’s as we work to improve our business.”

Tilly’s is headquartered in Irvine, California and currently operates 249 total stores across 33 states and its website.

Consumers are feeling a bit better about the economy, but are more worried about inflation.

The overall consumer sentiment index ticked up 2.4% to 63.5 in early April from a four-month low of 62 in March, according to the University of Michigan’s preliminary reading for April.  Sentiment is now about 3% below a year ago, but 27% above the all-time low from last June.

“Rising sentiment for lower-income consumers was offset by declines among those with higher incomes," said Joanne Hsu, director, Surveys of Consumers. "While consumers have noted the easing of inflation among durable goods and cars, they still expect high inflation to persist, at least in the short run."

The index that measures what consumers think about current economic conditions rose to 68.6  in April from 66.3 in March.  The index of consumer expectations (for the next six months) inched up to 60.3 from 59.2 in March.

Year-ahead inflation expectations rose to 4.6% in April from 3.6% in March. Inflation expectations have been seesawing for four consecutive months, alternating between increases and decreases.

“Uncertainty over short-run inflation expectations continues to be notably elevated, indicating that the recent volatility in expected year-ahead inflation is likely to continue,” said Hsu. “The bumpiness in inflation expectations is limited to the short run as long-run inflation expectations remained remarkably stable.”

Long-run inflation expectations came in at 2.9% for the fifth consecutive month and have stayed within the narrow 2.9% to 3.1% range for 20 of the last 21 months. 

“While consumers have noted the easing of inflation among durable goods and cars, they still expect high inflation to persist, at least in the short run,” said Hsu.

Pandemic Peloton poop-out caused a resurgence of fitness concepts in physical retail, one of them being a fast-growing Dallas-based chain called Fitness Connection.

With more than 30 gyms in the Lone Star State, concentrated largely in the Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston metros, Fitness Connection opened its second gym in the San Antonio market this week and will open another there later this year.

One of the lowest entry-priced gyms in the United States, Fitness Connection costs just $10 a month for members who sign up for annual plans.

"We're thrilled to expand our reach in San Antonio and provide more people with a convenient, affordable, and inspiring way to achieve their fitness goals," said the chain’s CEO Patrick Flanagan.

Fitness Connection bills its spaces as “Your Gym Come True,” offering full-size basketball and pickleball courts, women’s workout areas, saunas, and a Kids Club with a mini basketball court and a theater.

"Our gyms offer more amenities, more equipment, and more space than any of our competitors,” Flanagan maintains.

Walmart has named its first-ever chief belonging officer.

 The retailer giant named A. Denise Malloy-Deaderick to the post,  which is an evolution of the chief diversity officer position. The appointment is effective April 14.

 Prior to Walmart, Malloy-Deaderick spent 17 years at Johnson Controls, most recently as senior director, market strategy diversity, a  newly-created position responsible for identifying, tracking and reporting diversity ROI to the business unit. 

In the role, she also was responsible for developing formal diversity processes and partnerships necessary to ensure the onboarding, development and promotion of exceptional talent, and worked with business and market leaders to significantly impact the workplace, marketplace and community.
 

Malloy-Deaderick also worked at J.P. Morgan and Xerox.

In a related post on her LinkedIn page, Malloy-Deaderick wrote that she looked forward to “diving in and engaging with the over 2 million associates around the globe to work toward workplace diversity and inclusion that drives equitable outcomes for all.”

“To my new, fellow Walmart associates, I’m excited to begin partnering with you to continue to create a culture where we all feel we belong,” she added.

Consumers continue to prioritize experiences and essentials in their spending. 

U.S. retail sales increased 4.7% year-over-year in March, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse, which measures in-store and online retail sales, excluding automotive, across all forms of payment. (The metric reflects nominal spending and is not adjusted for inflation.)

At a national level, nominal spending growth was down slightly compared to February, which saw a 6.9% year-over-year increase. Spending trends in March, however, were consistent with those experienced earlier this year.

In other March results, e-commerce sales were up 13.0% year-over-year, while in-store sales rose 2.8%. Restaurant sales grew 11.6% and grocery sales rose 5.6%.

The home improvement, home furniture/furnishings and electronics sectors continued to experience a dip in year-over-year growth as consumers prioritized experiences and essentials, noted Mastercard.

“There are a number of factors influencing how today’s consumer is shopping including inflation, the labor market, food and gas prices, and the path of interest rates,” said Steve Sadove, senior advisor for Mastercard and former CEO and Chairman of Saks Incorporated. “But they’re still spending -- we’re seeing varied growth sector by sector, with purchases largely shifting to necessities and experiences.”