As Big Lots puts the finishing touches on its Store of the Future
format, the retailer is also repositioning the brand and its tag line.
The recent bankruptcy filing at Toys “R” Us has roiled the toy industry. Yet the struggles at the company are not new. The firm was taken private in a $6.6 billion leveraged private equity buyout in 2005, with the aim of turning the chain around, but the resulting debt has proved to be unserviceable.
Whole Foods will change the way companies can sell and market their
products in stores beginning next year, one of the biggest moves yet in
its continuing push to operate more like a traditional market.
U.S. package delivery company United Parcel Service Inc said on Wednesday it expected to hire about 95,000 seasonal employees for the upcoming, crucial peak holiday season.
Roche Bros. has unveiled plans for a third Brothers Marketplace—this one in Waltham, Massachusetts—in the spring of 2018.
Albertsons Cos. has acquired Plated, a meal kit service, in line with both companies’ strategy to “reinvent the way consumers discover, purchase and experience food.” New York City-based Plated will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Albertsons Cos. in Boise, Idaho. The transaction is expected to close later this month, pending customary approvals.
RetailNext Inc., the worldwide expert and market leader in IoT smart store retail analytics for optimizing shopper experiences, announced a positive forecast for U.S. retail performance over the November through December Holiday period, predicting a 3.8 percent year-over-year (YoY) lift in sales, driven in party by a 14.9 percent increase in YoY sales through digital channels.
For decades Toys R Us has made its living by immersing itself in all things toys. So it makes sense that the company's chief executive would use a beloved game as a metaphor to describe how it tumbled into Chapter 11 so suddenly, making the nearly $12 billion toy retailer the third-largest retailer in history to go bankrupt.
Walmart won't be doing large-scale holiday hiring at its stores this year. Instead, like last year, it will offer extra hours to its current workers.
Toys R Us has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, joining a growing list of companies struggling to navigate a retail landscape altered by technology and changing consumer tastes. There is even a new term that has emerged which points to the dire state of the industry: Chapter 22. Those are companies that have been forced to seek bankruptcy protection for a second time. Overall, 35 retailers have filed for bankruptcy so far this year, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Shares of
Bed Bath & Beyond
Inc.
tumbled 13% to $23.62 after hours Tuesday after the home goods
retailer slashed its full year outlook and widely missed earnings and
sales expectations in its second quarter.
Grocers that offer digital resources on e-commerce sites are positioned
to attract, convert and retain online customers going forward.
Retail holiday sales should rise a healthy 4% to 4.5% over last year's
shopping season — a factor that could drive sales between $1.04 trillion
and $1.05 trillion between November 2017 and January 2018, according to
the annual retail holiday sales forecast from the firm’s retail and
distribution practices. (Holiday sales are seasonally adjusted, and
exclude motor vehicles and gasoline.)
Best Buy Co. on Tuesday
set financial targets for 2021, reflecting confidence that the
turnaround strategy it started five years ago has positioned the company
for steady growth of sales and profits.
According to the “2017 Digital Commerce Benchmark Survey,” from Boston Retail Partners, currently 51% of retailers indicate they offer same-day delivery, up
from 16% last year, and within two years, 65% plan to offer this
service. Delivery via a third party service, such as Uber or Lyft has
also increased from 20% last year to 32% this year. The reason for the
increase: retailers want to provide different options that enable
customers to shop, purchase and receive their goods on their own terms.
The most worrisome trend in big-box retail was “showrooming” — customers
were testing new products in stores before buying them for less money
online from another retailer. To combat showrooming and persuade
customers to complete their purchases at Best Buy, Hubert Joly, Best Buy’s chief executive, announced a
price-matching guarantee.
Costco
markets itself as a warehouse club where, in exchange for a membership
fee, consumers get access to a variety of food, merchandise and services
at discounted prices.
Kohl's, which is opening some in-store Amazon
shops, will start accepting returns for the online retailer at some of
its stores in Los Angeles and Chicago starting next month.
In its fourth attempt,
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. clinched regulatory approval for a deal
to buy Rite Aid Corp. stores after a last-minute reduction of the number
of stores and price.
