Williams-Sonoma is cutting back and one focus is its phone-in catalog business, demonstrating again that good retailers will take a hard look at operations during the recession. The retailer will eliminate a 38,000 square foot Camp Hill, Pa., call center as well as a 500,000 square foot distribution facility in Memphis, Tenn., as part of an 18 percent reduction in company-wide full-time jobs, a...
Retail Industry Archive
January 2009
New law presents fresh challenge to children’s retailers — Small retailers selling children’s clothing and toys may receive their fatal blow Feb. 10 when a new law requiring that products for children be tested for toxins goes into effect. The legislation was passed after Mattel Inc. in 2007 recalled 21 million toys imported from China. Retail behemoths like Wal-Mart and...
Despite experiencing some bumps in the road, Tesco’s Fresh & Easy operation is poised to reach 120 stores in the United States by the time the company’s financial year ends in February, which puts it about a third of the way to profitability. Based on earlier company comments, Tesco needs to operate between 300 and 500 Fresh & Easy locations to make its distribution system,...
CircuitCity.com to remain shuttered? — Although the brick-and-mortar locations operated by Circuit City Stores Inc. are papered with signs advertising the chain’s liquidation sales, the same can’t be said for the company’s Web site. After announcing that Circuit City is going out of business, operators took down CircuitCity.com, the Web’s 16th biggest retailer,...
While it won’t happen overnight, Target is likely to change subtly with Gregg Steinhafel as chairman, with food and consumables becoming more prevalent. Steinhafel adds the chairmanship to his CEO title on Feb. 1, succeeding Bob Ulrich who is retiring from the company. Ulrich transformed what had been Dayton Hudson, a department store company with a discount arm, to Target Corp., a discount...
Wal-Mart, it seems, it taking another step toward entering the retail sector in Russia. The company has registered as a legal entity in the country – establishing a subsidiary dubbed WM Eastern Europe Holdings — and joined a local trade organization, the Russian Association of Retail Trade Companies, the Moscow Times has reported. The move follows other tentative moves by Wal-Mart in...
Sears Holding has reintroduced a lay away program at its namesake stores, an interesting development in itself, but one which also brings to mind something Deloitte chief economist Carl Steidtmann said at last week’s National Retail Federation convention. The company relaunched layaway for the holiday season at Sears stores after seeing interest in it rekindle at Kmart, which has retained the...
Saks announcement that it is cutting jobs and slashing its capital expenditures falls in line with an earlier announcement from Macy’s saying it would shutter stores, but those developments also may foreshadow the next major change in the rapidly evolving department store sector. Department stores face significant challenges, including failing malls, more effective competition and a consumer...
Goody’s, Gottschalks seek bankruptcy protection — Apparel-retailer Goody’s LLC and department-store-owner Gottschalks Inc. are seeking bankruptcy protection after sales continued to droop over the holidays. Gottschalks is looking for a buyer, while Goody’s plans to liquidate after entering bankruptcy for the second time in seven months. Both companies filed their Chapter...
The current economy could provide just the right conditions for Aldi to become a major retail power in the United States. And not just Aldi. Retailers with similar stores could find consumers warming to their barebones style. In Europe, Aldi, its major rival Lidl and formats developed by hypermarket operators such as Carrefour to compete with them have become the fastest growing part of...
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