Retailing: Analysis
The Lap of LUXURY
Apr 1, 2008, By Lauren Shepherd
When Libby Lassiter began developing the Tysons Galleria in McLean, Va., in 1988, she decided to try something rather novel in those days anchoring a...
SEARS' NEW STRATEGY
Mar 1, 2008
For the first several years after the formation of Sears Holding Corp. the product of a merger of Kmart and Sears hedge fund manager Edward S. Lampert...
Brighter Future
Mar 1, 2008, Elaine Misonzhnik
Who says the era of retail buyouts is over? Although the credit crunch makes leveraged buyouts difficult, it doesn't mean that all deals are off the table....
Trouble Ahead
Feb 1, 2008, Elaine Misonzhnik
The 2007 holiday season proved to be a dismal one for U.S. retailers, crashing hopes that the months-long weakness in same-store sales was a temporary...
Retail's Holiday Picture Developing
Jan 3, 2008
Retailers pulled out all the stops during the days before Christmas by extending hours, upping promotions and doing everything they could think of to spur one last spending blitz ...
Outlets Grow Upscale
Jan 1, 2008, By Riccardo A. Davis
To get a sense of just how much the outlet shopping center world has transformed in the past decade, one need look no further than to the radical ups...
Report from ICSC New York: Deal Making Slows, But Optimism Reigns
Dec 5, 2007
After a rough few months that saw the credit markets seize, a slowdown in investment sales volume and what's expected to be a holiday shopping season, the buzzword at ICSC's New York National Conference...
Foreign Apparel Retailers Make Inroads
Nov 21, 2007
Innovative foreign-based apparel retailers are ringing up brisk sales in the United States and turning inventories faster than a fashion model strutting down the catwalk ...
Run for the Border
Nov 1, 2007, Riccardo A. Davis
Parking lots at shopping centers near the United States's northern border are suddenly jammed with vehicles with Canadian license plates as cross-border...
Holiday Forecast Calls for Mild Slowdown in Luxury Sales
Oct 3, 2007
To date in 2007, luxury chains have remained retail stars. Luxury department store chains have averaged same-store sales gains of 8.6 percent per month this year--higher than either 2005 or 2006. With the exception of June--when sales grew just 1.8 percent--the sector has soared....
Scalding-Hot Coffee Wars
Oct 1, 2007, Elaine Misonzhnik
The coffee wars scorch on. Retail wunderkind Starbucks Corp. has come up with a few new tricks in recent months in its attempts to widen the lead it has...
Back-to-School Jitters
Oct 1, 2007, Elaine Misonzhnik
Looking for a sign that this year's holiday shopping season will be slow? Check the back-to-school numbers. As the eight-week-long season (the second...
Is Starbucks Running Out of Steam?
Sep 12, 2007
The coffee wars scorch on. Retail wunderkind Starbucks Corp. has come up with a few new tricks in recent months in its attempts to widen the lead it has built over other java sellers at a time when Dunkin' Donuts has its sights set on becoming a national player and upscale upstarts try to erode the chain's marketshare. ...
Back-to-School Sales Jitters For Retailers
Sep 6, 2007
Looking for a sign that this year's holiday shopping season will be slow? Check the back-to-school numbers. With about two weeks to go in the eight-week long season (the second most important of the year for retailers), all indications are that sales will be down from the past two years. ...
Early Warnings
Sep 1, 2007
The back-to-school shopping season was not even over before some retailers came forward to temper expectations about the upcoming holiday shopping season....
On the Brink
Sep 1, 2007, Riccardo A. Davis
After more than two years of consecutive quarterly losses and hemorrhaging cash, Pier 1 Imports is ditching some of its business, cutting jobs and ratcheting...
Are Rising Vacancies A Concern?
Aug 22, 2007
When the housing market began to seriously falter in 2006, analysts raised concerns that retail real estate would be next. It was no secret, after all, that millions of Americans had pulled equity from their homes for years to finance cars, vacations and shopping trips to the mall. ...
Fun Out of the Sun
Aug 1, 2007, Elaine Misonzhnik
With little over a month left in the summer vacation season, outlet center owners particularly those with properties with high seasonal sales seem unfazed...
The Basket Runneth Over
Aug 1, 2007, By Jennifer Popovec
When you walk into the Kroger store at Dublin Plaza in Dublin, Ohio, you don't find your typical staid, antiseptic supermarket. There's no harsh fluorescent...
Shifting Tides Shopping by the Seashore
Jul 18, 2007
With summer temperatures heating up, tis the season for vacationers to head to the seashores. The throngs of sun worshippers can be gold for developers – particularly developers of outlet malls – as shopping for bargains has become as much a part of the season as searching for seashells....
Smoldering Wicker
May 1, 2007, Elaine Misonzhnik
After reporting eight consecutive quarterly losses, Pier 1 Imports is running on fumes. On April 12, the Ft. Worth, Texas-based furniture retailer announced it will close 60 stores as part of a turnaround strategy...
Eddie Bauer Redux
May 1, 2007, Marc Hequet
Eddie Bauer has returned to its roots as it continues to plow ahead with its turnaround strategy. The specialty retailer has refocused on its casual sportswear and accessories that embrace the great outdoors....
What If?
May 1, 2007
The deals assume 70 percent debt, 30 percent equity and a 25 percent buyout premium. ($ in millions, except per share data) ...
Hanging by a Thread
May 1, 2007, By Jennifer Popovec
In early April, Gap Inc. released what, for it, qualified as the best news in a long time. The chain's same-store sales were up 2 percent during the first quarter 2007 compared with a 12 percent decrease for the same period last year...
Housing Blues
Apr 1, 2007, Elaine Misonzhnik
The outlook for retail just got a little cloudier. The one-two punch of the meltdown in the sub-prime mortgage market coupled with slower-than-expected retail sales growth has some economists wondering where the retail sector is going....
