NEW YORK - Shoppers across the United States snapped up deep discounts on toys, clothing, and electronics both online and at stores on Black Friday, giving retailers a strong start to their make-or-break holiday season. A healthy economy and rising wages gave people the confidence to splash out on retailers' annual raft of bargains. “The prices today are very good,” said Jose Manuel Cruz Hernandez, 59, who hit the Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance, California, with his sister Paulina Cruz, 66, who comes every year from Mexico City to shop. The pair spent $120 on princess dolls and other toys at the Walt Disney Co store, where items were 20 percent off. They spent a similar amount at Gap Inc, where items were discounted by about 55 percent. Cruz Hernandez, a foreman at an aerospace firm, said he was comfortable with the US economy and his own finances and plans to spend another $1,000 on holiday gifts - about the same as last year. A similar story played out online, where … [Read more...] about News Black Friday deals lure US shoppers, biggest sales gains online
Half yearly sale nordstrom
Target’s sales growth highest in more than a decade
By Khadeeja Safdar The Wall Street Journal Wed., Aug. 22, 2018 Target Corp. said same-store sales rose at the fastest rate in more than a decade, buoyed by efforts to improve its stores and e-commerce capabilities as well as a booming economy that has helped lift sales across the retail industry. Comparable sales at the company grew 6.5% in the quarter ended Aug. 4 from a year earlier, representing Target’s strongest quarterly performance since 2005. Total revenue climbed 6.9% to $17.78 billion. Chief Executive Brian Cornell said the results reflect more than just a favorable retail environment, pointing to market-share gains across a range of categories from electronics and homewares to toys and apparel. “Our progress so far has been well ahead of our original expectations,” he said on a conference call Wednesday. Target shares rose 5.2% to $87.58 in morning trading after the company raised its full-year earnings outlook as well. A robust U.S. … [Read more...] about Target’s sales growth highest in more than a decade
Here’s how much the typical worker makes at 15 retail companies, from Amazon to Walmart
America’s biggest public companies are now required to disclose their workers’ median annual pay. The median worker pay for a job at a public retail company varies across the board. Based on 2018 proxy statements, we ranked the median retail worker’s pay at different companies from lowest to highest. Are you an underpaid employee? This year, you might find out. For the first time, America’s biggest public companies are required to disclose their workers’ median annual salary – and how it compares to the pay of their CEO. The result is the company’s pay ratio, which is the division of a CEO’s annual compensation by the median employee’s annual pay, in an aim to highlight the pay gap between executives and the typical worker. While not all companies have yet to release this data, some have gotten the ball rolling – and the median worker pay is quite … [Read more...] about Here’s how much the typical worker makes at 15 retail companies, from Amazon to Walmart
Kohl’s creating fast fashion patterns for big retailers
By Lindsey Rupp Bloomberg News Fri., March 23, 2018 In the spring of 2009, Kohl’s Corp. executives gathered six apparel vendors into a hotel near Los Angeles and threw down the gauntlet. Their request: Make 12,000 apparel items in six weeks or less from two samples. For context, similar-sized orders at the time generally took four times longer. Of the six, only fashion designer Jackie Wilson was able to deliver the goods on time, taking five weeks and four days to produce the white, rayon shirts with an attached purple vest. Upon winning, she recalls her staff erupted in celebration. Almost a decade later, the quest by big retail chains to offer fast fashion — on-trend apparel delivered before it goes out of style — remains a challenge. Though Kohl’s has helped show that traditional department-store chains can adapt, it continues to struggle to maintain consistent growth in a moribund industry. And other chains are even farther behind. Read … [Read more...] about Kohl’s creating fast fashion patterns for big retailers
An unexpected retailer is surging to be more popular than H&M, Kohl’s, and Macy’s
caption Lane Bryant carries women’s sizes from US 10 to 32. source Facebook/Lane Bryant Plus-size store Lane Bryant was voted the second-favorite premium fashion retailer in the US in a recent survey. Respondents ranked the chain high on customer service and store atmosphere. It ranked low on value for money. Lane Bryant has won over the hearts of American shoppers. The plus-size store, which is owned by Ascena Retail Group, placed second on a list of Americans’ favorite premium fashion stores, gaining seven percentage points of favorability over the year prior. 10,000 people responded to the survey, which was done by the customer-experience management company Market Force. Lane Bryant was second only to Nordstrom, which was voted the No. 1 favorite for the sixth year running. Respondents in the Market Force survey praised Lane Bryant for its customer service, store atmosphere, checkout speed, … [Read more...] about An unexpected retailer is surging to be more popular than H&M, Kohl’s, and Macy’s