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So long, sweatpants. Americans show signs they’re ready to get dressed up again
SOURCE: CNBC / Lauren Thomas reporting Published: March 5, 2021 KEY POINTS Urban Outfitters has offered one of the first signals during the Covid pandemic that women are starting to gravitate toward shopping for dresses again. The retailer’s Anthropologie brand said seven of its top 10 selling items were dresses in the final week of…
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Monthly retail sales from the US Commerce Department
The department’s Census Bureau tracks estimates each month. Retail Dive provides the numbers for key segments, and their year-over-year progress, or decline. [ December sales up 6.7% as shoppers ditch department stores. ] UPDATED: Jan. 19, 2021 REPORTING BY: Daphne Howland, Caroline Jansen DESIGN BY: Nami Sumida Editor’s Note: Comparisons for individual segments are updated…
Read MoreBelk’s top lenders, including KKR, looking to avoid taking department store through bankruptcy, WSJ says
SOURCE: CNBC By: Lauren Thomas KEY POINTS KKR and other major lenders to Belk are in talks with the department store chain to keep it out of bankruptcy, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The company, its lenders and the private equity firm Sycamore Partners are inching closer toward reaching an out-of-court deal, the…
Read MoreMerchandise returns totaled $428 billion in 2020; top categories of returns were…
SOURCE: ChainStore Age By: Marianne Wilson Merchandise returns totaled approximately 10.6% of total U.S. retail sales last year. That’s according to a report released by the National Retail Federation and Appriss Retail, which found that consumers returned an estimated $428 billion in merchandise to retailers in 2020. Roughly 5.9% of the returns were fraudulent, equating…
Read MoreFashion apparel makes a comeback, focus on digital deepens, and other 2021 predictions
SOURCE: Retail Dive Ben Unglesbee The pandemic, and recovery from it, will likely define the year as consumers look to refresh their wardrobes and retailers hold on to new practices that worked, analysts say. Artificial Photography for Unsplash AUTHOR Ben Unglesbee@Ben_Unglesbee PUBLISHED Jan. 20, 2021 SHARE IT POST SHARE TWEET After a year that unfolded…
Read MoreRetail Was Remarkably Resilient In 2020, But Has Been Changed Forever
Source: Forbes / Jason Goldberg Sixty-six million years ago, a massive asteroid or comet, dubbed the Chicxulub impactor, struck the earth, causing world-wide climate disruption that resulted in the mass extinction of the majority of plant and animal species on Earth. Covid-19 had a similar impact on retail in 2020. Just as the Chicxulub impactor…
Read MoreFederal Government Says Employers Can Mandate COVID Vaccinations
ASKING FOR PROOF OF A COVID VACCINATION DOESN’T COUNT AS A DISABILITY-RELATED QUESTION. DECEMBER 2020 BEN COLEY Employers are allowed to require COVID vaccinations and ban employees from the workplace if they choose to opt out, according to guidance from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The American Disabilities Act (ADA) limits an employer’s ability…
Read MoreRetailers’ best e-commerce asset may be their brick-and-mortar stores
Source: Retail Dive: Daphne Howland Dive Brief: In yet another trend accelerated by the pandemic, BOPIS services have surged, with 40% of retailers now offering the service, compared to just a quarter last year, according to an emailed report from omnichannel platform NewStore. More than half (55%) offer in-store returns of online purchases, the firm…
Read MoreICONIC MENSWEAR RETAIL ENTERPRISE CELEBRATES A BIRTHDAY – The Locker Room Turns 57
ICONIC MENSWEAR RETAIL ENTERPRISE BEGINS ITS 57TH YEAR Alex Gatewood opened the Locker Room in Tuscaloosa October 28, 1964 Tuscaloosa, AL The Locker…
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