 | February 7, 2011 | News for the retail industry |  |  | |
- Cost Plus sees turnaround with return to its roots
Cost Plus is likely to report a profit this year after four years of losses. The chain grew for decades by offering affordable home decor and international food items before shifting to pricier furniture during the housing boom of the previous decade. The strategy worked for a while but backfired during the downturn when newly budget-conscious shoppers turned away from the chain's growing array of higher-priced items. San Francisco Chronicle/Bloomberg (2/6)       - PacSun CEO Gary Schoenfeld's advice for success
Gary Schoenfeld originally declined to come on board as Pacific Sunwear's CEO, which forced the company to have to win him over. Several meetings with directors changed his mind and, since then, the former CEO of Vans and Global Brands Group has been leading the company's turnaround efforts amid growing competition from Forever 21, H&M and Aeropostale. His best advice? "Success comes from working well with other people." Los Angeles Times (2/6) - Prada pares down Barneys displays
Prada has cut its offerings at upscale apparel chain Barneys New York after the retailer declined to shift to a concession model in which the design house would have leased space and controlled its inventory and pricing. Fashions from French designer Azzedine Alaia will be added in the former Prada space this spring. In an interview Friday, Barneys CEO Mark Lee detailed his growth strategy for the chain, including a continuing focus on sealing more designer exclusives. The Wall Street Journal (2/5) - Crate & Barrel to expand in-store Marimekko shops
Crate & Barrel plans to add in-store Marimekko shops at 20 U.S. and Canada stores during the next three years. The Finnish textile company's wares will debut this spring at Crate & Barrel stores in Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco, as well as a second New York store. The chain also is adding Marimekko's designs to its online retail offerings. Crain's Chicago Business (2/4)  | To become a top-performing distributor, you must:
• Achieve 98% inventory accuracy.
• Reach 95% on-time and complete shipment rates.
• Maintain 12-hour order-to-shipment cycle times.
• Achieve 13% cycle-time reductions from ERP use.
Distributors, how do you stack up against top performers? View the Aberdeen webcast to find out. | - Retailers added more jobs in January
Retailers bucked the traditional post-holiday layoff trend and added jobs in January, with apparel and accessories stores creating 14,600 positions -- more than the sector has added since December 2006, according to the Department of Labor. Department stores saw their largest job gain since last June, and general-merchandise stores added 5,900 positions. Women's Wear Daily (subscription required) (2/6) - Merchants partner with magazines to build brand awareness
Retailers including J.C. Penney, Target and Walgreens are working with fashion magazines to promote themselves to style-conscious consumers. At J.C. Penney, select fashions will be tagged as "People StyleWatch Must-Haves" after being featured in the celebrity style publication. In January, Gap debuted a pop-up Body by Glamour shop that combines Gap Body apparel and Glamour magazine's free online fitness plan. CNBC/Consumer Nation blog (2/6)  | New! 2010 SMB Phone Systems Comparison Guide
Is your current phone system still the right choice for your business? Download this information-packed guide from Focus that compares the top 10 hosted VoIP phone system solutions for SMBs. Reviewing the key features and data points will help you to decide which solution is best suited to your business. Click Here |
 - EBay charts growth path, with mobile in the lead
EBay is seeking faster growth as it faces increased competition from players including Amazon, which last year widened its lead over the auction site, and Etsy, where lower fees have drawn sellers from eBay. To fight back, the company has streamlined its site to make it easier to use, added features to bring back sellers and ramped up efforts to lead in mobile commerce. The New York Times (free registration) (2/6)  | Are you keeping up with the changing world of employee health care? Get The Basics of Employee Health Care for Small Business: A Guide to Creating a Company Benefit Plan, and find out what you need to know today. There's no obligation. Click to download a FREE whitepaper. |
 | Hot Topics |  | | | Top five news stories selected by NRF SmartBrief readers in the past week. - Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers.
| | | Most Popular Headlines from Last Week Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers. |
| NRF News | | | | - Best Buy's Ozzy vs. Beiber commercial tops list of best Super Bowl ads
Of the 172 million football fans who tuned in to watch the Super Bowl last night, more than one-quarter of those viewers said the commercials were the most important part of the experience. Retail Advertising and Marketing Association Executive Director Mike Gatti shares his top five commercial picks from last night and why he thinks they will make lasting impressions. Read more. - NRF SmartStat: Feb. 7, 2011
 A quarter of retailers plan to expand overseas in 2011, up from 21% a year ago. Source: Retail Horizons 2010. - When retailers will report monthly sales in 2011
NRF's 4-5-4 calendar serves as a voluntary guide for the retail industry and ensures sales comparability between years by dividing the year into months based on a 4 weeks/5 weeks/4 weeks format. The 4-5-4 calendar also establishes sales release dates, which have historically been on the first Thursday following the month's end. NRF has released calendars for 2011, 2012 and 2013. View the calendars.
| Chain Restaurant News | | | | - Goldman Sachs looks to acquire Applebee's largest franchisee
GS Capital Partners is reportedly close to acquiring Apple American Group LLC, which operates 269 Applebee's restaurants in several states including Ohio, New Jersey and California. Former Goldman Sachs executive Greg Flynn founded the franchise company in 1998, and three years later, the private-equity division of Goldman Sachs invested $50 million to fund the franchisee's acquisition of 73 restaurants. GS Capital sold its interest in 2005 to current owner Weston Presidio. The Wall Street Journal (2/7) | Career Track | | | |  | |  | | | | |  |  Product Manager | EcoQue | Seattle, WA | | Retail Consulting Affiliate | Management One | Multiple Locations, United States | | Vice President - Divisional Merchandise Manager | The Vitamin Shoppe | North Bergen, NJ | | Women's Buyer/Category Manager | Meijer | Grand Rapids, MI | | Divisional Merchandise Manager (2 positions) | Headquarters Marine Corps-Marine Corps Exchanges | Quantico, VA | | Project Manager, Multi-Channel POS | Sports Authority | Englewood, CO | | Vice President, Sterling | Sterling Shoes Inc. | VANCOUVER, Canada | | Telecom Business Manager | AAFES | Okinawa, Japan | | Divisional Merchandising Manager - Men's Sportswear | Stein Mart | Jacksonville, Florida, FL | | Divisional Merchandising Manager - Home Decor & Gifts | Stein Mart | Jacksonville, FL | | VP of Marketing | Teavana | Atlanta - Buckhead, GA | | Lead Analyst, Paid Search | Target Corporation | Minneapolis, MN | | Senior Manager, Site Planning | Target Corporation | Minneapolis, MN | | | |  | |  |
| SmartQuote | | | |  | Rosiness is not a worse windowpane than gloomy gray when viewing the world."
--Grace Paley,
American writer and political activist  |
| | This SmartBrief was created for cpgbrokers.data@blogger.com
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- Thursday, February 03, 2011
- Wednesday, February 02, 2011
- Tuesday, February 01, 2011
- Monday, January 31, 2011
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Contributing Editor: Faye Rapoport
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