• Ann Taylor, Lane Bryant owner files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

    Ann Taylor, Lane Bryant owner files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

    The operator of Ann Taylor and Lane Bryant filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Thursday, the latest retailer to do so during the pandemic. Mahwah, New Jersey-based Ascena Retail Group, which operates nearly 3,000 stores mostly at malls, had been dragged down by debt and weak sales for years. As part of its bankruptcy …
  • NYC is now the worst place to do business, retailers say

    NYC is now the worst place to do business, retailers say

    New York City’s progress fighting the coronavirus is doing little to help retailers, who say business in the city that never sleeps has become worse than anywhere else in the country. National retailers — from Shake Shack, Applebees, and cap seller Lids — say their Big Apple stores are bouncing back slower than even neighboring …
  • Jide Zeitlin, CEO of Coach parent company Tapestry, amid investigation

    Jide Zeitlin, CEO of Coach parent company Tapestry, amid investigation

    Tapestry Chairman and CEO Jide Zeitlin stepped down on Tuesday amid an investigation into his personal behavior, a source familiar with the matter said. The source said Tapestry’s board had hired a law firm to investigate allegations from at least one woman of Zeitlin posing as a photographer under an alias to lure her into …
  • Aldi to open more than 70 new grocery stores by end of this year

    Aldi to open more than 70 new grocery stores by end of this year

    German-owned supermarket chain Aldi — a deep-discounting cousin of the popular Trader Joe’s supermarket chain — says it will open more than 70 new US stores by the end of the year in its quest to become America’s third-largest grocer. Aldi’s US arm is forging ahead with a more than $5 billion expansion plan despite …
  • Walmart says health ambassadors up to task of enforcing mask rule

    Walmart says health ambassadors up to task of enforcing mask rule

    In a week that saw big chains like Kohl’s, CVS and Target announce that all shoppers must wear masks to prevent the spread of coronavirus, only Walmart said it is creating a dedicated enforcement team. The Bentonville, Ark.-based behemoth said that it will install “health ambassadors” at each location to help implement the rule, which …
  • Retail sales climb 7.5 percent in June with coronavirus spike looming

    Retail sales climb 7.5 percent in June with coronavirus spike looming

    US retailers continued their swift recovery from the coronavirus crisis last month — but a recent surge in infections could sicken merchants once again. Retail and food service sales climbed 7.5 percent in June, to $524.3 billion, beating economists’ expectations for a 5 percent gain on the heels of May’s record 18.2 percent surge, the …
  • Kohl’s to require customers to wear masks at stores nationwide

    Kohl’s to require customers to wear masks at stores nationwide

    Kohl’s has joined retail heavyweights like Walmart and Best Buy by requiring all customers at every store to wear masks beginning Monday to fight the spread of coronavirus. “As COVID-19 cases continue to rise, face covering mandates have grown to apply to approximately 70 percent of our store base — therefore we’ve made the decision …
  • JCPenney to cut 1,000 jobs, shutter 152 stores

    JCPenney to cut 1,000 jobs, shutter 152 stores

    JCPenney said on Wednesday it would cut about 1,000 jobs and shutter 152 stores as the US department store chain looks to emerge from Chapter 11 protection and the COVID-19 crisis. The layoffs would affect corporate, field management, and international roles and eligible departing employees would receive a severance package. The company is also in …
  • Amazon unveils high-tech shopping cart that eliminates need for cashiers

    Amazon unveils high-tech shopping cart that eliminates need for cashiers

    Amazon is ramping up its mission to make shopping faster with a new high-tech shopping cart that eliminates the need for long lines at the cash register — and the cashiers who run them. The “Dash Cart” the e-commerce titan unveiled Tuesday automatically rings up items that shoppers drop in their bags and charges them …
  • Debunked: Victoria’s Secret RFID technology is not used to track customers

    Debunked: Victoria’s Secret RFID technology is not used to track customers

    Recently, some social media users have been sharing images online of radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags on Victoria’s Secret clothing items and claiming they are being used to track users. This claim is untrue. Some of the posts falsely claim a link to sex trafficking. One post reads: “So the person who created and runs victoria secret …