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It\u2019s been another week with far more retail news than there is time in the day. Below, we break down some things you may have missed during the week and what we\u2019re still thinking about.\u00a0<\/p>\n
From consumers taking on an average of over $1,100 worth of holiday debt to Krispy Kreme\u2019s Pop-Tart flavored doughnuts,\u00a0here\u2019s our closeout for the week.<\/p>\n
What you may have missed\u00a0<\/h3>\n Big Lots closes deal to keep stores open<\/em><\/p>\nDiscount retailer Big Lots confirmed at the start of this month that it has closed a deal that will enable the retailer to keep hundreds of locations open after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.<\/p>\n
The agreement with Gordon Brothers will allow Variety Wholesalers to acquire between 200 and 400 stores and up to two distribution centers. Variety Wholesalers is the parent of several discount retail banners, including Roses.\u00a0Following the deal, it will continue to operate the acquired stores under the Big Lots banner.<\/p>\n
Big Lots filed for bankruptcy in September and began closing sales at all of its stores in December after an earlier deal to sell to a private equity firm fell through. The new deal was announced days after the going-out-of-business sales began.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis strategic acquisition allows us to serve additional customers and communities. We plan to combine the best of Variety with the best of Big Lots and are excited about the possibilities ahead,\u201d Lisa Seigies, Variety Wholesalers\u2019 CEO, said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Book-A-Million names CFO<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n
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\nCFO Damian Doggett<\/p>\n
Image courtesy of Books-A-Million<\/p>\n
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Books-A-Million on Wednesday announced the appointment of Damian Doggett as chief financial officer, where he will lead all aspects of the company\u2019s financial operations. Doggett has been with the company since 2006 and held a variety of leadership positions within finance, according to a company announcement.<\/p>\n
“I am pleased to announce Damian’s well-deserved promotion to CFO,\u201d CEO Terrance Finley said in a statement. \u201cHis years of strong creative leadership, coupled with his dedication to addressing the evolving needs of our business make him uniquely qualified to lead our finance team and guide our financial strategy in the years ahead.”<\/p>\n
Macy\u2019s appoints Herm\u00e8s vet to its board <\/em><\/p>\nMacy\u2019s on Monday appointed Robert Chavez to its board of directors, effective April 1, according to a company announcement. Chavez most recently served as the CEO of Herm\u00e8s Americas for nearly 25 years, where he oversaw operations in the U.S., Canada and Latin America.<\/p>\n
Chavez launched his career in the Bloomingdale\u2019s Executive Development program and went on to become a Macy\u2019s divisional merchandising manager.<\/p>\n
Retail Therapy<\/h3>\n Reserve your table for date night at White Castle on Valentine\u2019s Day<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n
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\nCourtesy of White Castle<\/p>\n
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Reservations opened on Monday for White Castle\u2019s Valentine\u2019s Day seating. The romantic tradition at the fast-food chain began in 1991. Over 300 White Castle locations are participating this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Couples can make their Feb. 14 reservation online at OpenTable, a restaurant reservation service. Reservations for tables are available from 4 p.m.\u00a0to 9 p.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Valentine\u2019s Day deals at White Castle include a $5 Sloppy Joe combo with small fries and a soft drink, alongside a $6.99 Sloppy Joe six-pack. White Castle’s loyalty program, Craver Nation Rewards, also offers more discounts and freebies for Valentine\u2019s Day.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Krispy Kreme announces Pop-Tart flavored doughnuts<\/em><\/p>\nKrispy Kreme released a Pop-Tarts doughnut box on Monday. The assortment of doughnuts incorporates Pop-Tarts flavors like frosted strawberry, frosted chocolatey fudge and frosted brown sugar cinnamon.<\/p>\n\n\n
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\nCourtesy of Krispy Kreme, Pop-Tarts<\/p>\n
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Select retailers will offer a six-pack box of the collection. The Krispy Kreme x Pop-Tarts Crazy Good Doughnuts collection is available individually and by the dozen in-shop, as well as for pickup and delivery through Krispy Kreme\u2019s app and website.<\/p>\n\nWhat we\u2019re still thinking about<\/h3>\n $241.4B <\/em><\/p>\nThat\u2019s the total amount of online retail sales made between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31, marking an 8.7% year-over-year increase, according to figures released by Adobe Analytics. Those numbers were not adjusted for inflation.<\/p>\n
Nearly 55% of online transactions were made on mobile devices during that period, up from 51.1% in the year-ago period.<\/p>\n
Grocery and cosmetics represented the strongest categories of growth online this holiday season, growing 12.9% and 12.2%, respectively, per the report.<\/p>\n
$1,181<\/em><\/p>\nThat\u2019s the average amount of debt consumers took on this holiday season, according to a December survey from LendingTree. That\u2019s up from $1,028 during the 2023 holiday season.<\/p>\n
While over a third of consumers took on holiday debt, only 44% intended to, per the report. By generation, millennials took on the most debt (42%) followed by Gen X (37%), Gen Z (34%) and baby boomers (29%).\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nearly two-thirds of consumers put purchases on credit cards, while 24% used store cards and 21% used buy now, pay later services.<\/p>\n
What we\u2019re watching<\/h3>\n What\u2019s next for Ulta<\/em><\/p>\nUlta announced an unexpected leadership swap earlier this week, as Dave Kimbell retired on Monday and Chief Operating Officer Kecia Steelman was named to take his place. While the change keeps some consistency at the beauty retailer, seeing as Steelman has worked there since 2014, it is the second CEO change in just under four years and it does raise new questions about Ulta\u2019s performance and what may change down the line.<\/p>\n
As COO, Steelman has been leading Ulta\u2019s shop-in-shop partnership with Target, and Piper Sandler analysts this week called her a \u201cnatural fit\u201d to take over the CEO spot. But she also is taking the helm at a time of uncharacteristic weakness for Ulta, which has seen slowing growth and store expansion in recent months.<\/p>\n\nThe beauty retailer has been challenged by increased competition in the space, namely from Sephora\u2019s swift expansion of beauty shop-in-shops within Kohl\u2019s stores, and is looking to grow its market share by increasing its wellness assortment and embracing newer beauty demographics like younger men.<\/p>\n
While Kimbell largely held steady on the work former CEO Mary Dillon started, Dillon during her tenure was responsible for completely upending how the beauty world saw Ulta. Piper Sandler expects Steelman to keep investing in the initiatives Kimbell\u00a0has, but only time will tell what new directions she could push Ulta toward.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Listen to the article 7 min This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. It\u2019s been another week with far more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14552,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dmsretail.com\/RetailNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dmsretail.com\/RetailNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dmsretail.com\/RetailNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dmsretail.com\/RetailNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dmsretail.com\/RetailNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dmsretail.com\/RetailNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dmsretail.com\/RetailNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dmsretail.com\/RetailNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dmsretail.com\/RetailNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dmsretail.com\/RetailNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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