RTP blog

JULY 17, 2019

The report that Barneys New York is examining strategic alternatives that could include a bankruptcy or sale is the latest indicator that department stores — even the luxury ones — just aren’t moving the needle for shoppers. The RTP editors share their opinions on the future of department stores and what they will look like over the next decade. With that said, it’s obvious changes need to be made if these retailers want their remaining stores to matter.

Department Stores 150

Department Stores Blog Specialty Retailers Demo 150

Retail TouchPoints

MARCH 9, 2022

As the American mall undergoes a period of radical reinvention, department stores are being brought along for the ride. As department stores and retailers change, the central question is how do you bring people back ?” Department Stores’ Return to Their Roots.

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Department Stores Demo Presentation Fashion 105

RetailDive

MARCH 15, 2021

Big boxes, specialty stores and discounters have stolen share from department stores for years. Now some, most notably Target, are stealing their merchandising playbook too

Department Stores 110

Department Stores 110

RetailDive

OCTOBER 7, 2020

The coronavirus pandemic has worsened an existential crisis that deepened over the last 10 years

Department Stores 114

Department Stores 114

Retail Dive

DECEMBER 20, 2021

The sector is having a good holiday season after bouncing back this year as consumers refreshed their closets. But its problems haven't gone away

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Department Stores Consumer 107

Retail Dive

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

The concept store may prove the company's agility and ability to bring in new audiences

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Department Stores 109

Retail TouchPoints

JULY 27, 2021

Selfridges ’ owners have launched a formal auction to sell the department store chain, which has been valued as high as £4 billion ( $5.5 A successful deal could see two of the UK’s most historic department stores coming together under a single owner.

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Department Stores Fashion Other Operations 94

Retail Dive

AUGUST 11, 2021

Department stores still have a strong value proposition, if only they can reimagine their experience, write Alvarez and Marsal's Mohit Mohal and Jonathan Sharp

Department Stores 105

Department Stores 105

Retail TouchPoints

SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

For more than 150 years, Parisian department store La Samaritaine has overlooked the banks of the Seine, a sweeping expanse of glass and intricately painted iron that proudly proclaimed the store’s position at the center of French commerce, both geographically and ideologically.

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Department Stores Arts Fashion Jewelry 90

RetailDive

AUGUST 19, 2020

Rumors are circulating about Amazon converting vacant department store space into fulfillment centers — a move experts say would round out its omnichannel approach

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Department Stores Omnichannel Fulfillment 109

Retail Dive

JANUARY 28, 2022

The retail giant seems to be taking a page from Target's revamp, which in turn has embraced some of the best elements of old school merchandising

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Department Stores 101

Retail Dive

NOVEMBER 1, 2021

Those who've declared the Saks online-offline split a success now want the same for Macy's and Kohl's. Here's why they're vulnerable

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Department Stores 109

Retail Dive

AUGUST 29, 2022

As rivals struggle to redefine the legacy model, the Southern chain has stuck with its founding family — and retail fundamentals

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Department Stores 97

Retail Dive

AUGUST 19, 2021

The e-commerce giant has yet to conquer brick and mortar, but there may be a lot of opportunity to grab share using a model that has let itself go

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Department Stores 105

Retail Wire

SEPTEMBER 16, 2022

Liverpool, the high-end department store chain, has acquired a 9.9 percent stake in Nordstrom. The Mexican company reported double-digit sales growth in the second quarter, which it attributed to its inventory management expertise, solid merchandising and higher prices.

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Department Stores Management Article 83

Retail Dive

OCTOBER 12, 2021

Now it's facing the unfortunate prospect of another retailer's logo splashed upon its hometown flagship, just in time for its famous Thanksgiving parade

Department Stores 99

Department Stores 99

RetailDive

NOVEMBER 12, 2020

A once mutually beneficial relationship is falling apart

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Department Stores 106

Retail Dive

JANUARY 10, 2022

At the dawn of the 21st century, the 160-year-old retailer expanded amid the sector's steep decline. What now

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Department Stores 114

Retail Dive

MARCH 8, 2022

The retailer will open 100 smaller, hyperlocal stores and grow its new Sephora shops into a $2 billion business. The activists on its case aren't impressed

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Department Stores 99

Forrester's Customer Insights

MARCH 17, 2019

The Department Store’s Bright Future Department Stores Can Enjoy a Bright Future. Department stores must change to survive and thrive fierce competition from brands’ direct to consumer initiatives. But the Department Store’s Bright Future depends on enticing customers through the […]. Synchronizing supply and demand to sell inventory at full price is one issue.

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Department Stores Supplies Omnichannel eCommerce 40

RetailDive

JULY 7, 2020

Specialty retailers, while giving off-price retailers a run for their money, leaned on promotions to sway shoppers, according to Wedbush analysts

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Department Stores Specialty Retailers Consumer 86

Retail Dive

SEPTEMBER 17, 2021

The retailer's perpetual diminishment continues, with only a few dozen large-format stores left under its namesake and Kmart brands

Department Stores 99

Department Stores 99

Retail Wire

AUGUST 19, 2021

Amazon.com plans to open several large retail stores in California and Ohio that will offer many of the popular apparel, consumer electronics, household and other brands sold in major retail chains.

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Department Stores Consumer Electronics Apparel Consumer 52

RetailDive

AUGUST 10, 2020

The e-commerce giant is eyeing mall properties for fulfillment centers, according to a Wall Street Journal report

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Department Stores Fulfillment 103

RetailDive

AUGUST 21, 2020

The beauty giant announced a pandemic-related restructuring plan that shifts its priorities toward digital and away from unproductive locations

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Department Stores 100

Retail Wire

APRIL 22, 2021

Americans continue to turn to department stores like Macy’s and Nordstrom when they need to buy non-athletic shoes.

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Department Stores Consumer 52

Retail Wire

APRIL 16, 2021

Nearly 200 department stores have been shuttered over the past year and another 800 are forecast for the same fate by the end of 2025, according to Green Street Advisors.

Department Stores 52

Department Stores 52

Retail Technology Review

APRIL 20, 2021

US department store Belk thrived as e-commerce orders surged during the pandemic by having ship-from-store order fulfilment facilities already in place across its 291 store locations with the help of parcel shipping software from Logistyx Technologies.

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Department Stores Fulfillment Shipping Technology 70

Retail Wire

SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

The California State Senate has passed a bill that, if also passed by the Assembly, would mandate that department stores in the state with 500 or more employees create gender neutral merchandising sections displaying a “a reasonable selection” of items “regardless of whether they have been traditionally marketed for either girls or for boys.”

Department Stores 52

Department Stores Toys Apparel Marketing 52

Steve Dennis

JANUARY 4, 2018

Amidst reports that holiday spending was up nearly 4.9% , some optimism about the American moderate department store sector has started to creep back in. Tighter inventories, store closings and other expense reductions should lead to year-over-year profit improvements. As I pointed out several months ago , at least two major things must happen before any optimism about the prospects of any of the middle market department store brands is warranted.

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Department Stores Workshop Games Supplies 71

RetailWire

AUGUST 4, 2020

Department stores in Japan and the UK are able to carve out a clear niche that drives shopper traffic while many of their counterparts are teetering on the edge of extinction. department stores are too stale and slow The U.S. players haven’t been able to replicate the same type of excitement and pizazz,” said Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners.

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Department Stores Customer 40

RetailDive

JULY 17, 2020

One has already reinstated equity bonuses while the other is under scrutiny in bankruptcy for its cash bonus plan

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Department Stores Other Payments Payment Services 84

Retail Wire

SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

The department store concept Amazon.com is reportedly opening will include high-tech dressing rooms where clothes are brought to customers after they have scanned QR codes on items they’d like to try on. Touchscreens located in dressing rooms may also recommend other choices based on items that customers have initially chosen. in-article

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Department Stores Recommendation Other Customer 40

Retail Wire

OCTOBER 18, 2021

Saks Fifth Avenue is adding co-working spaces to its department stores. The SaksWorks concept opened for the first time last month with space at the retailer’s flagship store in Midtown Manhattan and another on the site of a former Saks in the Financial District. The company is counting on New Yorkers who want a break from working in their tiny apartments to be attracted to space designed for them. in-article

Department Stores 40

Department Stores Article 40

Retail Technology Review

OCTOBER 1, 2018

Uberall, the Berlin-headquartered location marketing technology specialist, has announced the findings of its research into the accuracy of online location search results of the UK’s largest department stores. Critical Issues Internet Retailing

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Department Stores Technology Marketing Internet Retail 81

Steve Dennis

MARCH 11, 2018

department stores reported earnings recently, a certain level of ebullience took hold. And in the otherworldliness that is the stock market, Nordstrom — the only department store with a truly distinctive value proposition and objectively good results — traded down on its failure to live up to expectations. Second, and more importantly, we cannot escape the fact that mid-priced department stores in the U.S. As most U.S.

Department Stores 79

Department Stores Apparel Fashion Improvements 79

Steve Dennis

NOVEMBER 4, 2017

It’s been a long, slow slide for department stores. In addition, Sycamore looks to be picking at the carcass of Bon-Ton Stores and Lord & Taylor is selling its iconic Manhattan flagship to WeWork. For many, this unrelenting parade of bad news leads them to believe that department stores are toast. But just as the retail apocalypse narrative is nonsense , so is the notion that department stores are going away.

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Department Stores Accessories Apparel Omnichannel 79

Steve Dennis

MAY 29, 2018

Then Kohl’s followed up with a similarly surprising upside report that led some to conclude that maybe, just maybe, the long-beleaguered department store sector might be seeing a resurgence or—dare we say it out loud?—the Without this shift, same-store sales would have increased only about 1.7% Penney and Sears ( and now Bon-Ton ) have been leaking volume through store closings and comparable store sales declines.

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Department Stores Workshop Accessories Games 75

Steve Dennis

AUGUST 16, 2017

Last week we had five major department stores report their quarterly earnings: Macy’s , Kohl’s , Nordstrom , Dillard’s and JCPenney. The main reason is that department stores failed to innovate. There is no fundamental reason why any given department store cannot not have a viable operation with hundreds of physical locations, particularly when we realize that some 80% of all products in core department store categories are purchased offline.

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Department Stores Consumer Supplies Channel 76

RetailWire

DECEMBER 7, 2020

The department store chain is counting on gifting, including the kind whereby customers buy things for themselves, to drive its business in what has been an extremely difficult year Fragrance and jewelry are among the categories that Marc Metrick, president and CEO of Saks, says are selling.

Jewelry 40

Jewelry Department Stores Gifts Customer 40