Retail Stores

Office Depot will open 13 newly remodeled locations in the Houston area on March 28. The updated stores feature more colorful signage and easy-to-navigate floor plans. The stores were redesigned based on customer feedback and shopping patterns. Office Depot operates 1,677 stores in 60 countries, 46 of which are located in the Houston area.

Since e-tailers are generally less expensive than brick-and-mortar retailers, shoppers order online from their smartphone and walk out of the store empty-handed. Simply put, brick-and-mortar stores are facing a harsh reality: they're quickly becoming showrooms for e-tailers.

Bebe surprised more than a few people back in December when the brand announced that it would be doing a bridal line. There was a certain amount of speculation on just what Bebe bridal would look like.

Cos Bar is a family-owned chain of 12 beauty boutiques that carry luxury brands in many of the United States' most exclusive destinations. Now it's collaborating with Target to bring its new collection of bath and body lotions, tools, and bags into the retailer's stores beginning May 6.

Best Buy Canada is deploying six Best Buy Express kiosks Friday at Toronto Pearson International Airport in both terminals. The company also has plans for expansion throughout the year.

After its recent alliances with Versace and Marni and the launch of its red carpet-worthy Conscious collection, H&M appears to have developed a taste for the finer things in life. 

Baby boomers aren't spending as much as they used to on discretionary items as they focus their dollars on generally more necessary spending. Because of that, retailers are doing what two of our nation's most famous boomers, Woodward and Bernstein, told us all to do: Follow the money.

The mystery is how lululemon athletica has managed to turn yoga gear into a small empire, notching a market value of $10.4 billion with sales of just $712 million last year, and whether it can sustain the pace. After all, in the prior quarter it booked a record $1,800 in sales per square foot — more than three times luxury kingpin Neiman Marcus’ sales for its most recent full year.

Video game retailer GameStop reported that profit for the quarter ended Jan. 28 dropped 27 percent to $174.7 million from $237.8 million in the year-ago period. Adjusted profit, however, matched predictions, as results included $64.6 million in asset impairment and restructuring charges. 

The Wave 2 2011-2012 Empathica Consumer Insights Panel surveyed more than 5,000 U.S. and Canadian consumers on their sentiments toward luxury goods purchases, from overall customer service to preferred shopping channels and service levels to product research behaviors. The survey was conducted within a broader look at consumer spending behaviors and intentions based on current economic factors.