Retail Stores

Collective Brands — which operates Payless ShoeSource and Stride Rite shoe stores — recently announced plans to close 475 underperforming and low-volume stores over the next three years. Approximately 400 Payless stores will close in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. About 75 Stride Rite locations will close. Additionally, about 270 Payless stores and 45 Stride Rite stores are expected to close by the end of 2011.

Hurricane Irene sent East Coast shoppers into stores to stock up on essentials last week instead of the clothes, notebooks and other supplies that retailers were counting on selling as children get ready to go back to school.

GameStop wants a do-over after angering customers by removing coupons for a competitor that were in boxes for a popular video game. Customers who bought the couponless game are being offered a $50 gift card and a “Buy Two, Get One Free” used game purchase coupon.

More than 1,000 people across the U.S. have joined a campaign on Change.org calling on toy retailer Learning Express to stop selling live frog "EcoAquariums." Laura Goldman, an animal welfare blogger, launched the campaign on Change.org after learning that live African dwarf frogs were being sold in 4-square-inch plastic cubes.   

Search as a means of driving retail sales has evolved in the past few years. As recently as three years ago, most retailers still viewed their internet plan as a means of driving e-commerce. The internet was a distribution and sales channel measured by its ability to drive online revenues from their website.

Stores are trying everything under the sun to disguise the fact that you’re going to pay more for clothes this fall. Some are using less fabric and calling it the new look. Others are adding cheap stitching and trumpeting it as a redesign. And the buttons on that blouse? Chances are you’re not going to think it’s worth paying several dollars more for the shirt just to have them.

American Eagle Outfitters' second-quarter net income more than doubled to $19.7 million from $9.7 million in the year-ago period. The teen retailer credited the jump on increased revenue, growing online sales and fewer markdowns.

Dick's Sporting Goods will be expanding in both brick-and-mortar and online stores after seeing positive results in the fiscal second quarter of 2011. In Q2, e-commerce sales increased 31.9 percent compared to the same period last year, and the company plans to increase its store count by 8 percent in 2011.

Best Buy is preparing a pilot program to offer electronics through a unit of Rent-A-Center, employees of the rent-to-own company and analysts say. Rent-A-Center, which provides consumers the option of owning merchandise through rental arrangements, plans to set up kiosks in Best Buy stores to provide products to customers who don't meet Best Buy's credit standards or don't want to take on additional debt.

Old Navy made a small mistake that has some grammar sticklers speaking out. The retailer produced a new line of college and NFL team tees called "Superfan Nation," with almost every shirt unfortunately reading "Lets go!!" No apostrophe.