Retail Stores

Mia Sara, a Manhattan transplant in Los Angeles, misses window shopping in New York, but has found a replacement — shopping on her iPad.

Multichannel retailer HSN has made an unprecedented move to combine casual gaming with the e-commerce experience. This new platform will allow people to play their favorite games online while simultaneously watching HSN streaming live in high definition, viewing the item currently on-air and quickly shopping the last 15 items aired — all on one screen.

Retailers are expected to show a moderate increase in May sales, as high gas prices likely tempered consumer demand for summer clothing and other discretionary items. Analysts on average are expecting a 5.3 percent increase in May sales at stores open at least a year, according to Thomson Reuters data. 

Faced with tough budgeting decisions, consumers have put Father’s Day on the back burner for years, but this year Americans seem intent on showering dad with their appreciation. According to the National Retail Federation's Consumer Intentions and Actions Father’s Day survey, conducted by BIGresearch, Americans will shell out an average of $106.49 on dad, up from $94.32 last year and the most in the survey’s eight-year history.

Backed by an improving economy, a recent surge in jobs and 10 consecutive months of rising retail sales, a broad range of retailers are poised to fill up empty retail spaces over the next 12 months to 18 months, according to Colliers International.  

Barneys New York, the luxury specialty retailer, announced today that its e-commerce website, Barneys.com, has introduced international shipping to 90 countries including Canada, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Australia and China.

Continuing with its global expansion strategy, Gap announced plans to open its first store in an outlet center in Italy: a Gap store at the Vicolungo Outlet Center near Milan.

Stevie Koerner sells silver pendants on Etsy. The pendants come in the shapes of states with little heart-shaped cutouts. Cute, right? But maybe too cute, because the pendants caught the eye of Urban Outfitters, which now sells pendants in the shapes of states with little heart-shaped cutouts too. 

In what's pretty much an unprecedented move by any major retailer, Old Navy is releasing a line of gay pride T-shirts this summer. The designs will be sold in all 1,035 Old Navy locations, which means that teens, moms and families across the country will encounter the shirts in malls, practically the modern equivalent of the town square.

Ash, one of the fastest-growing contemporary shoe and accessories brands, has made its way to America. The first U.S. Ash store location opened in New York City's SoHo district at 44 Mercer Street.