Retail news that keeps industry pros in the know
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Black Friday is quickly approaching, and consumers need to know where they’ll be fighting other shoppers for the best discounts. Here are some of the past month’s brick-and-mortar openings and closings, as brands prepare for what should be an intense holiday shopping season.
Target
As has been widely reported, Target very publicly closed a handful of locations over the past few months due to concerns over retail theft. However, the chain is trying its hand at a few new locations in New York City.
- Last month, the company opened a Manhattan location in Union Square and a Yonkers store at Cross County Center. The two stores are 33,000 and 132,000 square feet, respectively.
- Both spots will come with the typical bells and whistles, including buy online, pickup in-store and same-day delivery.
- Target signed a 40-year lease for the Yonkers store, which will be taking over for Sears, while Union Square is flanked by a number of household brands, including J. Crew, Banana Republic, and Nordstrom Rack.
Marks and Spencer
Major UK retailer Marks and Spencer (M&S) is gearing up for its biggest month in terms of store openings this month. The chain is slated to open six new stores and renew three more—a move that will bring more than 2,200 jobs to the UK, according to Fresh Produce Journal.
- The company invested ~$624 million at the start of the year in a program that will slim down its 247-store footprint to 180 “high-quality, higher-productivity full-line stores,” per the journal article.
Amazon
Amazon’s two-year experiment in the brick-and-mortar apparel space came to close when the company announced last week that it would be shutting down its two Amazon Style locations in Los Angeles and Columbus, Ohio.
- At the time, it was believed that Amazon Style’s success could threaten the viability of traditional apparel stores such as Kohl’s and JCPenney. Despite the recent closing, the company reaffirmed its commitment to its brick-and-mortar strategy.
“Physical retail remains an important part of our business, and we’re continuing to invest in growing our grocery stores business, which spans Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market, Amazon Go, and third-party partnerships,” Amazon’s director of communications Kristen Kish told the Associated Press.
TJX Companies
The TJX Companies, which owns TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and Home Goods, is gearing up to shutter a number of locations in major cities just ahead of the holiday shopping season. The company has already started with one TJ Maxx location in St. Paul, Minnesota, but three more are slated for Chicago and New York early next year.
- These announcements also come after the full-scale closure of Home Goods’s e-commerce site on October 21. But in that announcement, the company reaffirmed plans for new store openings that were made public earlier this year during an earnings call.