Bentonville, AR—In the latest move by a major retailer to shift its merchandise mix, Walmart U.S. announced the appointment of Steve Bratspies to chief merchandising officer for U.S. stores, effective Oct. 19. Bratspies will oversee all merchandise categories across more than 4,500 stores in the U.S. business. He will continue to report to Greg Foran, […]

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San Antonio—Fashion Week San Antonio announces the official line up of fashion-forward events and runway shows for this year’s celebration, happening Nov. 1 to 8. Designers will showcase their Spring/Summer 2016 collections on our main stage at Centro de Artes (101 S. Santa Rosa Ave., San Antonio, TX 78207). This season, Fashion Week San Antonio […]

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Washington-–Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to increase 3.3% this month over the same time last year as retailers make final preparations for the holiday season, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates. “The holidays are almost here, […]

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New York—The strong finish for back-to-school sales help made September comparable store sales edge past analysts’ estimates. Comp store sales rose 0.8% from a year earlier, said Ken Perkins, president of Retail Metrics. Analysts had expected a decline of 0.2%. It marked the third beat out of the nine months so far this year. Among […]

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Washington–The National Retail Federation today said it agreed with a warning from the FBI that new chip-based credit cards are safer than traditional cards but still vulnerable to fraud and need to be used with a PIN instead of a signature to minimize risk. “What the FBI is saying is what the rest of the […]

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Dublin–Increased interest in athletic sports, surging demand for innovative footwear, increased awareness of healthy lifestyles, and increase in seasonal sales with sports events are the factors contributing to the growth of the Athletic Footwear market in the United States. The report by Research and Markets covers the Athletic Footwear market landscape in the US and […]

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Washington—The National Retail Federation forecast today that it expects that while holiday sales will be greater this year than the 10-year average, the expectation is below 2014’s gain. For sales in November and December (excluding autos, gas and restaurant sales) to increase a solid 3.7% to $630.5 billion — significantly higher than the 10-year average of 2.5%. Holiday sales in 2015 are […]

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Williamburg, Brooklyn—Brooklyn is getting a lot of play centerstage, rivaling even Manhattan in coverage of cuisine, construction, nightlife, art and fashion. Just such a case is the Brooklyn Hat Company, a division of Dorfman Pacific. Founded in a small studio here by Ben De Luca, vice president of sales at Dorman Pacific Luxury Division, Brooklyn […]

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New York–The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Swiss watch brand Tissot announced this week a new multiyear global partnership that makes the Swiss watch brand the first Official Timekeeper of the NBA, Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), and NBA Development League (NBA D-League). This marks the first Official Timekeeping partnership for Tissot with a major […]

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Washington– The National Retail Federation and other trade organizations today told Congress that new chip-and-signature credit cards without a PIN will not stop data breaches, and that small businesses should not be pressured to install the equipment to accept them at the expense of more effective technology. “The new EMV equipment does not stop breaches,” […]

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