The Women’s Jewelry Association has awarded its 2016 Female Veteran Grant to Tara Hutchinson of Tara Hutch Fine Jewelry, San Antonio, TX. This annual merit-based grant, offered with Jewelers Mutual Insurance Company, goes to a U.S. military veteran to use towards her professional growth within the jewelry and/or watch industries. …

The post WJA AWARDS 2016 GRANT TO FEMALE VETERAN appeared first on Accessories Magazine.

Superheroes are hot, hot, hot, creating colorful clothing and accessories that fill kid and teen stores, make consumers (and retailers) smile. We all know the Batmans, Supermans and Captain Americas, but what’s coming down the superhero pipeline? WONDER WOMAN Distinctly targeted to girls, the The Wonder Woman role is revived …

The post SUPERHEROES & SUPERVILLAINS STORM THEATERS AND LICENSES. WHAT’S NEXT? appeared first on Accessories Magazine.

The Swatch Group recently reported that its sales decreased in Hong Kong and Europe, with a caveat to investors that profits for the first half of 2016 would be reduced by 50% to 60%. Despite positive market development in mainland China, fewer Chinese tourists now shop in Hong Kong and other …

The post SWATCH GROUP REMAINS OPTIMISTIC AMID SALES PLUNGE appeared first on Accessories Magazine.

With back-to-school spending on a “stock up” cycle rather than a “make do” cycle, the average family is expected to spend more freely on school and college supplies this year, according to the National Retail Federation’s annual survey conducted by Prosper Insights and Analytics, which surveyed 6,809 consumers about both …

The post NRF: BACK-TO-SCHOOL AND COLLEGE SPENDING TO REACH $75.8 BILLION appeared first on Accessories Magazine.

Discounters continue to expand. Ross Stores just announced it will be opening of 24 Ross Dress for Less® (“Ross”) and seven dd’s DISCOUNTS® stores across 15 different states in June and July. These new locations are part of the Company’s 2016 expansion plans to add approximately 70 Ross and 20 …

The post ROSS TO ADD 90 STORES appeared first on Accessories Magazine.

Fashion and retail consulting company The Doneger Group recently appointed Stuart Goldblatt to the newly created position of Senior Vice President for Business Development. Through this position, Goldblatt will be working with the group’s senior executives in developing strategies for the company’s growth. He will be directly reporting to Abbey …

The post THE DONEGER GROUP APPOINTS STUART GOLDBLATT FOR NEW SVP POSITION appeared first on Accessories Magazine.

With the Wonder Woman movie reboot coming Spring 2017, strong, tough women are going to be very much in vogue (if they aren’t already!). As are bold jewelry cuffs that make a statement. So we were particularly taken with these statement clutches by London-based Embellished Truth, which seem to fuse both …

The post ITEM OF THE DAY: EMBELLISHED TRUTH CLUTCHES appeared first on Accessories Magazine.

Macy’s is going into Artificial Intelligence, or AI, with its new “Macy’s On Call” pilot. This mobile web tool allows customers to interact with an AI-powered platform via their mobile devices. The pilot will be tested in 10 locations nationwide. “Macy’s On Call” taps IBM Watson’s “cognitive computing,” via Satisfi, an …

The post MACY’S LAUNCHES ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MOBILE TOOL appeared first on Accessories Magazine.

According to a new study by research firm Euromonitor, jewelry is the best performing personal accessories category with sales worth $316 billion in 2016. It is also the fastest-growing segment within the personal accessories industry with 3% growth be…

Target is discovering that bigger isn’t always better. In fact, it’s continuing to “think petite.” The mass retailer, which has 1,790 stores across the country, continues to open doors in urban areas with a small-store format dubbed TargetExpress. Case in point: Target today opened one in the Forest Hills area of …

The post TARGET TO BOOST SMALL-STORE FORMAT appeared first on Accessories Magazine.