Walmart is taking some expensive steps to compete with online rival Amazon, and those include investments in existing online retail businesses. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is talking about becoming a minority owner of Flipkart, India’s biggest online retailer, according to Fortune. News of the possible deal comes …
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Wilco’s Refresh: Individual Store Performance
In 2015, farm and home lifestyle company Wilco, which has 18 stores throughout Oregon and Washington, set out to refresh its paint and sundries department, which had seen flat sales in 2012 and 2013. The Wilco team worked to bring …
Read More »Restore the Core: Taking Progressive Measures to Revive a Key Department
By Scott Wright, swright@nrha.org To view a PDF of this story, click here. In any typical home improvement store, there are generally six or seven core hardlines departments that do the “heavy lifting” of generating sales and gross margin dollars …
Read More »Facebook Ads Designed to Help Grow In-Store Sales
Facebook has a new advertising option for brick-and-mortar retailers—dynamic ads for retail. Advertising on the social media site hasn’t been tied to changing in-store inventory data in the past, but the new “dynamic ads for retail will only showcase products …
Read More »6 Unique Retail Ideas From Colorado Stores
Discovering product trends, finding merchandising ideas and learning more about the home improvement industry are a few ways retailers can grow their businesses. Earlier this month, Renee Changnon and Tom Marcum with the North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA) spent a day exploring Denver and surrounding communities …
Read More »Halloween Spending Up This Year
This should be a banner year for consumer spending on Halloween, according to a survey from the National Retail Federation (NRF). The survey predicts total spending will reach $8.4 billion, an all-time high in the survey’s 11-year history. That should …
Read More »Walmart Canada and Visa Conflict Continues
Customers shopping at Walmart Canada stores in the Manitoba province will soon see change in payment options. Visa credit cards will no longer be accepted at the 16 locations. The boycott officially begins Oct. 24. Walmart spokesman Randy Hargrove announced the big-box’s decision, stating …
Read More »J.C. Penney CEO Learned From Home Depot
Former Home Depot executive Marvin Ellison is leading J.C. Penney’s turnaround, and the strategies he’s using look like lessons he learned from the home improvement giant. And it’s working. The store’s stock is up 50 percent; the company is paying off debt; and it expects to …
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