RetailSails

Father’s Day Results Mixed: Father’s Day results seemed to be in the range of meeting or slightly exceeding plan, depending upon the retailer. The bestsellers were: tailored clothing, dress shirts, knitwear and accessories. Brooks Brothers reported sales were “a little better than we anticipated,” according to chief merchandising officer Lou Amendola. Tom Ott, SVP and GMM of Men’s Wear at Saks said that their private men’s brand was the best category. At Lord & Taylor, which made a major statement in an expanded, re-kindled men’s area, Jonathan Greller, SVP and GMM of Men’s, said they were seeing double-digit increases prior to this past week and saw that fall to mid single digits. Several of the better men’s specialty stores saw increases of 3-5 percent. BizRate.com reported online sales for Father’s Day gifts were $91 million, almost triple the number from lasy year. Best sellers on-line were in the portable electronics category.

Nook and Kindle Fighting for the Non iPad Reader Market: Crunchgear.com reports that sales of Barnes & Noble ereader, the Nook, surpassed sales of Amazon’s in March for the first time. Digitimes reports that 53% of readers shipped that month were Nooks. They estimate that the total market will reach 11 million by the end of the year. Both of those are being chased by Apple’s iPod which features a reader in addition to other capacities, which has forced by Amazon and Barnes & Noble into cutting prices substantially on their products.

Kohl’s and Aldo Join Forces: Kohl’s announced that they have signed a deal with Aldo to produce private label men’s and women’s footwear. The products will be available in the stores and on-line for Spring of 2011. Footwear is one of the leading growth categories for Kohl’s, and their private label and exclusive brands segment is now at 47% of total sales and a larger share of gross margin. This looks like a very good move for both parties.

New York and Co have New Issues: The one billion dollar specialty store chain, which already released poor numbers for second quarter, said that 2 top design executives have quit. Marie Holman-Rao, the well-regarded chief design officer and Anne-Charlotte Windal, senior VP of Design, both abruptly resigned this week. The chain has been struggling with image and focus for some time and this seems to be more bad news. The stock is at 2.65 and is in dire need of something positive to happen.

Sam’s Club Takes Different Approach To Apparel than Parent: Unlike Walmart, where the approach to apparel and accessories is exclusive proprietary labels at low prices, Sam’s Club carries national brands at discount prices, although not necessarily low prices. In fact, you can find a $50,000 diamond ring or a $10,000 watch there. This helped the member’s only club to increase operating profits in the 1st quarter ending April 30 over 9%. Some of the brands they carry are Ebel and Concord watches, Furla handbags and apparel by Speedo, Calvin Klein, Anne Klein, DKNY, Cole Haan and Judith Ripka. Aside from fashion, the strongest categories were fresh food and health and wellness.

Sun Takes Remaining Stake in Limited Brands: Sun Capital Partners, the Boca Raton based private equity firm which acquired a 75% stake in Limited Brands in 2007, announced that they are buying the remaining 25% for $32 million. Sun took the original majority percentage from the former owner for essentially no money except for an agreed upon capital equity investment of $50 million. Leslie Wexner started and built the Limited into the premier teen mall destination store and at its height was a chain of 750 stores doing over $1 billion. By 2007 it was ailing and Wexner was looking to unload it to concentrate energy and investment in Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body. It was a risk for Sun, but they got a bargain basement price for a business that was still generating almost $500 million in revenue. It looks like Sun has accomplished a nice turnaround. The remaining 25% went for a bit of a premium and last year was the first year for positive earnings since 1993.

Signs of a Happy Father’s Day: Early indications from retailers across the country are pointing to a decent increase for Father’s Day sales. Additionally, according the 2010 Father’s Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey conducted by BIGresearch, consumers plan to increase their spending for the holiday by 5%. Total sales for this Father’s Day are expected to reach $9.8 billion, with 40% for meals at restaurants, 37% for apparel/accessories and 35% for electronics.

Toys “R” Us to Offer Christmas Savers Club: Toys “R” Us announced that they will begin offering a Christmas Savers Club that allows shoppers to deposit money into and account that will load a card similar to a gift card. They can continue to add to that card, which in essence is like a savings account and eventually use the card for purchases. The retailer will pay 3% interest as an added incentive. It will be available for use with the toy retailer and its affiliate, Babies “R” Us plus their respective websites.