PR Newswire: The North Face Partners with San Francisco Museum of Modern Art to Launch the Brand’s First-Ever Digital Archive Celebrating More Than 55 Years of Enabling Exploration (PRESS RELEASE)

PR Newswire: The North Face Partners with San Francisco Museum of Modern Art to Launch the Brand’s First-Ever Digital Archive Celebrating More Than 55 Years of Enabling Exploration (PRESS RELEASE). “The North Face today announced the launch of its fall brand campaign, It’s More Than A Jacket, an initiative honoring and celebrating the memories and stories of adventure created over the brand’s more than 55-year history. To capture the meaning behind every piece of gear, The North Face is launching its first-ever crowdsourced digital archive, calling on explorers all over the world to submit stories and images of their own well-loved products to potentially be included in the official archive.”

CNN: Google to open its first retail store to sell devices

CNN: Google to open its first retail store to sell devices. “Almost exactly 20 years to the day after Apple opened its first retail store, Google is finally following suit. The company announced Thursday that it is opening its first physical retail store, called Google Store, this summer in New York City. The store will be located under its offices in the Chelsea neighborhood, where it employs many of its more than 11,000 employees in the city.”

Taunton Daily Gazette: Silver City Galleria fan says thanks for the memories with online mall archive

Taunton Daily Gazette: Silver City Galleria fan says thanks for the memories with online mall archive. “If you’re a fan of the soon-to-be-demolished Silver City Galleria mall, you’re far from the only one. In fact, 29-year-old Bridgewater resident James Walsh felt so nostalgic about his time spent there that he’s created an online archive for the mall for Galleria-lovers like himself to enjoy.”

New York Times: ‘Bleak Friday’ for Stores as Pandemic Pushes Holiday Shopping Online

New York Times: ‘Bleak Friday’ for Stores as Pandemic Pushes Holiday Shopping Online. “Analysts at Morgan Stanley estimated that retailers’ overall Black Friday sales fell 20 percent from last year, based on early reports of drops in store foot traffic and increases in online sales. Consumers spent $9 billion online on Friday, a 21.6 increase from last year and the second-biggest figure for online retailers ever, according to Adobe Analytics, which scans 80 percent of online transactions across the top 100 U.S. web retailers. The firm said online sales rose to $23.5 billion in the four-day Thanksgiving-to-Sunday period, up 23 percent from last year.”

CBC: Man arrested after assault of Walmart employee who asked him to wear face mask, B.C. RCMP say

CBC: Man arrested after assault of Walmart employee who asked him to wear face mask, B.C. RCMP say. “A 30-year-old man has been arrested for assault and mischief after allegedly assaulting an employee at a Walmart in Dawson Creek, B.C. RCMP were called to the store at around 8 p.m. PT Wednesday after reports of a customer assaulting an employee who asked him to wear a face mask — which is both store policy and a provincial health order.”

Two more retailers file for bankruptcy: Lord & Taylor and Tailored Brands (Washington Post)

Washington Post: Two more retailers file for bankruptcy: Lord & Taylor and Tailored Brands. “Two more retail icons have filed for Chapter 11 protection, joining more than a dozen major brands that have tipped into bankruptcy as pandemic-fueled store closures sent sales plummeting. Lord & Taylor, the nation’s oldest department store chain, filed for bankruptcy protection on Sunday and said it is searching for a buyer. Hours later, Tailored Brands, the parent company of Men’s Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank, followed suit, saying the pandemic had forced a reckoning. The company recently announced it would lay off 20 percent of its corporate workforce and close as many as 500 stores to cut costs.”

CNBC: 14% of businesses expect layoffs after using their PPP loan funds

CNBC: 14% of businesses expect layoffs after using their PPP loan funds. “Roughly 14% of business owners who received a loan through the Paycheck Protection Program expect to lay off workers once they deplete their funds, according to a survey published by the National Federation of Independent Business. The finding comes as lawmakers debate the necessity and contours of another round of federal relief measures for individuals and businesses, and points to the potential fragility of the U.S. economic recovery absent additional aid.”

Retail TouchPoints: Q1 2020 Results Highlight Gap Between Retail ‘Haves’ And ‘Have Nots’

Retail TouchPoints: Q1 2020 Results Highlight Gap Between Retail ‘Haves’ And ‘Have Nots’. “The COVID-19 pandemic has led to one of the worst financial quarters in retail’s modern history, and the near-universal rise in e-Commerce sales is of little comfort to retailers that are staring down double-digit declines in their brick-and-mortar businesses. But while this is an unprecedented time in many ways, the results tell a story that has been heard before: successful retailers are strengthening their positions, while struggling companies falter.”

ABC 13: The Children’s Place expected to close 300 stores amid struggles during COVID-19 pandemic

ABC 13: The Children’s Place expected to close 300 stores amid struggles during COVID-19 pandemic. “The Children’s Place is the latest retailer to close several stores soon. After releasing its financial report last week, the popular children’s clothing company said it would close an additional 300 stores by the end of fiscal year 2021. Of the closures, 200 are planned for this year, with the remaining 100 planned for 2021. Like many retailers, The Children’s Place said at least some of its problems were due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent closures.”

CNET: Price gouging persists during pandemic, despite push to stamp it out

CNET: Price gouging persists during pandemic, despite push to stamp it out. “We’re three months into the pandemic, but it’s still easy to find examples of price gouging on Amazon. Last Friday, within five minutes, CNET found Cottonelle toilet paper listed on Amazon for $57.42 (price for the same item on Target: $21.49), and a two-pack of 28-ounce jars of Rao’s marinara sauce for $29.04 (an adjacent listing of 24-ounce jars from Amazon-owned Whole Foods would cost you $10.78). The problem isn’t confined to Amazon’s massive digital storefront. It’s pretty much everywhere.”

Coronavirus: The first thing I bought when the shops reopened (BBC)

BBC: Coronavirus: The first thing I bought when the shops reopened. “As stores across England selling non-essential goods opened their doors for the first time since the lockdown began, shoppers arrived early to centre:mk in Milton Keynes. Some were picking up goods they had been waiting months to buy, such as baby clothes and home furnishings. Others were here for the sales. These shoppers told us what they bought – and why.”

University of Bristol: New report shows survival of the fittest and most agile will make or break retailers as lockdown eases

University of Bristol: New report shows survival of the fittest and most agile will make or break retailers as lockdown eases. “Customers panic buying in droves, running out of stock on many basic essentials, and imposing product purchase restrictions may now be less of a headache for retailers, but plenty of other hurdles lie ahead as life slowly returns to some semblance of normality and non-essential shops prepare to reopen in mid-June.”

WATCH: Staten Island grocery shoppers drive out woman who refuses to wear a mask in the store (Raw Story)

Raw Story: WATCH: Staten Island grocery shoppers drive out woman who refuses to wear a mask in the store. “A group of angry shoppers at a Staten Island ShopRite were captured on video driving out a woman in the store who refused to wear a face mask. The 20-second video clip shows masked shoppers swarming around a shopper who is pushing her cart around without any kind of face covering.”