Retail Roundup: L.L. Bean's duck boots, McDonald's mobile, Lowe's

-- Maine retailer L.L. Bean says the duck boot is back in style, at least among fashion-conscious, trend-hungry college students around the country. This year, the nearly century-old outdoor apparel company sold about 400,000 pairs of the hunting boots -- which have hardy rubber soles -- up from 150,00 just four years ago, the Associated Press reported.

The boot is benefiting from a vintage fashion sense prevalent among college students, the AP said, and also new styles that updated the classic boot with bright pops of color (such as pink) for the spring. This would be the same sartorial flair that pushes flocks of teenagers to granny sweaters and thick, black-rimmed glasses.

-- Fast-food purveyor McDonald's is pushing more into the mobile space with a geo-targeted ad campaign touting its hot drinks. Inside the iPhone app for the music service Pandora, McDonald's put ads that can register the user's location and give information on the nearest McDonald's restaurant, along with photos of its hot chocolate and McCafe offerings. The ads also offer free holiday wallpapers downloads for the phone.

-- Home-improvement giant Lowe's Cos. acquired online home improvement retailer ATG Stores for an undisclosed amount. ATG will remain an independent subsidiary of Lowe's, with separate branding and merchandising, Lowe's said in a statement. No jobs are expected to be cut as a result of the acquisition.

"The addition of ATG Stores is a strategic fit, providing more opportunities for Lowe’s to be a relevant partner at every stage of the home improvement process and deliver better customer experiences from inspiration to planning to enjoyment,” Robert A. Niblock, Lowe’s chief executive and chairman, said in a statement.

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-- Shan Li

Photo: Rows of boots at the facility where L.L. Bean boots are assembled in Brunswick, Maine. Credit: Pat Wellenbach / Associated Press

Kimberly-Clark to launch 'designer' toilet paper roll covers

Apparently, even toilet paper rolls can be fashionably dressed.

That's the rather whimsical tack taken by consumer products giant Kimberly-Clark Corp., which is launching a "spring line" of colorful covers to hold extra rolls and add pizazz to the bathroom.

The company tapped interior designer Jonathan Adler to be the creative brain behind the "collection" -- and the three designs bear his signature stamp of graphic prints combined with bold color (and fancy descriptions such as "chevron pink," "clover green" and "barjello blue").

The covers are meant to highlight a new version of Kimberly-Clark's Cottonelle toilet paper. The company's other mission: to "change people's point of view on toilet paper."

Adler was game, and said his passion lies with transforming mundane objects into "eye-catching conversation pieces."

"Until now, toilet paper has been a relatively untouched canvas," Adler said in a statement.

Those seeking a conversation piece for their loos can either order one for $3.99 at www.respecttheroll.com. Or just buy a specially marked package of Cottonelle toilet paper and pay $1.99 for shipping.

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Photo: New toilet paper roll covers from Kimberly-Clark. Credit: Kimberly-Clark

Sears, Kmart closings: Shares slide to new low on Fitch downgrade

Sears Holding Corp. is ending the year on a bitter note. The company, which earlier this week posted a list of 79 out of the up to 120 Sears and Kmart stores it plans to close and was then downgraded by Fitch Ratings, is now watching its stock bleed out to a new low.

In mid-day trading in New York, the beleaguered retailer’s stock was down to $32.20, heading for its fourth straight daily drop and less than half of the year-earlier price of $74.15.

Fitch Ratings downgraded the company on Thursday to CCC from B, saying that Sears’ liquidity levels next year will likely be “inadequate,” which could potentially banish the retailer into restructuring. 

And Standard & Poor’s said Wednesday that it was putting a watch on Sears’ credit rating as it considers a possible downgrade for the retailer.

Illinois-based Sears said Thursday that it will close 41 Sears stores and 38 Kmart stores – the first thrust of a plan to shut down 100 to 120 locations, including three in California -- following a disappointing holiday season.

Domestic sales tumbled 5.2% in the eight weeks through Christmas Day, the company said Tuesday. That comes after more than four years of sliding sales and projections that fourth-quarter earnings will be less than half the $933 million Sears pulled in during the same period a year earlier.

The company said it will now focus its resources on its strongest stores.

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-- Tiffany Hsu

Photo: Sonny Hedgecock / AP Photo / The High Point Enterprise

Three California Sears stores among 79 outlets to close nationwide

Three Sears stores in California are among 79 stores nationwide on the chopping block after a dismal holiday season forced Sears Holdings Corp. to retool its strategy.

Two Sears stores in San Diego and one in El Monte will be closed at a date yet to be determined. The Illinois retailer posted a list of 41 Sears and 38 Kmart outlets targeted for closure, the first wave of the 100 to 120 total stores that the company ultimately plans to shut down. The list can be viewed here.

Retail analysts believe that the company, which has suffered more than four years of sales declines, may be edging toward bankruptcy unless it takes drastic action to upgrade its stores and revamp its merchandise.

After domestic sales dropped 5.2% in the two months leading up to Christmas, the retailer announced a new strategy redirecting resources away from "marginally performing" stores and toward more profitable shops. The company said Tuesday that lackluster holiday sales coupled with rising costs will slash fourth-quarter earnings to less than half the $933 million it reported a year earlier.

Sears Holdings is controlled by billionaire financier Edward Lampert, who gained control of Kmart in 2003 and two years later brought Sears, Roebuck & Co. into the fold. As board chairman, Lampert has held down costs by cutting investment in stores and reducing product assortment, decisions that retail analysts say won short-term profits at the expense of long-term growth.

Sears shares fell 43 cents, or 1.3%, to $32.90 on Thursday.

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Photo: A Sears store in Niles, Illinois.Credit: Tim Boyle/Getty Images

Sears and Kmart closures: List of 79 stores is released

 

This post had been updated below.

Struggling Sears Holdings Co., which controls the Kmart and Sears chains, has posted a list of 79 stores that will be shuttered after a disappointing holiday season.

The list of 38 Kmart and 41 Sears shops is not yet complete. Sears said that it plans to close between 100 and 120 stores in total.

Three California Sears stores are headed for closure, including two in San Diego and one in El Monte. No Kmart stores in the state were listed.

The store closings are part of a new strategy the company announced Tuesday of redirecting resources to profitable stores and away from underperforming stores.

"While our past practice has been to keep marginally performing stores open while we worked to improve their performance, we no longer believe that to be the appropriate action in this environment," the company said in a statement.

Retail analysts believe that the company, which has suffered more than four years of sales declines, may be headed to bankruptcy unless it takes drastic action to upgrade its stores and revamp its merchandise.

[Updated 1:52 p.m.: A list of store closings can be found here.]

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Photo: A couple walks into a Sears store on in Milford, Conn. Credit: Spencer Platt / Getty Images

'Beverly Hillbillies' actress settles lawsuit over Barbie doll

An actress on the long-running "Beverly Hillbillies" television show has reached a settlement in a lawsuit with toy giant Mattel and CBS Consumer Products Inc. over a Barbie doll modeled on her features and using her character's name.

Donna Douglas, who played beautiful tomboy Elly May Clampett on the show, sued the companies alleging that she never gave permission for the Barbie, which sported a gingham shirt and her trademark pigtails tied with ribbons.

The companies counter-argued that they did not need her approval since they owned exclusive rights to the character.

A lawyer for Douglas told the Associated Press that a settlement had been reached. Although the terms were confidential, the lawsuit had originally asked for at least $75,000 in compensation.

Douglas played Elly May for the entire nine seasons of "Beverly Hillbillies," which ran on CBS from 1962 to 1971 and followed the comic misadventures of a poor family that moves to Beverly Hills after discovering oil on their land.

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Photo: Donna Douglas, who starred in the television series "The Beverly Hillbillies," poses with a photo from the show in Baton Rouge, La. in 2009. Credit: Bill Haber / Associated Press

Last-minute shopping before Christmas lifted sales

Procrastinating shoppers scrambling to buy gifts gave retailers a lift in the last days before Christmas.

Sales at stores open at least a year rose 4.5% last week compared with the same time last year, according to a weekly sales index from the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs. That was also a 0.9% increase over sales the week earlier.

Last-minute buyers also turned online, where spending last week increased 16% to $2.8 billion compared with a year earlier, according to market research firm ComScore Inc. From Nov. 1 to Dec. 25, online retailers raked in $35.3 billion, a 15% bump over a year earlier.

"Holiday e-commerce spending has remained strong throughout the season," ComScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni said in a statement.

That spending continued into the holiday weekend, with online sales up 10% on Christmas Day and jumping 27.8% on the day after Christmas compared with the same days in 2010, according to a survey from IBM.

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Photo: A last-minute shopper leaves the Toys R Us flagship store in New York's Times Square on Christmas Eve. Credit: Mary Altaffer / Associated Press

100 to 120 Kmart and Sears stores to close after slow holiday

Sears Holding Corp. said it would close 100 to 120 Kmart and Sears stores nationwide after all-important holiday sales at the chains proved to be disappointing.

Quarterly sales through Christmas were down 5.2% due to steep declines in apparel purchases and layaway sales at Kmart, home appliance performance at Sears and consumer electronics transactions at both. All this even after many of the stores offered special deals and extended operating hours for the holidays.

At this rate, Sears Holding expects its adjusted fourth-quarter earnings, to be announced in late February, to be less than half the $933 million it reported during the same period in 2010. The company’s stock was down nearly 24% to about $35 midway through the trading day.

The store closures will generate up to $170 million in cash, along with extra funds from selling or leasing the real estate, according to Sears Holding. The company has yet to announce the affected locations. The company operates more than 4,000 stores in the U.S. and Canada, including dozens in Southern California.

Sears Holding also said it would abandon its past policy of trying to boost “marginally performing stores” and would instead focus on the cash cows.

The Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based company said it planned to further improve its situation by lowering expenses, reducing and better managing inventory and offering more targeted pricing and promotions.

"Given our performance and the difficult economic environment, especially for big-ticket items, we intend to implement a series of actions to reduce ongoing expenses, adjust our asset base, and accelerate the transformation of our business model," Chief Executive Lou D'Ambrosio said in a statement.

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Pepper spray, fights break out over Nike Air Jordan shoes

Are Nike Air Jordan shoes, which retail for about $180 a pair, worth going to jail for?

Apparently some fans thought yes. On Friday, hordes of people lined up outside shoe stores across the country for the release of Nike's retro Air Jordans, with fights breaking out and at least one incident in which cops pepper sprayed unruly shoppers.

In Los Angeles, shoe enthusiasts quickly cleaned out the stock at the All Pro Athletic Shoes store, said manager Shirley Yu.

"We sold out in 10 minutes," Yu said. "We are a very small store and only got about 18 pairs. Those were gone in 10."

Yu said that new Air Jordan styles always sold well, especially around the holidays. The store let a few loyal customers know beforehand that the shoes had come in stock.

Bouts of frenzy erupted around the nation.

In suburban Seattle, about 20 people at a mall were pepper sprayed by police after the crowd waiting to buy shoes swelled to more than 1,000 by 4 a.m., Tukwila officer Mike Murphy told the Associated Press.

"Around 3 [a.m.] there started to be some fighting and pushing among the customers," Murphy said. "Around 4, it started to get pretty unruly and officers sprayed pepper spray on a few people who were fighting, and that seemed to do the trick to break them up."

Murphy said one man was arrested for assault for allegedly pushing an officer. "He did not get his shoes; he went to jail," Murphy said.

Near Atlanta, a swarm of customers took down the door of a store that had not opened yet to get to the shoes, the AP said. Authorities arrested at least four shoppers and later arrested another woman who left two toddlers inside a car while hunting for the shoes.

Violence breaking out during holiday shopping is nothing new. Remember the woman who pepper sprayed her competition at a Wal-Mart store in Porter Ranch on Black Friday? Authorities called it a fit of "shopping rage."

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Photo: Customers shop for bargains at a Target store in Glenview, Ill., on Friday. Credit: Tannen Maury / EPA

Consumer Confidential: Prices come down, shoplifting goes up

Here's your Happy-Festivus Friday roundup of consumer news from around the Web:

-- And down they come -- prices, that is. Half off at the entire store at Ann Taylor. Sixty percent at Gap. Forty percent off almost everything at Abercrombie & Fitch. Aggressive last-minute deals in the days before Christmas are good for procrastinators, but they could be an alarm bell for the retail industry. While scattered markdowns are standard every year, discounts across entire stores -- which analysts say are more widespread than last year -- suggest merchants are stuck with too much merchandise. Many retailers entered the season with fully loaded shelves. Now they're scrambling to move inventory. Among the deals to be had, Toys R Us announced new markdowns on dozens of items for Friday and Saturday. (New York Times)

-- But apparently not all shopping is paid for. During the four weeks leading up to Christmas, an estimated $1.8 billion in merchandise will be shoplifted this year, according to the Global Retail Theft Barometer, a survey of retailers worldwide. That's up about 6% from $1.7 billion during the same period last year. Sticky fingers are common during the holidays. The crowded stores and harried clerks make it easier to slip a tablet computer into a purse or stuff a sweater under a coat undetected. But higher joblessness and falling wages have contributed to an even bigger rise this year. People steal everything from necessities to luxuries they can no longer afford. (Associated Press)

-- And if you're going to be returning anything (paid for or otherwise), keep in mind that there are rules to follow. Some items -- especially electronics -- have a shorter return window. Target has shortened its return time for tablets, netbooks, e-readers, cameras and camcorders to 45 days, down from 90 days last year. Also, shoppers who return gifts without receipts or other proof of payment may end up receiving the current selling price of the item, which may be lower than what was paid. In other cases, the retailer may decline the return all together. Retailers estimate that holiday returns will total a record $46.3 billion this year, up 4% from last year and 10% from two years ago. (SmartMoney)

-- David Lazarus

Photo: Discounts are growing as retailers scramble to move inventory. Credit: Scott Eells / Bloomberg

 

Consumer Confidential: Risky massage, Motrin recall, burger wars

Here's your thunder-island Thursday roundup of consumer news from around the Web:

-- We all want a massage to die for ... but not literally. The Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to use the ShoulderFlex Massager because at least one person is reported to have died from strangulation while using the device. The massager is sold in retail stores, catalogs and online. It's intended to provide a deep tissue massage to the neck, shoulders and back area while lying down. But the FDA warns that hair, clothing or jewelry can become entangled in the device and cause serious injury or even death from strangulation. There have been reports of one death and one near-death due to strangulation. (ConsumerAffairs.com)

-- Another heads up: Johnson & Johnson has issued another recall of Motrin pain relievers -- the sixth in two years. This time, it's because Motrin IB pills may not dissolve and begin working as fast as they're supposed to as they approach their three-year expiration date. That could delay relief of pain. The recall covers Motrin IB coated caplets and coated tablets, in packages with either 24 pills or 30 pills. A company spokeswoman says J&J is recalling packages only from retailers, not consumers, because there's no safety concern. If you have questions, call J&J at (888) 222-6036. (Associated Press)

--Who rules Burger Land? Well, McDonald's is still top dog, but the battle for second place is heating up. Wendy’s is poised to pass Burger King in market share sometime next year, according to market analysts. It would be the first time that Wendy’s, which was founded in 1969, has reached the No. 2 spot. Burger King, which once held about 20% of the $65 billion hamburger market, fell to 13.3% last year and could soon dip below 10%. Wendy’s, meanwhile, has focused on taste, offering thicker burgers with buttered buns while reminding customers of its glory days with a remake of its 1984 "Where’s the beef?" commercials. (Financial Times)

-- David Lazarus

Photo: This is a good massage. But the FDA says you could get strangled if you use a ShoulderFlex massager. Credit: Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times