Kohl's is rolling out steep discounts for customers as it struggles to turn around its sales.
The department store chain revealed in its most recent earnings report that its comparable sales decreased 0.9% year over year in the second quarter of 2026, while recent Placer.ai data showed overall visits to Kohl's stores declined 1.4%.
Kohl's CEO Michael Bender said on the August earnings call that the company is "operating in a challenging macroeconomic environment" where customers are "experiencing persistent financial pressures from inflation in their everyday expenses, like gas and food."
Against this backdrop, Kohl's has taken several steps to make its merchandise more affordable. It introduced Deal Bar and Toy Towers in stores earlier this year, featuring products priced below $10. It also priced thousands of back-to-school items under $25 in July.
In its latest effort to win over price-conscious customers, Kohl's has made its annual Kohl's Deal Days savings event more generous this year.

#year #deal #recent #placer

Pricing alone does not decide where people buy their clothes.
With a number of retail chains competing for the off-price, on-trend fashion crown, it's easy for one brand to fall out of favor. Consumers seem to have an enduring love for Marshalls and TJ Maxx, while the popularity of Ross Dress for Less has grown steadily in recent years.
These brands drive sales by foot traffic, and that's a battle the aforementioned chains have been winning.
"Off-price apparel remained on solid footing in Q2 2026, with Ross leading the segment. Visits to Ross Dress for Less rose 16.4% year over year (YoY), while dd's DISCOUNTS grew 8.4%. TJX's TJ Maxx and Marshalls, meanwhile, saw visits hover around last year's levels — significantly outperforming traditional apparel, which declined 3.5% YoY," according to data from Placer.ai.
In the battle for customers looking for deals on trendy, fashionable clothes, Cato has been struggling, and now plans to close about 15% of its retail stores.

#less #retail

Pricing alone does not decide where people buy their clothes.
With a number of retail chains competing for the off-price, on-trend fashion crown, it's easy for one brand to fall out of favor. Consumers seem to have an enduring love for Marshalls and TJ Maxx, while the popularity of Ross Dress for Less has grown steadily in recent years.
These brands drive sales by foot traffic, and that's a battle the aforementioned chains have been winning.
"Off-price apparel remained on solid footing in Q2 2026, with Ross leading the segment. Visits to Ross Dress for Less rose 16.4% year over year (YoY), while dd's DISCOUNTS grew 8.4%. TJX's TJ Maxx and Marshalls, meanwhile, saw visits hover around last year's levels — significantly outperforming traditional apparel, which declined 3.5% YoY," according to data from Placer.ai.
In the battle for customers looking for deals on trendy, fashionable clothes, Cato has been struggling, and now plans to close about 15% of its retail stores.

#price

Dick's Sporting Goods has been one of the big success stories in the brick-and-mortar retail ***** e.
At a time when many rivals have been shrinking their physical store counts, the sporting goods giant has leaned into stores, creating new experiential concepts and generally rethinking its retail strategy.
The chain has selectively built House of Sport locations that offer running tracks, batting cages, golf simulators, and other interactive options.
"House of Sport locations now seeing 5-6 times the number of visits per location compared to the rest of the chain. For reference, the average ***** 's Sporting Goods store is roughly 50K square feet square feet compared to 100K-120K square feet for House of Sport, indicating that House of Sport is also outperforming on a visit per square foot basis," according to 2024 data from Placer.ai.
That's a win, and the overall company delivered a nearly 5% comparable store sales gain in the second quarter. Chairman Edward Stack celebrated that success during the chain's second-quarter earnings call.

#square

Blaming declining mall traffic for retail store failures ignores what's actually happening.
"Malls' H1 2026 momentum continued going into the second half of the year, with year-over-year (YoY) visits to shopping centers up across all three formats ******* yzed (indoor, open-air, and outlet) in July 2026," according to data from Placer.ai.
Retailers like Claire's, Joann, and Macy's, which have either fully closed or have shut down dozens of locations, may have failed to capitalize on mall foot traffic, but it's unfair to say that people did not visit malls.
"Open-air shopping centers — which have led the category since the beginning of the year — continued their outperformance, with YoY traffic up 5.1%, followed closely by indoor malls (+4.3%)," the data showed.
Francesca's, a mall staple since its launch in 1999, closed all its more than 450 stores in March and has now received court permission to liquidate its remaining ******* ets.

#year #mall #continued #indoor

A mall chain many consumers around the United States grew up visiting has closed another 25 stores over the last three months.
Earlier this year, we saw a number of mall retailers close locations, despite July 2026 Placer.ai data revealing that foot traffic across all three mall formats grew year over year. As part of my retail coverage for TheStreet, I reported on Vera Bradley cutting its traditional mall footprint by more than 43%, and Fossil Group quietly closing 219 stores over five years.
Most retailers choosing not to renew their mall leases are shifting their strategies. Some are pivoting to open-air shopping centers, which have been outperforming traditional malls for a while, while others are responding to changing consumer preferences by investing more in their online presence.
Founded in 1924, Genesco is a footwear-first company and the engine behind popular brands focused on kids, teens, and young adults. These include Little Burgundy, Journeys, and Schuh.
Genesco has closed another 25 stores across its portfolio, including 17 Journeys Group locations, in the second quarter of fiscal 2027, according to the company's latest earnings release.

#stores #retailers

Ross Stores, which also operates dd's Discounts, is planning a bold in-store change as it benefits from heightened consumer demand.
The off-price retailer saw its comparable store sales increase by 10% year over year in the second quarter of this year, according to its latest earnings report. Also, its operating profits reached $1.1 billion, up by almost 73% from the previous year.
A recent Placer.ai report revealed that foot traffic at Ross Dress for Less locations spiked by 16.4% year over year, while traffic at dd's Discounts climbed by 8.4%.
"Off-price continues to thrive, with Ross leading the way in the first half of 2026," said Ephraim Fruchter, insights content writer at Placer.ai, in the report. "And with household budgets still under pressure, consumers appear to be rewarding retailers that stretch their dollars furthest."
As Ross sees more consumers flock to its stores, it has grown more comfortable in rolling out price increases, a change that shoppers will soon notice.

#ross

Former Tennessee Tech ****** istant and Maryville College basketball coach Raul Placeres has been hired as the Director of Basketball Operations at Apostolic Christian Academy, he announced on social media.
"I'm incredibly excited and humbled to announce that I've accepted the position of Director of Basketball at Apostolic Christian Academy," Placeres said in a release on X on Aug. 11. "I'm grateful for the opportunity to lead, serve, and help build something special at ACA.
"I'm excited to pour into our players, build relationships with our families and community, and help create a culture that everyone connected to ACA can be proud of. I'm ready to get to work and see what we can build together."
Placeres was recently hired at Tennessee Tech in April under new coach Tobin Anderson. He spent the last six seasons as the head coach at Maryville College and led the Scots to its sixth straight regular season conference ****** le.
Placeres, a former player, had been at Maryville College since 2011 as an ****** ociate coach. He took over the program after Randy Lambert retired in 2019.

#placeres #college #tennessee #director

A California man accused of stealing jewelry was back behind bars less than 24 hours after walking out of jail, allegedly pulling off the exact same type of crime while already on pretrial probation, authorities said.
Andre Wiley, 19, was arrested last week after Sacramento County Sheriff's Office detectives said he teamed up with two other men in an alleged jewelry store theft just hours after being released from the Placer County Jail on his own recognizance for burglary, conspiracy and grand theft charges.
Investigators said Wiley and 18-year-olds Andrew Ivy and Kameryus Mayhand entered a local jewelry store together.
Authorities allege Ivy and Mayhand distracted employees by browsing merchandise while Wiley sat at a consultation desk and stole two pieces of jewelry before the trio fled.
Homeowners In Leafy Enclaves Hit By Burglars Zeroing In On High-end Homes For Smash-and-grab Scores

The United States Men's National Team is almost sure of its round of 32 opponent: Bosnia and Herzegovina. That won't be 100% set until the night of Saturday, June 27, but statistical ***** ysis puts the odds of a US-Bosnia match at more than 99%.
By virtue of its 3-1 victory over Qatar on Wednesday, June 24, Bosnia finished third in Group B. The US, as winners of Group D, were guaranteed to face a third-place team from one of five different groups (no matter how its final group game goes Thursday against Turkiye). Per a FIFA table with 495 possibilities on it, almost all roads lead to a showdown with the Group B third-placer.
More: What a World Cup sounds like in Texas. Sights from England-Croatia
More: 2026 FIFA World Cup full schedule, when do US soccer, Mexico play
Per a complicated statistical ***** ysis by the New York Times/The Athletic, the odds that the US will play Bosnia are greater than 99%, though they won't reach 100% until the group stage concludes on June 27. FIFA's table, with almost 500 combinations, depends on which eight (of 12) third-place finishers advance, and at this point, all likely outcomes have the Group D winner playing the Group B third-placer.

Un placer. Felicidades por el gran trabajo realizado.