NEW YORK — Innovation clearly pays off in retailing these days.
Three of the most aggressive department store retailers in terms of new ideas — J.C. Penney Co. Inc., Nordstrom Inc. and Kohl's Corp. — all reported double-digit gains in first-quarter profits on Thursday and raised their guidance for the full year.
Penney's has been aggressive in developing exclusive fashion merchandise, including a new lingerie line, its beauty format with Sephora and apparel from Liz Claiborne Inc. It also is aggressively expanding, with plans to break into Manhattan in 2009. Nordstrom also is eager to enter the New York market while at the same time boosting its designer quotient. Kohl's, meanwhile, is pushing exclusive merchandise through deals with the Estée Lauder Cos. Inc. and, most recently, Vera Wang.
Their optimism for the remainder of the year comes despite weaker-than-expected comp-store sales last month and growing concerns that rising gas prices, the weak home market and a slowing economy will kill the American consumers' appetite for shopping. Consumer spending has been the engine of the U.S. economy for more than a decade
