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Department stores have been losing customers toother retailers for decades. But some are thriving 几十年来，百货公司的消费者一直在转向其他零售商，但是一些百货公司正在复兴。 IN THE shopping calendar, the back-to-school period ranks behind only Christmas inimportance to American retailers. It is a time for outfitting tots with superhero rucksacks andfashion-conscious teens with metallic oxford shoes. But events off the sales floor havedistracted merchants from the tinkling of tills. In July Hudsons Bay, a Canadiandepartment-store chain, said it would buy Saks, an upmarket American one, for $2.4 billion.Then on August 13th Bill Ackman, an activist investor, quit the board of J.C. Penney, a lessluxurious retailer, after a failed attempt to hasten the departure of its interim boss, MikeUllman . 在购物时间表上，返校季对美国零售商来说是仅次于圣诞节的重要时期。这时候运动装搭配印有超级英雄图案的背包以及时尚的青少年所爱的金属色牛津鞋都将大卖。但是卖场之外的一些事件让商人们分心。7月，一家加拿大零售连锁店哈德逊湾表示将会收购以24亿美元的价格收购美国高档百货公司萨克斯百货。接着8月13日，激进投资者比尔阿克曼退出了彭尼的董事会。彭尼是一家相对低端的零售公司，阿克曼在该公司催促其临时老板Mike Ullman退出未果后离开。 | 
