Associations

Seattle — Next fall, REI will open a 23,000-sq.-ft. store at Sun Center in Columbus, Ohio. That store will join a previously announced 23,400-sq.-ft. REI slated to open in the spring at Easton Gateway. The retailer opened its first Ohio store in Cincinnati in 2012.

REI is the nation’s largest consumer cooperative with 5.1 million active members and 132 stores.

Washington, D.C. -- Over 80% (84.2%) of retailers say their standard shipping deadline for guaranteed Christmas delivery will expire prior to Friday, Dec. 20, according to Shop.org’s eHoliday survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics. Free standard shipping offers will follow suit, as nearly three-quarters (74.2%) of retailers who already have or will offer a free standard shipping promotion say their promotion will expire on or before Dec. 20. (Shop.org is a division of the National Retail Federation.)

The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) has added Ajani Stewart to its sustainability team within the RILA legal department.

Stewart will be leading the development of RILA’s Center for Retail Compliance (CRC). RILA recently received funding to develop the CRC, a Web-based resource for retailers and stakeholders in the industry to access solutions and information for maintaining and achieving environmental compliance. Stewart is responsible for the development of the center.

Arlington, Va. -- Ajani Stewart has joined the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) as part of the sustainability team within the RILA legal department. Stewart is leading the development of RILA’s Center for Retail Compliance (CRC). RILA recently received funding to develop the CRC, a web-based resource for retailers and stakeholders in the industry to access solutions and information for maintaining and achieving environmental compliance. Stewart is responsible for the development of the center.

Washington, D.C. -- The U.S, Department of Commerce will reportedly start meeting with companies including Facebook, Apple and Wal-Mart in February 2014 to create voluntary guidelines for the commercial use of facial recognition technology. According to Bloomberg, the Department of Commerce plans to have formal guidelines ready for release in June 2014.

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation issued the following statement from senior VP and general counsel Mallory Duncan in response to U.S. District Court Judge John Gleeson’s approval of a controversial antitrust lawsuit over credit card swipe fees:

Washington, D.C. -- The average holiday shopper had completed half (49.9%) of their shopping, slightly less than the 56.5% they’d completed by this time last year, boding well for retailers who are preparing for a very big holiday shopping weekend, according to the National Retail Federation’s latest holiday survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics. Specifically, 32 million or 14% say they have not even started, while another 20 million, or 8.9%  say they are already finished.

New York — Nearly 7,600 attendees packed into the International Council of Shopping Centers New York National Conference and Deal Making, a 9.6% spike over last year and the largest year-on-year increase since 2009.

“The New York Conference acts as a strong bellwether for industry growth in the year to come,” said Michael P. Kercheval, president and CEO of ICSC. “When the conference sees an increase in attendance, the industry grows the following year; if attendance contracts, so too does the industry.”

Columbus, Ohio — Glimcher Realty Trust has announced that its Board of Trustees has elected Yvette McGee Brown, Esq. and Nancy J. Kramer to serve as trustees on the Board, effective Dec. 12. McGee Brown and Kramer are eligible to be nominated for re-election to the Board at the company’s 2014 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.

Washington, D.C. – Retail sales in November increased a better-than-expected 0.7% seasonally-adjusted month-to-month, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. (The figure includes categories such as automobiles, gasoline stations, and restaurants.) Analysts were expecting sales to rise 0.6% in last month. The latest retail sales numbers were 4.7% above November 2012 numbers.