Strategy

Shake Shack, the burger chain founded by famed restaurateur Danny Meyer, is taking a high-tech approach to its newest site.  

Ace Hardware Corp. has solidified its relationship with The Grommet.   The Oak Brook, Ill.-based hardware co-op announced the acquisition of new-product platform The Grommet. The online website will continue to find and develop products, and Ace will continue its efforts to make the products available to its dealers.   Financial terms of the deal were not revealed  

It was an urban retail real estate broker’s dream: five blocks of Main Street storefront — almost 250,000 sq. ft. of it — sandwiched between beachfront and commercial business district. That’s what the owners of most of five contiguous blocks on Fort Lauderdale’s Las Olas Boulevard plopped on the plate of Michael Comras.  

Amazon is exploring its next grocery opportunity — but not in the United States.    The online giant is looking for physical store locations in France, especially Paris. French newspaper Le Monde, which first broke the story, said Amazon has approached various French supermarket operators — including Groupe Casino, Intermarche and Systeme U — about setting up distribution deals or making an acquisition in the country, according to CNBC.  

One of the most closely watched holiday forecasts has good news for retailers.   The National Retail Federation said it expects holiday retail sales in November and December to increase between 3.6% and 4% for a total of $678.75 billion to $682 billion. In 2016, up from $655.8 billion last year. The NRF forecast, which excludes automobiles, gasoline and restaurants, would meet or exceed last year’s growth of 3.6% and the five-year average of 3.5%.   

Online-only retailers may be taking a toll on omnichannel companies, but traditional companies are finding ways to fight back.   This was according to “Brick-and-Mortar Retailers Fight Back: Winning Strategies to Compete with Online-Only Players,” a report from Applied Predictive Technologies (APT).  

Walmart is determined not to be bested by Amazon when it comes to same-day delivery.   The discounter announced on Tuesday that it has acquired Parcel, a last-mile delivery startup that specializes in delivery of perishable items and general merchandise to customers in New York City. Operating out of a warehouse in Brooklyn, Parcel delivers goods the same-day, overnight and in scheduled two-hour windows, providing customers with live updates via text messages throughout the delivery process.   

Who are the leading women working in retail technology? Chain Store Age is accepting nominations for its annual feature recognizing female executives who are helping to transform the retail industry through technology.   The “Top 10 Women in Retail Tech” will celebrate the achievements of retail executives from all areas of technology. The winners will be profiled in a special section of the January 2018 issue of Chain Store Age, as well as in an online report on chainstoreage.com.  

Wages

A specialty retailer is streamlining its merchandising operations.   Gap's Intermix division has become the company's first brand to transition to the cloud. The upscale specialty retailer is leveraging Oracle’s cloud-based platform to drive efficiencies across merchandising and inventory management. The platform supports end-to-end operational efficiencies and empowers the business teams among specialty apparel company Intermix.