Strategy

PREIT unveiled Amazon lockers at 15 of its mall locations on the East coast, making it one of the first mall owners to engage in this most physical of online-offline integrations.   Amazon shoppers who choose the locker option when checking out are notified when their packages have been delivered and can go to the locker location to pick them up. Consumers gain an added convenience and mall tenants get Web shoppers in their stores.  

Mexico City-based developer Grupo GICSA announced plans for 14 new experiential retail centers it will format under the trademarked term, “Mallterntainment.” GICSA is perhaps best known as the developer of the Paseo Arcos Bosques retail center in Mexico City (above).   Malltertainment developments will hew to four pillars, according to GICSA:   • Average area of 2 million sq. ft.;  

Following a revenue miss in the second quarter, sales continue to slide at The Buckle.    For August, same-store sales fell 14.8%, a decrease exceeding the company’s 10.9% same-store loss in July, and a 10.8% drop in the second quarter.    Net sales for August also dipped 14.0% to $87.2 million for the four-week period ended August 27, 2016, compared to $101.4 million for the same fiscal month last year, ended August 29, 2015.   

PetSmart is no stranger to “using every connection to bring pet parents closer to their pets.” Reinforcing its mission statement, PetSmart will add a next-generation platform that will unify the omnichannel shopping experience, and make it easier for the brand to engage with consumers throughout their path-to-purchase.   

J. Crew Group’s efforts to pump up sales at its core brand didn’t quite take off in the second quarter.   Total revenues at J.Crew Group decreased 4% to $569.8 million in the second quarter.   Total same-store sales fell 8%, its eight consecutive quarterly decrease, with a 9% decline at the company’s namesake brand and a 3% increase at Madewell.   J. Crew reported a net loss of $8.6 million, compared with $13.6 million a year ago.  

Aeropostale may still live to see another day thanks to a last-minute bid.   In a development that no one saw coming, a consortium of landlords, liquidators and others joined together to make a $243.3 million offer to save 229 Aeropostale stores, Fortune reported. The group includes General Group Properties, Simon Property Group, Gordon Brothers Retail Partners, Hilco Merchant Resources, and Authentic Brands Group.  

Lowe’s Foods rang in retail this week at Morganton Park South in Southern Pines, North Carolina, opening a 50,000-sq.-ft. anchor store in the center that is part of the 188-acre Morganton Park master-planned community.   Lowe’s, which recently executed a re-branding, is a fixture in North Carolina, where it has done business since 1954. Its neighbors in the center are still to be determined. Leasing agent Lincoln Harris reports that most of the 21,000 remaining square feet in the center remains available.  

This week, 10,000 current and former Chipotle employees filed a class-action lawsuit claiming back wages, working off the clock and various labor violations. The suit should finally be the wake-up call necessary to get c-suite executives at restaurant, retail, hotel & lodging, convenience stores and other labor-intensive industries to take the issue seriously because the Chipotle case may be the tip of the iceberg.  

Quick-serve restaurant chain Chipotle has been hit with a lawsuit in which current and former Chipotle employees claim that the company made them work extra hours "off the clock" without paying them, CNN Money reported.   

In a deal that comes right before the all-important holiday selling season, Toys “R” Us has entered into an exclusive partnership with one of the toy industry’s premier doll brands.     Mattel’s American Girl division announced a multi-year partnership with Toys “R” Us that will make the toy giant the first — and only — U.S.-based retailer to feature American Girl in-store shops.