Strategy

Target Corp. continues to expand its presence in New York City.

One of the earliest adopters of the build-your-own pizza concept has notched North Louisiana in its expansion belt.   PizzaRev, the fast-casual pizza banner backed by Buffalo Wild Wings, announced that a franchise agreement has been signed to develop the chain throughout the northern part of Louisiana. Franchisees are lrestaurateurs Cassidy King and Mark Florsheim.  

Steve Tanger is more than CEO of outlet giant Tanger Factory Outlet Centers – he is also an effective talking head.     Tanger appeared as a featured guest on CNBC's "Mad Money with Jim Cramer" on Thursday, July 28, and talked about the consistent strength of the outlet market despite a volatile retail industry.   

A Gainesville, Florida, mixed-use project now features a strategically assembled team to lead the property to its planned fall 2018 opening.   According to Butler Enterprises president Deborah Butler, the team of local, national and international design and construction professionals will work with Butler to create a world-class retail and residential core for Gainesville.   The team consists of:  

Rethinking its earlier turnaround plans, a century-old Canadian jewelry chain has announced it will shutter all stores.    Winnipeg-based Ben Moss Jewellers, which has sold mid-to-high-priced jewelry since 1910, said it will close the 54-unit chain and has launched going-out-of-business sales that began on Saturday, July 30.     The liquidation efforts are being handled by Gordon Brothers Canada, ULC and Hilco Global (through its Canadian division, Merchant Retail Solutions).  

News of Dollar Shave Club’s recent $1 billion sale to global packaged-goods giant Unilever came like a splash of cold water to the face of most in the retail business.    But it shouldn’t have come as a surprise.    The booming success of subscription services is just the next step in the evolution towards seamless, contactless retail that emphasizes ease, convenience, common sense and just a touch of personality and cheeky humor.   

Temperatures for the U.S. will trend the warmest in at least five years.    August begins with an active pattern along the East Coast with showers and thunderstorms. Heat will be building across the Central U.S. with a heat wave likely developing in the first week of August. The heat spreads to the East Coast later in the week. Another heat wave during the second retail week of the month will keep it feeling firmly like summer.   

Amazon has launched an online shop dedicated to innovative products from start-up companies.   Amazon has teamed up with popular crowdfunding site Kickstarter to showcase a collection of products that have been successfully funded on the platform. The Kickstarter Collection is featured on Amazon’s Launchpad section, the company’s storefront for hardware startups and crowdfunded projects. The new collection has more than 300 products, and covers a wide range of categories, from electronics and toys to home and kitchen.

Lowe's is amping up its distribution game with a new direct fulfillment center near Nashville.   At a square footage of 1.1 million, the facility will be a Lowe's first in that it will ship packages directly to customers.  

Online retail giant Amazon is not looking for a repeat of holiday 2015, when increased fulfillment costs due to a surge in orders took a bite out of its holiday quarter earnings.   The company is adding 18 warehouse facilities this quarter in preparation for the holiday surge, according to a report by Recode. Last year, it added six.