Strategy

At a time when more and more online retailers are successfully expanding to brick-and-mortar locations, it’s worth taking a moment to examine how those brands are approaching the site selection process. The specific and strategic considerations that online retailers review when assessing possible brick-and-mortar locations not only tells us a lot about what’s behind that thought process, but provides important hints about the priorities and perspectives shaping retailer behavior in an increasingly omnichannel world.

The generation born between the early 1980s and the year 2000 — labeled millennials — has captured the collective attention of retail marketers. And not just because there are more than 80 million of them, although that’s a factor. This group craves access, not necessarily ownership, and they have a real affinity for technology, which is shaping the retail space.

Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) will open a new omnichannel fulfillment center in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, that includes assistance from robots.

The center, opening in July, will run robotic retail technology that HBC says is approximately three-times faster than the typical technology utilized in e-commerce DCs The retailer plans to open the 450,000-sq.-ft. facility through a phased approach, expanding to 617,500 sq. ft. by January 2017.

Everyone in the Gainesville, Florida, area knows Butler Plaza, the open-air retail center at Archer Road and SW 34th Street. Currently home to more than 1 million sq. ft. of retail and restaurants, it’s where north central Florida residents, 100,000 daytime employees and 75,000 students at the University of Florida and other colleges have filled their basic needs and wants for decades.

Consumers in the Columbus, Ohio, market will soon have a new option for shopping, dining, working, playing and living.

“Hamilton Quarter is a truly mixed-use, cohesive development with more than 300 acres of office, multi-family residential, retail, entertainment, hospitality and senior living offerings,” said Jason Freeman, development manager at Columbus-based fully integrated real estate services firm CASTO.

May in Las Vegas is when the dealmakers come out to, well, make deals, as the International Council of Shopping Centers hosts its annual RECon event at the Las Vegas Convention Center and Westgate Las Vegas Hotel. Held May 22-25 and attended by retailers and shopping center owners from around the globe, RECon will display such project wares as mixed-use destinations, outlet centers, and strip and lifestyle projects — and everything in between.

Editor’s Note: The 27th annual survey of Fastest-Growing Managers tallies new domestic and international third-party management and leasing contracts obtained during the 2015 calendar year and ranks the top performers. As always, the measuring stick is square footage.

This year’s fastest-growing third-party managers are taking many roads to growth, from acquisition to a multidisciplinary focus.

Editor’s Note: The 27th annual Chain Store Age survey of Fastest-Growing Acquirers surveyed retail square footage purchased during the 2015 calendar year.

They come to the list with different philosophies and experiences, but this year’s Fastest-Growing Acquirers share a dedication to preparation and long-term strategies.

Five dynamic retail and restaurant brands — Altar’d State, Bentley’s Pet Stuff, MOD Pizza, Sugarfina and Warby Parker — took home the honors as the winners of Chain Store Age’s annual Breakout Retailer Awards.

The awards, selected by CSA’s editorial board and sponsored by Paint Folks, recognize innovative retail and restaurant concepts that are on their way up —brands that have crossed the “newbie” line, and are well positioned for growth, in store, online, or both.

James Rhee is a tech-savvy numbers and operations guy, but the private equity investor-turned retailer relied on more than business smarts and technology to help revive Ashley Stewart. Realizing that the plus-size brand inspired a deep love among its customers, he developed a core strategy of kindness and loyalty, a strategy that recognized Ashley Stewart represented respect, community and joy to its shoppers.