Strategy

Starbucks Corp. has been busy expanding its mobile ordering and payment services, and now needs to ensure the right support personnel are in place.

According to the Puget Sound Business Journal, the retailer plans to add 100 employees of all experience levels and skillsets to its technology team, which currently has about 1,000 workers.

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The steel framing on Ikea’s future Memphis store has progressed far enough to allow for the installation of the chain’s iconic blue panels, a construction milestone that keeps the store on track to open this fall.

The 271,000-sq.-ft. store is being built on 35 acres in the Wolfchase Corridor along the southwestern side of Interstate-40 near the Germantown Parkway exit.

J.Crew customers on Saturday received a surprise in their email accounts — a letter from the CEO and chairman of the company, Mickey Drexler.

In the note, Drexler recounted how he was recently told by a shopper that the J.Crew she loves "is back.” He then asked customers to come into stores or check out the J. Crew e-commerce site to see what she was talking about, and also requested they email him directly with their thoughts. ([email protected].)

Over the past decade or so, we’ve watched as consumers have increasingly turned to e-commerce to make their purchases, and more segments of the retail sector — from apparel to grocery — have set up shop online to meet demand.

Pre-leasing has begun on a $100 million mixed-use complex developed by Forest City Realty Trust that offers retailers an interesting opportunity to serve the bustling Chinatown area of Los Angeles.

The project, named Blossom Plaza, will feature 237 apartments and 19,000-sq.-ft. of commercial space on a two acre tract at the intersection of Broadway and College Street. Leasing the space on behalf of Forest City will be JLL VP Lorena Tomb and associate Danielle Cornwell.

Shopper center operators have a new ally in their efforts to drive traffic called Cowboys Saloon: American Bar & Grill.

Cowboys is a new food and entertainment concept billed as a destination restaurant and country-western venue that is looking to grow rapidly the next few years. Founded six years ago, Cowboys is on a growth trajectory to operate more than 20 locations by 2018, up from the seven locations that will be open by year end.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recognized Staples with a 2016 Energy Star Partner of the Year — Sustained Excellence Award for its continued leadership in protecting the environment through superior energy efficiency achievements.

Staples, an Energy Star partner since 1992, is being honored for the energy efficient achievements of the certification of 612 total buildings, and recertification of 33 buildings in 2015.

American Family Association has called on its members to boycott Target Corp. over the chain’s decision to allow transgender employees and customers to use bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity.

The group said it had gathered 172,494 signatures on a boycott petition by mid-morning on Friday.

Duluth Holdings just put a key element of its growth strategy in place, choosing cloud commerce solutions provider Demandware to integrate its physical and digital presence.

Going to market under the banner of Duluth Trading Company, the retailer said it selected Demandware to optimize is digital and omnichannel growth strategies.

Troubled teen retailer Aeropostale Inc. has been dealt another blow.

On Friday, the New York Stock Exchange suspended trading of the retailer’s stock with immediate effect, due to an "abnormally low" trading price.

Aeropostale does not intend to appeal the delisting. It said its shares will instead be traded on the OTCQX Best Market, an over-the-counter market operated by OTC Markets Group Inc. The new ticker is "AROP".