Strategy

American Dream has added more fire power to its retail lineup.

The Triple Five Group of Companies, the developer of the long-delayed retail and entertainment mega-center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Monday announced the names of 10 new retail tenants who will be setting up shop there. These include: Aritzia, Banana Republic, Gap, Lululemon, Mac, Microsoft, Pink, Uniqlo, Victoria's Secret and Zara.

As of Oct. 1, retailers who do not comply with the Europay, Mastercard, Visa (EMV) security standard that relies on embedded chips in payment cards face a shift in card fraud liability. Many EMV issues have not yet been resolved. Here are three big ones:

Swipe left out
Retailers have been warned repeatedly that if they do not implement EMV-compliant POS terminals, they will bear liability for any fraud resulting from an EMV card transaction.

Smart & Final celebrated the one year anniversary of its public stock offering by telling investors a growth story about differentiation and new store expansion.

Smart & Final, a uniquely positioned operator of 266 warehouse style stores, has plans to open 100 new stores in the Western United States during the next four years. CEO Dave Hirz dropped that bombshell while he and other senior members of the company were at the New York Stock Exchange to ring the opening bell to commemorate the one year anniversary of the company’s listing.

Six months after opening a Skechers concept shop, Meijer is taking the next step in what appears to be a more ambitious rollout of the branded shop to additional footwear departments.

Former Save-A-Lot CFO Rob Anderson has joined PetSmart as CFO.

Anderson assumes his new role at the nation’s largest pet specialty retailer on Oct. 5 amid rumors that PetSmart and Petco are exploring a merger. Anderson is a veteran financial executive who most recently served as CFO of the $4.8 billion discount grocery chain Save-A-Lot.

IBM aims to increase the solutions and services it offers the retail industry with two new centers. On Sept. 24, IBM opened a new global headquarters for IBM Commerce and new hub for its Watson artificial intelligence platform in San Francisco.

In addition, IBM is partnering with The Fung Group on a new large-scale laboratory for rapid experimentation with omnichannel retail technologies, which opened in Shanghai, China on Sept. 24.

E-commerce sales surged at Pier 1 Imports during the second quarter, but the retailers overall sales grew less than expected and the company lowered its full year outlook.

Total sales increased 2.7% to $430 million and same-store sales increased 2.5%. Excluding the effects of the stronger U.S. dollar, total sales increased 4% and same-store sales increased 3.8%.

Johnny Rockets is launching a fast-casual concept that the company hopes will appeal to time-starved millennials on the run.

Called Johnny’s Burger Factory, the 1,000-sq.-ft. eatery is located at the Walden Galleria mall, in Buffalo, New York, and will open on Sept. 26.