Corporate Governance

Restaurants have long served as critical components in the experiential equation of Steiner + Associates town centers. “Eating out is in,” said Yaromir Steiner. “Whether it is a chef-driven concept or a fast-casual restaurant, dining is an inherently social activity that elevates the destination status of a community, drives traffic and captures coveted discretionary dollars.

It is a synergy evident in many of the restaurant concepts that call Steiner + Associates’ projects home, as exemplified by The Northstar Café.

An average food retail store leaks an estimated 25% of its refrigerant supply per year. The majority of refrigerant leaks, which are caused by a number of factors, occur in racks and cases. For an individual store, this loss can add up to a sizeable annual expense; for a regional or national chain, the costs can be even more substantial. Additionally, associated labor costs and the potential loss of business because of service disruptions when fixing a leak should be factored in.

It’s important to look beyond the traditional hard metrics of ROI to determine the bottom line value of an IT solution. Here are five key areas CFOs need to consider when evaluating technology:

1. Sales growth: There are many types of applications that can drive increased sales, but some of the most common are solutions that optimize pricing, including markdowns. Determining the ideal price for maximizing sales without cutting profits at a store level is too complex for merchants to do on their own.

PGA Tour Superstore is growing its retail presence even as many other big-box stores downsize.     The chain will open a 45,500-sq.ft. store at Woodlands Shopping Center, Houston, in a former Sports Authority location, this fall. It’s the first Houston location for the company, whose controlling owner is Arthur Blank, co-founder of Home Depot.  

Pottery Barn unveiled a revamped interior at its newly designed store at The Village at Corte Madera, in Corte Madera, California.   Inspired by a modern farmhouse, the 12,288-sq.-ft. location features dramatic high ceilings with exposed wood beams, a skylight in the center of the space, and 11-foot high steel framed doors that open to an outside seating area at the front of the store.  

The J.C. Penney Co Inc. is reportedly developing a new IT facility in a popular overseas location.   

With 15 regional stores, New York-based Fairway Market needs to compete with larger rivals on quality of experience.   To that end, Fairway has deployed the omnichannel retail platform from Index to help better communicate with customers and provide an optimal experience across various touchpoints. The platform includes secure in-store payment solutions that offer processing flexibility and are compliant with EMV and P2PE protocols. Fairway can also accept a variety of tender types, including Apple Pay and Android Pay.  

Sheetz is opening four stores in four different states.   The family-owned convenience store chain announced four new locations: Morgantown, West Virginia; Morrisville, North Carolina; St. Clairsville, Ohio; and Bethel, Pennsylvania. All will open by July, 7.