Marketing Tactics

One of the most important trends to track these days is that of online retailers making the jump to brick-and-mortar. The different strategies and tactics they have taken, and the new and different ways that retailers are adapting to the realities of an omnichannel world, can not only reveal some fascinating truths about retail today — but also provide some insights into where the retail industry might be heading in the future.

Chicago is one of the nation’s leading retail markets and a new report from Mid-America Real Estate details the area’s evolving growth patterns, retailers driving development and hot properties.

Plans are being finalized for a new 100,000-sq.-ft. retail re-development in Enid, Oklahoma, across from the city’s Oakwood Mall, according to developer GBT Realty Corp.

The world’s largest ice cream manufacturer has opened its first U.S. storefront, a pop-up in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood.

Unilever is opening custom-dipping shops for its Magnum Ice Cream brand around the world, and the SoHo outpost is its first U.S. storefront. (Unilever’s other ice-cream brands include Ben & Jerry’s, Fudgsicle and Klondike.)

Despite their tech-savvy reputation, millennials are not above reducing their retail spending with the help of good old-fashioned print coupons.

Johnny Rockets is celebrating its 30th anniversary year — and reaching out to millennials — with a brand refresh that does away with the company’s signature '50s nostalgia.

Ace Hardware Corp. is best known for selling home improvement merchandise, but also operates a growing grocery channel.

Using technology from ProLogic Retail Services, a provider of loyalty marketing solutions specializing in independent grocers, the retail cooperative is enabling its Ace Rewards loyalty program in co-located grocery stores. Ace operates grocery in both “store-within-a-store” configurations and adjacent storefronts with grocery partners.

For all their differences, the shopping center owners and brokers from around the world who will gather at the end of May in Las Vegas for retail real estate’s annual RECon confab are alike in they will all be on the lookout for new retail concepts to entice shoppers.

The good news is that are plenty of brands ready to spread their wings. Some have been around for a couple of years, but are now flush with new financing. But many are formerly pure players that are now turning their attention to physical stores.