Cross-Merchandising

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 influx of restaurants and entertainment concepts is changing the look of shopping centers nationwide and altering the role these centers play in their communities. It is a trend Retail Properties of America has seen play out firsthand as owner and operator of 192 retail properties encompassing nearly 30 million sq. ft.

Tuesday, July 12 marks the return of Amazon Prime Day.   Based on last year’s results, Amazon will grab a sizable chunk of all online sales that day. Special “countdown deals” starting July 5 will also help funnel more e-commerce traffic than normal in Amazon’s direction. Walmart is countering with its own July online sales event built around its ShippingPass free shipping program.  

Macy’s may be flailing, but the department store icon can’t be accused of taking its struggles lying down. As sales were falling 7.4% in the first quarter of 2016 (numbers that represented the fifth straight quarter of declining sales, and capped off a year in which Macy’s stock prices were nearly halved at 47%), Macy’s continues moving forward on plans to roll out its new off-price Backstage concept – both as a series of new stand-alone stores and as in-store locations integrated inside a number of existing Macy’s stores.

If you want to ferret out the hottest new concepts in retailing, head to the coolest streets in the city, not the suburban mall. So states a new report from Cushman and Wakefield, which rated the 100 hippest and edgiest neighborhoods in America based on assessments from its brokers, appraisers, and property managers nationwide.  

Japanese specialty apparel retailer Uniqlo is expanding its U.S. presence into the Southeast, and is also expanding its relationship with Disney.    The company will open a two-level, 25,000-sq.-ft. store on July 15 in Disney Springs at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. It will be Uniqlo’s first location in the Southeast.   

Long dependent on low prices to draw customers to stores, Walmart is trying a new traffic-boosting tactic: fun.

The nation’s highest-profile electric car-marker is taking an unusual route to get its product out in front of potential customers.

Consumers love to shop and love using social media, but somehow the two passions are not connecting.
 
Twitter, which has been piloting an embedded buy button in tweets since September 2014, is abandoning the effort. Recent studies from Forrester and GlobalWebIndex indicate generally low consumer usage rates for social buy buttons, which are also offered by platforms such as Pinterest and Instagram.