Displays & Signs

Value fashion retailer Primark’s new flagship on Oxford St. (at Tottenham Court Rd.) spans some 82,300 sq. ft. over four floors. Designed by Dalziel & Pow, London, the store has a bold, modern look,  complete with a faux tube station, a massive LED screen and colorful graphics. Digital integration is a key element, with specially commissioned brand films playing on the exterior wall of the elevator lifts. An animated store map is featured on the elevator walls and throughout the store to help with customer navigation.

New York -- Consumers are expected to spend an average of $582 on holiday shopping this season, and 23% plan to spend more than $750, according to a survey by Accenture. And half of consumers (52%) expect to increase their spending by $250 or more.

Brooklyn, N.Y. -- West Elm, a division of Williams-Sonoma, announced that it will open a store in South Coast Plaza on Nov. 2.

The store will feature a three-sided living wall and will be the first West Elm to open with the company’s newly announced West Elm Market shop-in-shop. Through a partnership with Etsy, it will also feature a collection of decorative accessories and art made by artists from the Orange County area.

Retailers spend months developing smart, effective strategies across their in-store, Web and mobile channels each holiday season. But social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter can be just as powerful in getting the message out to shoppers in the days leading up to Christmas.

Uniqlo has made its first move in an ambitious plan to become a major presence in shopping malls throughout the nation. The company, Japan’s largest retailer and a division of Fast Retailing Co., has jump-started its U.S. expansion with the opening of a 43,000-sq.-ft. store in Westfield Garden State Plaza, Paramus, N.J.

St. Louis -- Build-A-Bear Workshop reported a net loss of $4.3 million in its third quarter, compared with net income of $0.9 million a year ago, and said it would close 50 to 60 underperforming locations in the next two years in an effort to improve its profitability and reach its “optimal” count of 225 to 250 locations.

New York -- Macerich announced that Eataly, the largest artisanal Italian food and wine emporium in the world, has reached an agreement to open its second U.S. location, at The Shops at North Bridge near Michigan Avenue in Chicago.

The new location, expected to open in September 2013, will be the concept's largest, at 60,000 sq. ft. Eataly opened its first U.S. store, in Manhattan, in 2010.
Eataly is a collaboration among Joe Bastianich, Mario Batali, Lidia Bastianich and Oscar Farinetti, who founded Eataly in Turin, Italy, in 2007.

General Growth Properties’ Fashion Place shopping center in Murray, Utah, celebrated “Fashion Place Day” on Oct. 15 to commemorate the mall’s 40-year history.

A 15-ft. Mall of Memories wall marked the occasion, and was accompanied by a mayoral declaration and a week of special offers, giveaways, retro fashion shows and a mall-wide birthday party honoring 40 kids affected by cancer.

“We think Fashion Place looks fabulous for being 40,” said Natalie Watson, Fashion Place senior marketing manager.

New York -- Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Retail Group said that jewelry designer Alexis Bittar will open a new store at 410 Columbus Avenue, between 79th and 80th Streets, in New York City. It is the designer’s fourth Manhattan store; the other three are on Madison Avenue, in Soho and in the West Village.

With nine stores nationwide, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and Venice in California, Chicago, Manhattan and a brand new one in Greenwich, Conn., the brand is in expansion mode and currently planning possible Florida locations.

Facebook investors are still a disgruntled lot, but Walmart couldn’t be happier with its experience with the social network.