Displays & Signs

Office Depot Inc. is turning to virtual reality (VR) to enhance how products are displayed and merchandised in its stores.

The retailer is leveraging the ShopperMX online 3D VR platform from InContext Solutions to create engaging in-store experiences that provide customers with hyper-realistic virtual simulations. This may include virtually enhanced signage and product displays, as well as entirely new store concepts.

Target Corp.’s latest limited-edition collaboration, with the Finnish brand Marimekko, was not a bust, but it also didn’t spark the excitement and shopping frenzy that marked the launch of the retailer’s previous exclusive collections — particularly its past partnerships with Missoni and Lily Putlizer.

CVS Pharmacy is bringing its CVS Pharmacy y más to the Los Angeles market.

The retailer first debuted the concept, designed to provide enhanced, personalized service to the local Hispanic community, in June 2015, in Miami, opening 12 stores. Nine stores in the greater Los Angeles market will have the new format.

Hot on the heels of its launch of a private label collection aimed at millennial women, The J.C. Penney Co. is now introducing a brand and store section designed for a subset of that market.

JCPenney is debuting Boutique+, a plus-size fashion brand designed for full-figured millennial women. Boutique+ will be available at 500 stores and online May 1.

Market Track compared retail circular advertising in March 2016 vs. March 2015 and noted trends occurring across top retail chains.

Lowe’s Home Improvement had denser March print circulars with twice the ads per page and nearly 80 additional ads per drop. Lowe’s shifted the Spring Black Friday sale to the 3/31 drop; up from first week of May 2015.

Home depot did not counter this shift through print, but promoted Spring Black Friday on their website.

Target Corp. is hoping New Yorkers and tourists alike will come out to help it celebrate the launch of its next limited-edition collection — Marimekko for Target.

Home Depot’s is touting improved omnichannel capabilities and an innovative product offering as its seventh annual “Spring Black Friday” sales event gets underway.

A new ad campaign from Food Lion, airing in select markets, promotes the message that the retailer has raised its standards, but not its prices.

The new campaign plays on familiar themes in the grocery industry — convenience, freshness, price and trust — and is designed to support Food Lion’s effort to upgrade the store experience in key markets, where major remodeling and remerchandising efforts have occurred.

Starbucks will open its largest location in the world, a 20,000-sq.-ft. store, in one of Manhattan’s trendiest areas.

The coffee giant is bringing its new Roastery store format to the Meatpacking District, opening at 61 Ninth Ave., a new nine-story building that is currently under development. The building is close to Chelsea Market.

Two major sustainability initiatives from H&M begin this month as the fast fashion retailer debuts a new line from Conscious Commerce co-founders Olivia Wilde and Barbara Burchfield and kicks off an apparel recycling effort.

The H&M Conscious Exclusive collection from Wilde and Burchfield will be available online at hm.com and in 165 stores beginning April 7. Meanwhile, H&M is set to begin is World Recycle Week initiative on April 18 which allows customers who drop off clothes at in-store collections bins to receive a 30% discount coupon.