Apple, Inc.

Fort Worth, Texas -- RadioShack has opened another of its new concept stores, in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village neighborhood. It is Radio Shack’s fourth new format location in Manhattan.

The format feature an upgraded shopping experience, which showcases the company's new look, and incorporates interactive areas designed to help shoppers improve their technology profile.

Some features include:

Macy’s flagships in Herald Square, New York, and Union Square, San Francisco, are the first major retail locations to deploy Shopkick’s Apple iBeacon-based presence signal. The trial is in closed beta and is anticipated to go live to Shopkick users within weeks.

Redwood City, Calif. -- Macy’s flagships in Herald Square, New York, and Union Square, San Francisco, are the first major retail locations to deploy Shopkick’s Apple iBeacon-based presence signal. The trial pairs Shopkick and Macy's, an inaugural Shopkick partner, at the forefront of the mobile in-store experience. Now in closed beta, the trial is anticipated to go live to Shopkick users within weeks.

Fort Worth, Texas -- RadioShack will open its newest Houston location as a concept store on Nov. 9. All concept stores in the company's portfolio feature an upgraded shopping experience, which showcases the company's new look, and incorporates interactive areas designed to help shoppers improve their technology profile.

Some features include:

Beloit, Wis. – Online coupon provider FatWallet predicts a larger selection and assortment of lower-priced Black Friday deals in 2013 as compared to the previous year. Notable predictions include:

Staples now carries Square Stand, hardware developed by Square that helps brick and mortar businesses turn an iPad into a complete point of sale, at stores and online.

Business owners will be able to process test payments using Square Stand and Square Register, Square's free point-of-sale software, at many Staples locations. Businesses that purchase a Square Stand from Staples in November will receive a free $200 Staples gift card.

By Joseph Bona, [email protected]

In media interviews of late, Beth Newlands Campbell, the new CEO of Food Lion, has been offering reporters a frank assessment of the supermarket chain’s ho-hum, middle-of-the-road situation: “Staying the same,” she explains, “is not an option.”

By Craig Johnson, president, Customer Growth Partners