Retail

Starbucks Corp. unveiled its new retail format, Teavana Fine Teas + Tea Bar, with the debut location opening on Manhattan's  East Side. The store features a wide variety of hot brewed and iced teas, tea fusion beverages and  tea-related merchandise. It also offers a range of food items, from salads to flatbreads to pastries and other baked goods, with a bakery-like presentations.

The Walt Disney Company said it would enter China in 2015 with a new retail location planned for Shanghai that measures 10,800-sq.-ft. on a 53,000-sq.-ft. site in the heart of the city’s financial district.
Disney currently operates 340 worldwide locations but until this week’s announcement in Shanghai had steered clear of opening stores in mainland China.

Atlanta -- Among the affluent households, the average expenditure for December holiday gifts in 2013 is estimated to be $2,175 down 2.8% from 2012, according to a new survey of the wealthiest 10% of U.S. households by the American Affluence Research Center. However, affluent households spent in 2012 almost 7% more than they had anticipated in the 2012 survey, supporting the premise that people often tend to spend more for gifts than they had planned.
 

New York -- Lane Bryant has announced the opening of three new stores and one relocation of an existing store.

The specialty apparel retailer plans to open a new store in the Miracle Mile Shopping Center in Monroeville, Pa., on Oct. 25, with the grand opening running through the weekend.

Lane Bryant also plans to open a new store at Rushmore Crossing in Rapid City, S.D. on Oct. 25, with the grand opening continuing through Sunday.

Shanghai, China -- The Walt Disney Co. announced plans to open its first store in mainland China, in Shanghai. The 53,000-sq.-ft. Disney Store, expected to open in early 2015, will be the company’s largest store to date.

The store will be located in Shanghai's financial hub. It will feature an approximate 10,800-sq.-ft. retail space, and a Disney-themed outdoor plaza area that can be used to host outdoor events. The surrounding area has foot traffic of more than 40 million visitors a year.

Phoenix — The metropolitan Phoenix retail market ended the third quarter with a retail vacancy rate at 10.5%, down nearly a full point from 11.3% a year ago, according to CBRE’s Phoenix Retail MarketView report for the third quarter.

The market recorded positive absorption of 385,625 sq. ft. for the quarter and so far this year has absorbed 1.1 million sq. ft.

Pittsburgh – Dick’s Sporting Goods will open a new store at Towne Center in Batavia, N.Y., on Nov. 1.

The Batavia location will be the retailer's 37th store in the state of New York and its 548th nationwide.
 

The retail industry couldn’t function if it weren’t for the efforts of store managers at the front lines of running the day-to-day business, executing corporate strategies, managing people and serving customers.