Retail

New York – The Deloitte Consumer Spending Index, which tracks consumer cash flow as an indicator of future consumer spending, slightly dipped in August.

Football season is underway and Dick's Sporting Goods has upgraded its "Jersey Report" with advanced features to provide fans insights into pro football jersey sales at store locations nationwide and online. 

Updated daily, the Jersey Report offers fans a comprehensive breakdown of how the sales of their favorite players' jerseys are rising, falling and stacking up against the competition.  

City of Commerce, Calif. — 99 Cents Only Stores will open a 15,635-sq.-ft. store in Garden Grove, Calif., on Sept. 19.

As part of the grand opening, the first nine customers may buy a 40-inch Westinghouse flat-screen TV for 99 cents. The chain currently operates 326 across the southwest.
 

Becker’s School Supplies has re-launched its e-commerce site using the WebLinc platform in an effort to offer a branded user experience.

The WebLinc platform also provides back-end merchandising and management tools. Since rolling out its new site, Becker’s has experienced a 120% jump in revenue compared to the same period last year, and saw transaction volume increase by 81% as a result of improved online performance.

Saratoga, Calif. — Fuddruckers is expanding its footprint in Southern California through a new franchise development partnership with Keilah LLC.

The partnership will open ten new Fuddruckers over the next several years. The first is slated to debut by early 2015.

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway and Food Network host Marcela Valladolid have unveiled a Safeway-exclusive Marcela Valladolid brand, which offers an assortment of Mexican food products.

Mokena, Ill. — Micoley.com’s Sept. 28 property auction will offer a restaurant and banquet facility in Mokena, Ill. The two-story restaurant spans 14,754 sq. ft. The site includes 162 parking spaces. Zoning allows other kinds of commercial activity.

The property has an opening bid of $995,000, substantially lower than the initial asking price of $1,795,000. Offers are expected during the lead up to the auction. Properties such as this frequently sell ahead of their auction date.

Technology is advancing to the degree where almost any digital consumer touchpoint has the potential to become a very real storefront. Video games, blog and social media postings, apps, and virtually any other digital environment that directly engages consumers either currently is or soon will be able to serve as a fully functioning storefront where transactions can be executed.