Retail

New York -- Debra Jensen, CIO of Charlotte Russe, will share how this 500-store fashion retailer leverages real-time POS data to make decisions that drive profitable growth in a Chain Store Age Webinar on June 6, at 2 p.m. ET (11 a.m. PT).

Hear how SAP HANA-based analytics is providing Charlotte Russe with up-to-the-moment, early indicators of sales velocity, margin and inventory position as well as other key metrics. To register, click here.

New Orleans -- Stirling Properties and JCH Development have announced a joint venture to develop the first 6,000-sq. ft. building of Magnolia Marketplace Shopping Center in New Orleans at the intersection of South Claiborne Avenue and Fourth Street. A second phase of the development will commence this fall at South Claiborne and Toledano.

Boca Raton, Fla. -- Office Depot has reached an agreement to sell its 50% stake in Office Depot de Mexico S.A. de C.V. to its joint venture partner Grupo Gigante, S.A.B. de C.V. for roughly $690 million in cash.

Office Depot de Mexico, which was founded in 1994 as a joint partnership between Office Depot and Grupo Gigante, has more than 248 stores throughout Mexico and Central America and more than $1.1 billion in annual sales.

Pittsburgh – Dick’s Sporting Goods is opening a new store in Petaluma, Calif., with a three-day grand opening weekend celebration beginning Friday, June 7. The location be the retailer's 28th store in the state of California and its 523rd nationwide.

"We're pleased to be opening a new Dick’s Sporting Goods store in Petaluma, which will enable us to better serve the needs of athletes in the community," said Lauren Hobart , chief marketing officer, Dick’s Sporting Goods..

Columbus, Ohio -- Value City Furniture and American Signature Furniture are launching a social media contest to promote their new e-commerce sites. Customers can win prizes for sharing favorite items from the retailers’ websites and sharing them on the Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Instagram and/or Pinterest accounts. Customers can enter through any or all of these social networks through July 1. The retailers, owned by American Signature Inc., are giving away up to $10,000 in free furniture as part of the contest.

By Kevin Kiziah, asd-usa.com

Technology upgrades and new technology installations are a necessary part of business for chain stores, but updating or installing technology at multiple sites can be an overwhelming undertaking. Technology rollouts are especially intimidating for chain stores with hundreds, or even thousands, of locations spread across a wide geographic area.

Another pure online retailer has made the leap to brick-and-mortar. The Monocle Order, an online member’s club for sunglasses and optical frames, has opened a flagship in Brooklyn’s uber hip Williamsburg neighborhood.

Ridgefield, Conn. -- Schimenti Construction Company breaks ground on a $15 million retail shopping development in the Deptford Town Center shopping center in Deptford, N.J. The one-story 100,000-sq-ft. building will be the first to include every Bed Bath & Beyond brand under one roof: Bed Bath & Beyond, Christmas Tree Shops, buybuy Baby and Harmon Face Values.