Retail

New York -- The Container Store is expanding its presence in Florida with three new locations set to open in 2013.
   
The company will open a store in Tampa, Fla., on March 16. The retailer said the Tampa location is its  most requested city for a new store according to its Facebook fans. It will be The Container Store’s third store in Florida, soon to be followed by two additional store openings in Orlando and Boca Raton later this year.

Toronto -- Hudson’s Bay Co. said Thursday it has introduced a new three-tiered rewards program, partnering with Capital One Canada to boost the rate at which HBC shoppers earn reward points for shopping at Hudson's Bay, Thebay.com or Home Outfitters.

Hudson's Bay Rewards members will now earn one point for every dollar they spend on almost anything in store or online and, as they move up the tier levels, they earn more points per spend.

Indianapolis -- Lids Sports Group and the National Football League announced Thursday that Lids will manage multiple retail locations in New Orleans, in addition to operating the principal NFL Shop at Super Bowl Presented by Visa.  

The temporary stores are located within the French Quarter, Riverwalk, and local NFL host hotels as a means to offer Super Bowl spectators alternate sites to purchase official fan gear prior to the NFL season’s championship game.  
 

The art of sewing comes alive at The Hab, a one-stop shopping destination in Mumbai, India, for all things sewing. The colorful store offers a fresh and youthful take on one of retailing’s more staid, and slightly old-fashioned, categories, and more than lives up to its motto: “A hipper side of sewing.”

New York -- SRS Real Estate Partners said Wednesday it has negotiated two leases on behalf of Miller’s Ale House. The first transaction is a ground lease located on 1.5 acres of land off of the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Willow Grove, Pa. The second lease is 9,200 sq. ft. located at the Bergen Towne Center in Paramus, N.J.

Miller’s Ale House is a 60-unit restaurant chain headquartered in Jupiter, Fla.

Chicago -- Automation and mass production will continue to make life easier in the years ahead, but consumers and companies will react by valuing – and promoting – human services and artisan goods. That’s one of the key trends research firm Mintel predicts will be impacting consumer behavior in the next five to 10 years.

As part of its lunch of Mintel Futures, a new program designed to forecast long-term industry trends, Mintel identified six key trends affecting the global consumer market in the near future:

Washington -- Despite some groups’ claims, the National Retail Federation said that few, if any, merchants are expected to surcharge customers for using a credit card as theoretically allowed under a controversial proposed lawsuit settlement with Visa and MasterCard being debated in the courts.

 

Mishawaka, Ind. -- Brixmor Property Group said that Anytime Fitness has opened a 4,200-sq.-ft. facility at Bittersweet Plaza, located in Mishawaka, Ind.

Brixmor, based in New York City, is the owner of Bittersweet Plaza.