Retail

Oklahoma City, Okla. – In a Sept. 23 webinar hosted by Chain Store Age and sponsored by Microsoft Dynamics and Junction Solutions, marital arts training equipment retailer Century Martial Arts explained how by using a Microsoft Dynamics AX business intelligence platform, it is able to better track trends and predict future performance.

Skincare brand Olay has selected actress Katie Holmes as its first global brand ambassador. Holmes will represent the Olay global brand campaign “Your Best Beautiful.”

“I’m very excited to be the Olay Global Brand Ambassador,” said Holmes. “Olay is a brand I respect, trust and believe in. I love the products and message to women to never settle and put their best face forward, every day.”

By Steve Sensing, VP, Ryder System

Seattle -- Starbucks Corp. will acquire the remaining shares of its Japanese joint venture, Starbucks Coffee Japan, for $913 million to accelerate growth across multiple channels in the country, including the introduction of new concepts such as Teavana. The acquisition is the largest to date made by Starbucks. Japan is the company’s second-largest market in store sales after the United States.

“Full ownership in this market is the right approach for the future," said Troy Alstead, COO, Starbucks, in a conference call with analysts.

Hudson’s Bay Company has signed a lease with Brookfield Property Partners L.P. to open an 85,000-sq.-ft. Saks Fifth Avenue store in Brookfield Place at 225 Liberty Street and a 55,000-sq.-ft. Saks Off 5th store at One Liberty Plaza in Lower Manhattan.

HBC is also leasing 400,000 sq. ft. of office space, adjacent to the Saks Fifth Avenue store at Brookfield Place. This space will become the home office for the company’s New York City-based corporate associates.

Arlington, Va. -- Pentagon Row, the outdoor shopping and residential center in Pentagon City, Virginia, has installed nearly 2,000 parking space sensors. The sensors, which are located in each of the facility’s parking spaces, record whether a space is occupied, forwarding that information to illuminated signs and the Pentagon Row mobile parking app which direct parkers to the closest available spaces to their final shopping destination.

Austin, Texas – Retail real estate services provider UCR has been awarded project leasing and management of the retail for Hill Country Galleria, a 1.3 million-sq.-ft. Class A lifestyle/mixed-use development in Bee Cave, Texas. Peloton Commercial Real Estate has been awarded the office leasing assignment.

New York - L.L. Bean provided the best overall customer service in August 2014. This marked the retailer’s fourth time topping Stella Benchmarks in customer service during 2014.

The retailer repeated its top performance from the previous month by ranking among the Top 25 in phone, email, shipping and returns. Nine companies that did not rank in the Top 25 overall for July earned a spot in August: Gap, Marc Jacobs, Burberry, Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Motosport, Microsoft, Brooks Brothers and Wayfair.