Retail

Warren, Mich. — Michigan-based Art Van Furniture opened its first out-of-state retail store in Orland Park, Ill., last week with a Motown-themed grand opening celebration.

The new 47,000-sq.-ft. location heralds the opening of five more Art Van stores in the Chicago region in coming months. Locations include Ford City-Chicago, Batavia, Elston Avenue-Chicago and Merrillville-Hobart, Indiana. The new stores will add 600 new jobs to the region.

New York -- Starwood Capital Group LLC, the investment firm headed by real estate developer Barry Sternlicht, has joined the bidding for Saks Inc., according to a report by the New York Post. Starwood Capital invests in retail, office and residential real estate.

The bid by Starwood is worth about $2.5 billion, or $17-$18 per share, according to the report. The amount is roughly equal to a previously existing bid from Canadian retail conglomerate Hudson’s Bay, which also owns the Lord & Taylor department store chain.

Aliso Viejo, Calif. – Johnny Rockets has named Gary Campanaro as CFO. Campanaro previously served as CFO for the El Pollo Loco and Claim Jumper restaurant chains and has also held executive roles at Keith Companies, CB Richard Ellis and CKE Restaurants.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Sears may not be the first name that springs to mind when one thinks of retailers that leverage technology to reach out to digital-savvy consumers, but it's demonstrating that it can stay current with the latest digital trends. 

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears is offering personalized digital coupons to members of its Shop Your Way loyalty program that are redeemable in-store, online and from a mobile device. Members can download the virtual coupons, tailored to their interests, style preferences and shopping habits, from the Internet or the Sears mobile app.

BOCA RATON, Fla. — Office Depot is not forgetting college students during the highly competitive back-to-school season, and to meet that segment’s unique needs, it has teamed up with Chegg, a student hub that offers various services to college students, including textbook rentals.

I was fortunate enough to attend the CashStar Retailer Roundtable in Portland, Maine, last week. Beyond getting to spend a beautiful summer day overlooking the sights of Casco Bay, I got to hear a lot of great speakers from companies including Google and Forrester Research discuss the latest trends in mobile commerce and electronic gift cards.

Houston -- U.S. Hispanics are more likely to purchase grocery foods, dairy, and bread from convenience stores (c-stores) than non-Hispanics, reports the NPD Group, leading global information company. Spanish-dominant Hispanics are more likely to make grocery item purchases at c-stores than other Hispanics, according to the NPD report entitled The C-Store Hispanic Shopper, which examines the typical convenience store shopping behavior of Hispanics by level of acculturation and how it compares to non-Hispanics.