Apparel

Report: Department store retailer losing top digital exec
The chief technology officer of Nordstrom is leaving the company after less than a year on the job. Kumar Srinivasan is leaving the upscale department store company effective Friday, Jan. 7, to return to India, GeekWire reported. Srinivasan, who joined Nordstrom in March, after serving as the co-founder and CEO of software company Evocalize. Prior to that, he was the former general manager at Amazon Payments Merchant Solutions unit
Online powerhouse among retailers looking to buy American Apparel
A few familiar retail names are reportedly in discussions to buy American Apparel. Amazon and Forever 21 are among the companies in talks with the bankrupt manufacturing and retail company and its advisors about submitting offers ahead of a deadline on Friday, Reuters reported.

Utah mall has replacement lined up for closing Macy’s

CBL announced that it has a replacement anchor lined up for the Macy’s store closing at its Layton Hills Mall in Utah, one of 63 Macy’s locations slated to be shuttered this spring. One other Utah Macy’s is scheduled to close at Cottonwood Mall in Salt Lake City.
Gymboree transitions to mobile POS

As it creates new brick-and-mortar formats, Gymboree went in search of a flexible point-of-sale system. Now it has one. The children’s specialty chain added a mobile POS system from Aptos — a move that enables store associates to engage shoppers throughout their store visit. Associates use the mobile devices to process secure transactions, manage inventory, and access order information — without ever leaving the customer’s side.
The 25 people shaping retail’s future are…

A 12-year-old CEO is among the 25 individuals named to the National Retail Foundation’s 2017 List of People Shaping Retail’s Future. Mikaila Ulmer, founder and CEO of Me & The Bees Lemonade http://gala.nrf.com/the-list-2017#MIKAILA-ULMER, is the youngest of the list’s honorees, all of whom will be recognized at the NRF Foundation Gala on January 15 during the NRF Big Show in New York City.
Finding a New Outlet

New retailers and new consumers (read: millennials) are discovering value retail, and that means more outlet centers in more locales in more different configurations.
ON THE LEVEL with Al Urbanski

Oculus Populi: The mall at the center of the World Trade Center
Project Profiles

Seaport District

Location: Lower Manhattan, New York, N.Y.

Size: The transformed Seaport District will encompass seven buildings on several blocks totaling more than 400,000 sq. ft.

Developer: The Howard Hughes Corporation

Key tenants: iPic Theaters, 10 Corso Como, Scotch & Soda

Status: Pier 17, the property at the center of the Seaport’s development plan, is set to open next year.
Northeastern Exposure

Packed and bursting with opportunities
Ground-up projects are hard to come by here, but shopping center innovation and new retailers are not
Density and diversity. The two D’s. That, in short, is what sums up the Northeast market for retailers. It’s the place where chains with national expansion plans or new formats to test need to be.
Shop Talk

TRENDING STORES: Two Canadian brands are dropping anchor in the United States. Health and beauty retailer Saje Natural Wellness, which operates 45 locations up north, will open two stores in the Los Angeles area by year end. Another 25 stores are on tap for 2017. Featuring natural wellness, personal and home care products and accessories, Saje stores are open, light and airy, with a high level of design. The Saje store at Toronto’s Sherway Gardens features a 30-foot Italian tile façade.
Innovation in Spotlight at X/SPECS

Innovation is today’s buzzword. And it was all the talk at Chain Store Age’s X/SPECS 2016, as key executives from some of the nation’s leading retail and restaurant chains zeroed in on real-world strategies designed to innovate stores and elevate customer experiences.
Five Design Ideas for Safety

There is little doubt the public’s fear about safety has been heightened. In fact, the news these days is saturated with danger signals. Some people feel the threat of public spaces more acutely than others.
Having been trapped in a building two blocks from ground zero on 9/11, I myself have become hyperaware. I’ve devoted a lot of thought to how we can make shoppers feel more secure in the spaces we design so that they will be drawn to a store, be comfortable staying, and finally, lose themselves in the experience and want to return another day.