Consumer Electronics

European consumers seem to be taking the adage, “buyer beware” very literally.

Unsure whether their online purchase will satisfy their needs until it actually arrives, 54% of shoppers reported they think about returning an item before they have even purchased it. And this mindset runs the gamut from decisions about apparel and electrical goods to home decor and furniture, according to “Making Money Out of Returns: The Essential Guide to Managing International Returns,” a report from fulfillment provider B2C Europe.

A 25-year-old outlet center in East Naples, Florida, is undergoing an extensive facelift and seeking new retail blood, according to Crossman & Company, which has just been signed as its leasing agent.

Once filled with shoppers, the Naples Outlet Center has dropped in recent years due to an economic downturn in the area, according the Naples Daily News.  In 2014, nearly half of its 40 stores were vacant.

Search engines are getting knocked down a peg when it comes to where consumers begin their online research.   More than two-thirds (67%) of shoppers now begin their online searches on a retail site, not a search engine, according to “Browsing & Buying Behavior by Category: 2016,” a report from HookLogic.   

Coming to the local mall — Amazon?
 
Amazon plans to open dozens of pop-up stores in malls across the nation, according to Business Insider.
 
The temporary stores, whose total could reach 100 next year, will showcase and sell the company's devices, particularly its Echo home speaker, the report said.
   

The man who founded the Crazy Eddie consumer electronics chain has died at the age of 68.   Eddie Antar grew his company from one location in Brooklyn, New York, to the largest electronics retailer in the New York metro area in the 1980s, with 43 stores in four states.  The chain gained national fame for its television commercials which featured a maniacal-looking pitchman (which many people mistakenly took to be Antar) screaming at the end of the spot that Crazy Eddie’s prices were  “insane.”  

Apple Pay is extending its reach.   There is plenty of buzz around this week’s introduction of iPhone 7, from a redesigned high-definition display and cameras to non-existent home buttons and headphone jacks. Where the rubber meets the road however, is that the new phone will give shoppers in Japan the opportunity to use Apple Pay.  

Construction has begun on a 240,000-sq.-ft expansion of the Staten Island Mall, the largest shopping center in the New York City borough.   The multi-phase project will take two years to complete, and will add some 75,000 sq. ft. of space to Macy’s plus 40,000 sq. ft. for a new Dave & Busters and a 12-option food court. A new wing with a three-level parking deck is destined for one side of the General Growth Properties mall.  

It was already generating $700 per square foot in revenue, but Broadway Plaza in San Francisco’s East Bay got a complete makeover from owner Macerich that was unveiled last week. Fireworks and a performance by Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray accompanied the ribbon-cutting.   Gross leasing area was expanded to beyond 900,000 sq. ft. and more than 50 new stores inhabit the open-air center that debuted in 1951. Nordstrom, Neiman-Marcus, and Macy’s anchor the plaza that Macerich has owned for the last 30 years.