Consumer Electronics

Amazon.com shoppers in the Midwest may be able to get a variety of goods a little quicker in the near future.

The e-tail giant plans to open two fulfillment centers in Edwardsville, Illinois, and create more than 1,000 full-time jobs between the facilities when they open. Amazon has an existing Illinois fulfillment center in Joliet where it currently employs 1,500 full-time employees, and also recently announced it will open a second Joliet facility that will create another 2,000 full-time jobs.

Five Below is expanding at a fast clip this year.

The extreme-value brand for pre-teens and teens will open its first store in Oklahoma, in Oklahoma City, on June 3, 2016.  

A second store Oklahoma, in Edmond, will open on June 24, 2016.

The Philadelphia-based chain is one of the fastest growing retailers in the country. It plans to open approximately 85 new stores in 2016, up from 71 stores in 2015.
 

A well-located, 30-year-old mall is about to undergo a major overhaul and add a much-needed shopping, dining and entertainment alternative in the Myrtle Beach marketplace.

According to Misuma Holdings and Peak Financial Partners, Myrtle Beach Mall will launch a full redevelopment in 2017.  

Sports Authority’s remaining 320 store leases will be auctioned in June.  

Retailers are always asking how they can increase the numbers of shoppers who visit and buy goods at their stores.   According to a study from store traffic and conversion measurement provider HeadCount, “In-store Traffic and Conversion Study: Retailers Find Keys to Impressive ROI,” the answer lies in combining data-driven coaching with analytics.  

Photo: Andrea Olshan, CEO of Olshan Properties

Supermarkets and fast-casual restaurant brands took the top positions in an annual ranking of customer experience.   Publix, Chick-fil-A, and H-E-B earned top three positions in Temkin Group’s 2017 Temkin Experience Ratings, a cross-industry benchmark of customer experience.     Publix had a score of 84%, closely followed by Chick-fil-A and H-E-B, which both scored 83% in the seventh annual rating.  

Best Buy Co. Inc. surpassed Wall Street expectations with rising profits and declining revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 2017, and CFO/CAO Sharon McCollam announced she will retire June 14.