Consumer Electronics

Direct store delivery (DSD), which involves shipping products directly to stores from suppliers and bypassing the retailer’s warehouse or fulfillment center, is not a new idea.

However, several industry developments have made DSD a more attractive and feasible option in many instances. Here are three reasons for a retailer to consider launching a DSD program.

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Barnes & Noble produced a same-store sales increase in its third quarter which, although meager, is an impressive accomplishment given intense competition from Amazon. In announcing its results on Thursday, the company also revealed that it will open four new prototype stores in its current fiscal year. The first is expected to open sometime this summer.

A&G Realty Partners has been retained by The Sports Authority to manage the sale of retail store leases and assist in reducing the retailer’s occupancy costs following its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

A&G Realty is currently accepting bids on the leases, which range from 10,000 to 75,000 sq. ft. and are located in many of the major retail markets in the country including prestigious locations in California, Florida, Puerto Rico and Texas. The auction will take place in mid-April

Product discovery is not a game, and GameStop Corp. is using a newly expanded ship from store program to bring goods as close to its customers as possible.

“We discovered 66% of our total unique SKUs were only represented on our store shelves, not in the warehouse,” Jason Allen, VP of multichannel operations for Grapevine, Texas-based GameStop told Chain Store Age in an interview. “Unless the customer came in a particular store that had that product on the shelf, there was no discovery.”

The expanded Disney Springs (formerly called Downtown Disney) center in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., unveiled 30 new retail tenants that will be moving in when the project is completed.

Phillips Edison Grocery Center REIT II announced the strategic acquisitions of four grocery-anchored shopping centers in Colorado, Florida and California.

Sports Authority Inc., which is reportedly preparing to file for bankruptcy, has discussed selling stores and intellectual property to rival chain Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. and other parties, according to Bloomberg.

Sports Authority, once the largest sporting-goods retailer in the U.S., is heading toward default after years of losing ground to competitors. The Englewood, Colorado-based chain missed a Jan. 15 interest payment on some of its debt and failed to make the payment during a 30-day grace period.

Hanford, Calif. – Passco Companies announced four leases at Hanford Mall located in Hanford, California. Set to open summer 2016, the new retailers include Buffalo Wild Wings, Five Guys, Dunkin Donuts, and Pieology.