Consumer Electronics

Austin, Texas – Retailers should love the latest predictions for consumer spending on the upcoming Valentine’s Day holiday. According to a recent survey of about 1,000 U.S. adults by digital offers destination RetailMeNot, those surveyed who are in relationships are planning to spend an average of $148 on their significant other, up 30% from $114 in 2014.

Long Beach, Calif. – Epson has introduced two new OmniLink i-Series smart printers to meet the growing demand for cost-effective, reliable peripheral connectivity in the mobile and tablet POS environments. With Epson’s innovative ePOS-Device technology, Epson's OmniLink i-Series enables retailers to easily add peripheral devices to tablet POS systems, while protecting their legacy peripheral investments. The TM-T88V-i features four USB ports and one serial port, while the TM-T20II-i can accommodate up to three devices.

Minneapolis — Target Corp. is opening 15 stores this year, with an emphasis on its smaller-sized TargetExpress format as it looks to further reach guests in urban centers. The discounter will open eight TargetExpress locations, one CityTarget and six general merchandise stores.

Target stated that its strategic store growth is focused on reaching guests in urban centers with new formats like TargetExpress and CityTarget, while also offering new experiences, merchandising layouts and innovations in its general merchandise stores.

Fort Worth, Texas – Hedge fund Standard General LP is reportedly arranging to act as the lead “stalking horse” bidder for troubled electronics retailer RadioShack Corp. According to the Wall Street Journal, Standard General, which is RadioShack’s largest shareholder and has already provided financing that allowed RadioShack to operate through 2014, is currently negotiating a stalking horse deal with the company.

Customers who are fans of the wildly popular video game Evolve will love GameStop’s new promotions, both online and in-store.

The video game retailer will be conducting consumer engagement quizzes in-store and online that allow fans to identify the best Evolve hunters or monsters based on their personal play style. Fans who share their results on social media will be eligible to win GameStop gift cards.

Customers can pre-order Evolve and sign up for the promotions in-store or online.

New York -- Solais Lighting, a division of PowerSecure Int., said that its Xi24 LED fixtures featuring the company’s VioLight color-enhancing technology were selected as the lighting product of record by watch and lifestyle company Fossil.

“We love the crisp, clear way that VioLight [fixtures] light our space, produce a sharper visual and make our product pop,” said Amanda Ceja, procurement manager, store design & development for Fossil, which operates over 260 stores throughout North America.

After seeing Apple’s first quarter sales, it’s no wonder more retailers are adopting a mobile-first mindset.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based company reported a far better-than-expected 29.5% jump in quarterly revenue, driven by record sales of the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus smartphones in the holiday shopping season and strong sales in China.

Indianapolis – Hhgregg Inc. had a difficult third quarter of fiscal 2015, swinging to a loss from a profit the prior year period and missing Wall Street expectations for both profit and revenue. The retailer posted a net loss of $86.9 million compared to net income of $5.05 million, which was a wider loss than projected by analysts.