Consumer Electronics

Specialty retailer Batteries Plus Bulbs is doubling down on its existing device repair business with plans to have the service in more than 650 stores by yearend.

Since August of last year, device repair was being tested in 40 markets nationwide and had grown to 275 stores, however the popularity of the service among consumers combined with the surging popularity of smartphones, iPods, tablets and other devices prompted the decision to expand the service to all stores, according to the company.

Amazon has thrown its hat into the smartphone ring. At an event in its hometown of Seattle, the online retailer unveiled Fire, the first smartphone it has ever designed.

In a marketplace that’s already crowded with the latest iPhones, Andriods and Blackberrys, Amazon has invested in two new technologies — Dynamic Perspective and Firefly — that make Fire a compelling product that won’t get lost in the mix.  

The Mayday button customer service feature Amazon introduced on its Kindle Fire HDX product last fall boasts an average response time of less than 10 seconds, roughly the time it takes other organizations’ automatic voice response system to say, “your call is very important to us….”

Nearly two months after opening up a specialty retail location in New York’s SoHo neighborhood, Under Armour has confirmed that it plans to open in March 2015 its latest Brand House at 600 North Michigan Ave. in Chicago’s Magnificent Mile.

Late last week, Retailing Today reported the GNC CFO Mike Nuzzo had resigned his position to accept a role at a private equity-funded consumer products company. Today, 4moms, a special-purpose robotics company that makes high tech baby gear, confirmed that it has appointed Nuzzo as chief administrative officer and EVP of business development.

Chicago -- Chile is the number one destination for emerging market retail expansion, followed by China, where retail sales totaled a whopping $3.7 trillion in 2013, according to the 2014 A.T. Kearney Global Retail Development Index.

With Uruguay, Brazil, Peru, Panama, Colombia, Costa Rica and Mexico also in the index of top emerging economies ready for retail expansion, Latin America continues to show strength as a regional retail growth market.

Los Angeles — Most consumers will spend less than $250 for Father’s Day this year. Results of the PriceGrabber Father’s Day survey reveal that half of 3,949 U.S. consumers surveyed plan to budget less than $100 on gifts this year and 25% plan to spend between $100 and $249.