Consumer Electronics

Cranston, R.I. -- Boston-based The Wilder Cos. said that LA Fitness will make its Rhode Island state debut at Garden City Center, located in Cranston.

The 38,000-sq.-ft., two-level facility will be located next to Office Max; a former Borders will be demolished to make way for LA Fitness.

Construction will begin in January 2013 with a late December 2013 or early 2014 opening set.

New York -- A new, kids-only sports store in Manhattan, Rookie USA, is utilizing the latest in innovative HD projection and audio-visual technology to engage shoppers.

Orlando, Fla. -- IBM announced Thursday at its Smarter Commerce Global Summit that RadioShack Corp. is working with IBM's cloud-based solutions to improve price image and pricing operations over the entire pricing lifecycle.

The solutions being used by RadioShack are part of IBM's cloud-based merchandising analytics software and services, which help companies define the optimal price points and product mix based on customer buying trends.

Walmart this week modified a layaway program that had yet to begin after Toys "R" Us said it wouldn’t charge a service fee and lifted minimum purchase requirements for its program.

The layaway saga began in late August when Walmart said the start date of its layaway program would begin on September 16, a month earlier than the prior year. Curiously, Walmart also said at that time the fee to open a layaway account would increase to $15 from $5 the prior year.

Beaumont, Texas -- Conn's Inc. posted a better-than-expected a second-quarter profit of $11.6 million, compared with a loss of $3.1 million in the year-ago period. The company also raised its full-year profit forecast for the third time.

Conn’s said revenue rose 10.9% to $207.4 million. Same-store sales rose 21.5% for the quarter, fueled by a 57.5% rise in same-store sales of furniture and mattresses.

Virginia Beach, Va. -- Divaris Real Estate said that the company completed eight lease transactions totaling more than 81,000 sq. ft. of retail space in central Virginia.

Children’s Museum of Richmond leased 26,060 sq. ft. of retail space in the Divaris-leased Winterpock Crossing Shopping Center, located in Midlothian, Va.

K&G Menswear signed a lease for 22,888 sq. ft. of retail space in White Oak Village, located in Richmond and owned by Forest City Commercial Group.

Washington, D.C. -- Shop.org, the digital division of the National Retail Federation, on Tuesday announced the addition of new executives to its board of directors and welcomed back three incumbents.

FORT WORTH, Texas and SAN DIEGO — RadioShack has partnered with Cricket Communications to offer a line of no-contract wireless phones at its stores nationwide.

The RadioShack no-contract wireless line-up will include some of the hottest smartphones on the market as well as a well-equipped feature phone, offering all the connectivity, productivity and entertainment consumers are looking for in a mobile device, the company said.