Department Store

Jim Crowcroft, VP market development, TCP Inc., Aurora, Ohio, [email protected].

With 'intelligent design' emerging as yet another buzz phrase in an industry full of them, Chain Store Age talked with Jim Crowcroft about how TCP incorporates smart design into its lighting products and projects, as well as what hot lighting trends he is seeing for 2013.

What do you see as the main elements of intelligent lighting design?

Minneapolis -- A Friday report by Bloomberg said that coffee purveyor Caribou Coffee has lost interest in opening shops inside J.C. Penney Co. stores.

The revelation comes just six months after Penney CEO Ron Johnson announced Caribou Coffee as a potential partner.

Caribou CEO Mike Tattersfield said in a Friday emailed statement that the company “does not have plans to move forward with a partnership at this time.” Tattersfield has not elaborated on the reasons for the change of heart.

Is it just me, or does it seem like the past two months or so have seen an unusually high level of turnover at the top? It's gotten so that you need a scorecard to keep up with all the comings and goings, as chief executives are forced out, jump ship, retire or move on.

This year's changing of the guard is bittersweet because it includes the retirement of two veteran retailers, Steve Burd of Safeway and Maxine Clark of Build-A-Bear Workshop.

NEW YORK — Walmart was the only traditional retailer to be named to marketing firm Ipsos' Most Influential Brands of the United States list.

Amazon and Ebay also made the list, which included such companies as Apple, Facebook, Visa and Procter & Gamble. Topping the list was Google.

Conviction records must be weighed with caution under new EEOC guidelines

The use of criminal background checks by employers is being closely watched.

St. Louis -- Brown Shoe Co. reported Friday that net income of the fourth quarter was $4 million, compared with a loss of $8.2 million in the year-ago period.

Sales rose to $640.2 million from $628.9 million.

For full year 2012, profit edged up to $27.5 million from $24.6 million. Sales increased to $2.59 billion from $2.58 billion.

SARASOTA, Fla. — Saks Fifth Avenue has revealed more details about its new two-level, 80,000 sq. ft. store in The Mall at University Town Center in Sarasota, Fla., which is presently under construction at the intersection of I-75 and University Parkway. The Mall at University Town Center is being co-developed by Taubman Centers and Benderson Development and is scheduled to open Oct. 16, 2014.

From mobile wallets to QR codes to apps, Macy's is making all the right moves

Mobility is sure to play an increasingly important role in Macy's omnichannel future, both in commerce and marketing. But don't look for the company to take a cookie-cutter approach.