Department Store

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — New research from Nielsen shows consumers will be practical and focused on value during the upcoming holiday season, which bodes well for Target as one on the nation’s leading toy retailers and top destination for gift givers.

Target’s website was among the 50 most heavily trafficked U.S. web properties during August, according to comScore Media Metrix. The online measurement service showed Target.com with 26.5 million unique visitors for the month, which earned it the 46th position on the list.

Chicago -- Meeting the needs of aging consumers offers retailers and brand marketers a major opportunity going forward, according to a new study by global management consulting firm A.T. Kearney.

Mature consumers form a worldwide market segment that spent $8 trillion in 2010 and will be spending $15 trillion annually by the end of this decade, the study estimated. Based on current worldwide demographic trajectories, in five years there will be more people over the age of 60 than under five; in 30 years, there will be more people over 60 than under 16.

CINCINNATI — While research groups are predicting various results for holiday spending, such retailers as Macy's Inc. are hoping that expectations for increased spending will prove to be right and are boosting seasonal hiring in preparation. Macy’s Inc. said it plans to hire approximately 78,000 seasonal associates for its Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s stores, call centers, distribution centers and online fulfillment centers nationwide for the 2011 holiday season.

Cincinnati -- Macy’s said it plans to hire approximately 78,000 seasonal associates for its Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s stores, call centers, distribution centers and online fulfillment centers nationwide for the 2011 holiday season. The total is up about 4% from the approximately 75,000 seasonal associates the chain hired last year.

“We expect additional hiring this year given the continued sales growth in our business – both in-store and online,” said Terry J. Lundgren, Macy’s, chairman, president and CEO.

Voorhees, N.J. -- Philadelphia-based Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust announced Thursday that the Rizzieri School for the Healing Arts has opened at Voorhees Town Center on the Town Center Boulevard.

The school is an expansion of the current Rizzieri Studio Salon and Rizzieri Aveda School for Beauty & Wellness.

New York City -- Apparel designer Yigal Azrouel will open its first freestanding store, for its Cut25 lower-priced, younger collection, in the Soho South area of Manhattan.

Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Retail Group arranged a lease at 129 Grand Street, between Broadway and Crosby Street, for the new store. The opening date hasn’t yet been announced.

 

New Rochelle, N.Y. -- Welco Realty, an X Team Partner, said it has arranged a lease representing Pier 1 Imports for Rego Center, in Queens, N.Y., for 8,500 sq. ft.

The firm represented both the landlord and tenant for leases at Bay Plaza Shopping Center, Bronx, N.Y., for 9,599 sq. ft. and at Summerhill Square, in East Brunswick, N.J., for 9,000 sq. ft.