Department Store

It won’t help you find Pikachu, but a new mobile tool from Macy’s will assist shoppers in navigating the store.   The department store retailer is piloting “Macy’s On Call,” a solution that lets in-store customers use their mobile phones to interact with an artificial intelligence (AI) platform powered by IBM Watson. The Satisfi intelligent engagement platform provides the connection between the mobile tool and the Watson platform.  

Mall of America is using leading-edge technology to enhance the on- and offsite customer experience.   The Bloomington, Minnesota-based center is the latest retail participant to adopt virtual reality (VR) technology. A new, VR-based immersive experience allows customers to “see” retail, entertainment and live events within the mall.  

Cushman & Wakefield’s senior director for Brooklyn Joseph Cirone is incredibly bullish on the borough in which he lives and works.    “If you are a tenant in Manhattan with a lease expiring any time in the next 36 months, you need to come and kick the tires in Brooklyn,” Cirone told attendees at a presentation of the company’s mid-year commercial real estate outlook for Manhattan.   

A familiar chain has been named the most powerful retail brand of 2016.   According to the 2016 Top 100 Most Powerful Brands report from brand marketing firm Tenet Partners, Barnes & Nobile is the most powerful retail brand, and 32nd most powerful brand overall, of the year. This is the second straight year Barnes & Noble ranked highest among retailers.  

The multi-million dollar redevelopment of one of Times Square’s  most iconic buildings — the former home of the Toys “R” Us flagship and future home of Gap and Old Navy flagships — is well underway.   

Target Corp. is expanding its portfolio of smaller stores.

The chain expects to roll out 14 more of its smaller stores this year, including a 21,000-sq.-ft. location in the Queens borough of New York City, which is opening this week, according the New York Post.

When it comes to shopping via mobile app, consumers favor one retailer above all others.   Not too surprisingly, Amazon.com’s general dominance of digital retailing extends to the mobile app arena. According to new data from SurveyMonkey Intelligence, Amazon has more than 30 million monthly active users (MAU) of its mobile app in the U.S. This means about one in 10 Americans uses the Amazon app every month.  

Parents making back-to-school purchases are willing to open their wallets, if the price is right.   That’s according to a new study from digital savings platform RetailMeNot Inc., "Back-to-School Cheat Sheet: Consumer Trends and Insights for Retailers," back-to-school shoppers plan to spend an average of $273 per child, up from their anticipated spending of $246 in 2015.