Department Store

Chain Store Age’s annual search for 10 retail real estate stars under the age of 40 years resulted in this: Ten youthful, creative, hard-charging industry executives.

Some are retailers, others are brokers or from shopping center companies. Three are women. One is under the age of 30. There’s a single Canadian in the bunch. Two work for CBRE. Each has studied the business, sought out mentors, and researched and taken on the issues of the day.

The recent Momentum 2016 conference held by Manhattan Associates in Orlando, Florida, was a great opportunity to catch up on the latest developments in supply chain solutions and strategies.   Here are three especially important retail supply chain trends uncovered and explained at the event:   Supply chain is key to omnichannel

New-build shopping center construction was plodding last year — discounting the outlet category, which continues to grow at record speed. And, yet, sometimes one has to look at the quality of what is coming out of the ground — or expanding — and not just the quantity.

Select Comfort continues to expand with the opening of its 500th Sleep Number store.

Located in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, the new location features the brand’s latest store design and experience, which is interactive and educational. It’s one of 50 net new stores the retailer plans to open in 2016.

In a program called LA25, Target Corp. is testing an array of new initiatives, ranging from sleeker apparel fixtures to dedicated service stations for online order pick-ups, at 25 locations in California. The retailer plans to spend $1 billion this year to spruce up its in-store shopping experience, with a portion of that being devoted to remodels, TheStreet reported.

Moving forward with its promise to streamline its business model, Gap Inc. said it plans to close its fleet of 53 Old Navy stores in Japan and also shutter some Banana Republic stores, primarily outside of North America.

The retailer announced the moves on Thursday in its first quarter results, which marked the chain's fifth straight quarter of lower revenue and profit. The company also said it would not reaffirm its earnings guidance for the fiscal year.

Nordstrom Inc. is known for providing the best customer experience, and is now applying that ethos to its customer loyalty program.

The department store retailer is expanding its Nordstrom Rewards loyalty program to allow members to earn benefits regardless of how they choose to pay for purchases across its store, outlet store or digital channels.

The Momentum 2016 conference held by Manhattan Associates May 15-17 in Orlando, Florida offered attendees plenty of insightful sessions and interesting information about how omnichannel commerce is affecting the supply chain. First, let’s review some data points shared by Brendan Witcher, principal analyst, e-business and channel strategy, Forrester Research: