eCommerce

New York -- Uniqlo is coming to Boston.

The Japanese fast-fashion retailer will open its first permanent store in the city, a two-level, 12,000-sq.-ft. flagship in Faneuil Hall Marketplace in October.

In a nod to its surroundings, the store will feature heavy earth tones, wood, and brick with the original walls of the structure exposed. Open ceilings will highlight the building’s original wood trusses.

The pace of store closings at Office Depot is accelerating and employee retention costs are rising as the retailer maintains that its merger with Staples will close by year end.

“Now Trending” is a new exclusive online series to chainstoreage.com, featuring trending topics that impact the retail real estate landscape.

In recent years, a very old practice has gotten some new attention: design is once again ascendant in the world of commercial development.

While design never went away, of course, the degree to which great design is being prioritized, cultivated and integrated into the development of memorable spaces and places is noteworthy.

Hangzhou, China – Alibaba Holding Group Inc. is tapping a former longtime partner at Goldman Sachs to oversee the online giant’s international growth.

Michael Evans, who is also a member of the Alibaba board, has been named president of Alibaba Group, effective immediately.

Greenwich, Conn. -- Starwood Retail Partners, the retail operating platform formed by Starwood Capital Group, announced that it has named Angela Aman CFO, effective Aug. 10. Aman brings more than a decade of experience as a financial executive to her newly created position, including having spent the last four years as CFO and treasurer of Retail Properties of America, Inc.

Aman will be responsible for strategic planning, implementing and management of all accounting and financial functions, as well as investor relations and partner reporting.

With second-quarter net revenues up 7.4% to $37.2 billion, CVS Health shows no signs of slowing down.

Grand Rapids, Mich. -- Meijer is on the move in Wisconsin.  

Continuing an estimated $750 million investment in Wisconsin, Meijer on Tuesday opened two more superstores in the state. The retailer announced plans to open two to three new Wisconsin locations per year through 2019.

Meijer, which now operates 222 stores, entered Wisconsin just six weeks ago, with two stores. The retailer traditionally focused its growth on five states: Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky.

The options for consumers who dread the store checkout lane are exploding now that fast growing Instacart is on a hiring spree and competitor Deliv says it will be expanding into more than 100 cities.