eCommerce

City Of Commerce, Calif. — 99 Cents Only has announced the opening of two new stores. The retailer will open an 18,960o-sq.-ft. store in McAllen, Texas, and an 11,685-sq.-ft. store in Laveen, Ariz. The grand opening of each store will feature the sale of Westinghouse Flat Screen TVs for only 99 cents each to the first nine customers in line to visit the store.

Both stores will feature a perishable food department, including produce, dairy and frozen foods.
 

Forever 21 has unveiled Bats & Cats, a limited edition collection of women’s and men’s apparel and accessories designed by Forever 21. The collection features 63 current pieces modeled by Atlanta de Cadenet Taylor, model, DJ and daughter of Duran Duran bassist John Taylor.

Sales at Indianapolis-based athletic footwear and apparel retailer Finish Line grew 13.3% to $436 million and earnings per share increase 10.2% to 54 cents, nine cents better than analysts forecast for the period ended August 31.

Company chairman and CEO Glenn Lyon characterized the performance as solid, and credited a 0.9% comp increase and expense control for profit growth.

Atlanta – The Home Depot, Inc. reportedly expanding the national rollout of Redbeacon, its online handyman referral service. According to Bloomberg, Home Depot is making Redbeacon, which connects customers online to home repair professionals, in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah, Montana, and Alaska.

Home Depot now offers Redbeacon in 11 states and plans to roll out the service in additional states during the next two years. The retailer acquired Redbeacon, which was founded by three former Home Depot employees, in 2012.

Mobile retail apps are nothing new, but retailers are constantly adding new features and functions that maximize their reach and value. Here’s a brief look at five cool mobile retail apps that have all been launched or piloted in the past few months:

Amazon.com Mobile Associates API

Columbus, Ohio — DSW Inc., Designer Show Warehouse has announced two new store openings, one in Baltimore, and another in Lafayette, La.

DSW operates 385 stores in 42 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

Single Touch Systems, a technology based mobile media solutions provider, has announced that its mobile messaging volume, which is a key business metric that drives revenues, has been growing at an increasingly accelerated pace.

Single Touch generates a portion of its operating business revenues by sending SMS text messages including reminder messages to customers of some of the largest retailers in the U.S. and U.K. Each message sent generates incremental revenues for Single Touch.

Lake Charles, La. – Club Tabby, a tween girls retail party store concept, has partnered with California-based franchise development group Franchise Beacon to open a location in Willow Grove, Pa.

Franchisee Nicole Collado said she plans to open two more Club Tabby stores in the next five years.

“I fell in love with the concept,” Collado said.

Club Tabby hosts parties, does makeovers, and offer retail products that focus on making girls feel pampered and special.