eCommerce

Wayne, N.J. -- Toys “R” Us is updating its in-store shopping experience and expanding its omnichannel initiatives for its more important selling season. The retailer detailed its plans on Thursday at a special holiday preview event in New York City.

Starting in October, Toys “R” Us will expand and enhance product categories that have experienced sales growth over the past few years, notably education, tablets and construction, while reducing the space dedicated to areas that have underperformed over time.

Davenport, Iowa -- Von Maur Department Stores will open its first location in the Northeast, at Eastview Mall in Victor, N.Y., which is located just outside of Rochester. The two-level, 140,000-sq.-ft. store is scheduled to open on Oct. 26.

Located at the mall's former Bon Ton location, the store underwent a complete reconstruction by local contractor LaChase Construction to achieve Von Maur's signature exterior brick façade with arching entryways accented by a copper roof and cupolas.

El Segundo, Calif. -- JustFab, the online fashion subscription retailer, has opened a 3,000-sq.-ft. flagship at the Glendale Galleria, Glendale, Calif. It is the company’s first physical store.

“We have created the global leader in fashion subscription in just three short years and will now bring our customized shopping experience into physical stores to enable customers to touch and feel our products," said co-CEO Don Dom Ressler.

Pittsburgh — Dick’s Sporting Goods has announced the grand opening weekend of its new location in Oakwood Center in Gretna, La., beginning Sept. 13.

The Gretna location will be the retailer’s fifth store in Louisiana and its 530th nationwide.

Framingham, Mass. -- Staples plans to open a dedicated to e-commerce and engineering center in Seattle that will house teams responsible for driving major initiatives to enhance areas, including next generation digital platforms, personalization, and big-data. It will be the chain’s first office on the West Coast.

New York -- Washington, D.C., Mayor Vincent Gray vetoed a controversial bill that would have required Wal-Mart Stores and other large retailers to pay their employees at least $12.50 an hour. The bill applied only to retailers with stores of 75,000 sq. ft. or larger, at least $1 billion in annual sales and non-unionized workforces.

Mississauga, Ontario -- Target announced that an additional 44 store locations in Canada have been awarded LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certification. This means that all 68 newly launched Target locations have been awarded LEED certification, a first for a major retailer in Canada.

Target is pursuing LEED certification for all 124 stores scheduled to open in Canada this year through the LEED Volume Program, which streamlines the certification process for buildings in both Canada and the U.S.

Old Bridge, N.J. — The retail vacancy rate along central New Jersey’s major shopping corridors increased to 9.8% this summer, according to R.J. Brunelli & Co.’s 24th annual study of the central New Jersey market.

The disappointing upward spike follows a major decline from a 10-year high of 10.5% to 9.1% between 2011 and 2012. R.J. Brunelli attributed the change to growing closures of smaller ships overcoming progress in re-tenanting big-box spaces larger than 20,000 sq. ft.