Mass Merchant

While we wait for all of the official numbers to come in from the 2013 holiday shopping season — a topic I’ll address in a future column — I thought this might be a good time to expand on one of the points I made about retail downsizing in my 2014 forecast piece.

As the clicks and bricks went head-to-head in retail’s all-important holiday season, the “clicks” had already won the 2013 race to build new warehouse and distribution facilities. Winning the overall retail race is quickly becoming about being first from dock to doorstep and satiating customer’s hunger for insta-delivery. This means having the right infrastructure, particularly supporting facilities, in place.

From online social sharing to location-based targeting to new payment technologies, the retail experience is being upended and disrupted in ways big and small. Ten companies are leading the charge.

Seattle -- Nordstrom announced today plans to open a Nordstrom Rack at The Shops at SkyView Center in Queens, N.Y., and another at Lake Brandson Plaza, Brandon, Fla. Both stores are scheduled to open in fall 2014.

Nordstrom Rack is set to open its first Brooklyn, N.Y., location on Fulton Street in spring 2014 followed by a second location at the Gateway Center in Brooklyn, in the fall. When it opens, The Shops at SkyView Center Nordstrom Rack will be the company's first Queens location.

By Jay Henderson, Global Strategy Director, IBM Smarter Commerce

New York -- Uniqlo will continue its expansion in the United States by opening five stores this spring/summer, including its first-ever location in the greater Philadelphia metropolitan area.
 
The five new Uniqlo stores scheduled to open in spring/summer are:

Chicago — Cole Real Estate has purchased Darien Towne Centre in Darien, Ill., for $22.25 million, according to Transwestern’s Chicago office, which brokered the transaction on behalf of the seller, RPAI.

Cole has the ability to expand the 177,002-sq.-ft. center, which was developed in 1994, by up to 12,000 sq. ft.

Home Depot anchors Darien Towne Center, and a Wal-Mart Supercenter shadow-anchors. National tenants include PetSmart, O’Reilly Automotive, TGI Friday’s, Great Clips, Jenny Craig and Sally Beauty Supply.

Indianapolis -- For the third fiscal quarter of 2014, Hhgregg estimates net sales to be approximately $707.1 million, a decrease of approximately 11.6% as compared to net sales of $799.6 million reported for the third fiscal quarter of 2013.