Mass Merchant

Philadelphia -- Ulta Beauty will open a flagship in Philadelphia on Rittenhouse Row in the Center City district. The store will be the beauty retailer’s first location in Center City.

“Ulta will open an exciting three level store much like its only other signature urban store in Chicago,” said Steve O’Malley, partner at Fameco Real Estate, who represented the retailer in the transaction.

Palo Alto, Calif. — Shopkick has been named by the World Economic Forum as one of the world’s most innovative technology startups for 2013. Shopkick is one of two mobile companies selected worldwide.

Previously honored companies include Twitter, Dropbox, Wikipedia, Palantir, Bloom Energy and Google.

MINNEAPOLIS — Richard Schulze has moved one step closer to achieving his goal of acquiring Best Buy. The company has agreed to let its founder and former chairman access to certain due diligence information and form an invesment group so that he may continue his efforts to attempt to buy the company.

By Jordan Socran, [email protected]

By Jim Porçarelli, Active International

It’s an all-too-familiar sight these days. A man walks into a local retail establishment. He browses the products. He finds one he likes. He tests it out, asks a few questions of a salesperson -- and then snaps an image of the product’s barcode with his cell phone and walks out the door.

York, Pa. -- The Bon-Ton Stores Inc. said that it plans to close its Carson's store in the River Oaks Mall in Calumet City, Ill., when the lease expires in January. 

The department store company said doesn't expect costs tied to the closing to be material.

Bon Ton received the leasehold interests in the store as part of its Northern Department Store Group acquisition in 2006.
 

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Meijer will double match every customer's $10 Simply Give donation made Sept. 2 to 8 in support of Hunger Action Month.

The Simply Give Week double match is part of a $1 million donation to the retailer's 2012 Simply Give program, which aims to replenish the shelves of nearly 200 food pantries in its five-state region each campaign.

Teen apparel retailer Delia's has debuted a new prototype at Providence Place Mall, in Providence, R.I. The store has a stylish, youthful vibe that reflects its core customer. The design met objectives to increase floor and wall fixture capacity and reduce overall store size while maintaining brand identification.
 
Shremshock Architects & Engineers, Westerville, Ohio, provided design, purchasing and construction management for Delia's store redesign in collaboration with Asset Strategies Group, also based in Westerville, Ohio.