Mass Merchant

Grand Rapids, Mich. -- Meijer on Thursday will unveil its newest concept, Meijer Marketplace, opening a store in Melrose Park, Ill.

At 90,000 sq. ft., the new store will be nearly half the size of Meijer's largest supercenters. The smaller-format store, described as a "mini" supercenter concept, will focus on providing local customers with a tailored grocery shopping experience with fresh quality meats and produce, as well as a wide variety of deli, bakery and pantry items.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Best Buy, Sears and Target ranked as the top three cross-channel performers in a study by CrossView, a provider of cross-channel commerce solutions. The study, which examined the cross-channel capabilities of 25 top retailers, found that a majority of retailers are providing an unsatisfactory cross-channel experience. 

Highlights of the study, which is due to be released Aug. 30, include:

• Only 12% of studied retailers could access a customer’s pending web order in store;

Oxnard, Calif. -- Centro Properties Group US announced that Dick’s Sporting Goods will open a new 44,166-sq.-ft. store at Esplanade Shopping Center, located in Oxnard, Calif.

Esplanade Shopping Center is owned by Centro Properties, based in New York City.

 

When Washington, D.C.-based Madison Marquette took over the leasing and management duties for Granite Run Mall, located in Media, Pa., near Philadelphia, it launched an innovative program for soliciting shopper feedback.

Wayne, N.J. -- Toys “R” Us is on track to open 21 stores across 13 states by yearend, including 11 “R” Superstores and 10 “Side-by-Side” locations. (The “R” format combines full-size Toys “R” Us and Babies “R” Us stores under one roof.)

The new reflect the company’s strategy to bring Toys “R” Us and Babies “R” Us together under one roof in an integrated store format, providing customers with a streamlined shopping environment.

Cape Town, South Africa -- A Tuesday report by Bloomberg said that Shoprite Holdings Ltd. has announced plans to speed up its store expansion this year as it faces increased competition from Wal-Mart Stores.

South Africa’s largest retailer by market value, Shoprite said it will add 106 stores by June 2012. That compares with 96 openings in the same period last year. The company currently operates 1,246 stores.

Seattle – Guess said Tuesday that it will open a new store in November at Pacific Place shopping center, in downtown Seattle.

The shop will open on level 2 between Club Monaco and bebe and is one of three new store openings within a few months of each other at Pacific Place, which includes Kate Spade New York and Clarks, as well as a major remodel for Victoria’s Secret and the opening of its Pink boutique.

Talk about visibility. Target went way beyond the norm in the retail industry earlier this year when it said that within six or seven years sales would reach $100 billion and earnings per share would double to at least $8. Expressing such a long term outlook is not without considerable risk, chief among them is the rapid pace of change in the retail industry and the fact that the competitive landscape and the factors influencing consumer demand could look very different within six or seven years.