Mass Merchant

Two of the nation’s largest retailers shared the No. 1 position in a ranking of the top U.S. retailers.    Walmart and Kroger Co. tied for first place (in the overall composite score) in Kantar Retail’s 2016 Retailer PoweRanking. The ranking is designed to identify the retailers currently setting the highest standards of performance as viewed by their trading partners, and to gain insight into what makes these retailers "best in class."  

Four years of construction in Miami’s Brickell financial district culminates on Thursday with the opening of a three-level, open-air retail center featuring the return of Saks Fifth Avenue to the city after a 30-year absence.  

Walmart’s $3.3 billion purchase of e-commerce startup jet.com has spurred a shakeup across the retail giant’s digital operations.      Exiting the chain are Fernando Madeira, president and CEO of Walmart.com, and Dianne Mills, senior VP of global e-commerce human resources. (As previously announced, Neil Ashe, president and CEO of global e-commerce, is also leaving).   

Online growth — and along with it, online market share — continues to accelerate.   The trajectory is so strong that sales are on pace to hit $440 billion in 2017, a leap from $395 billion expected in 2016, according to “U.S. Online Sales Forecast: Omni-Channel Retailing Challenged by Its Success,” a report from FTI Consulting.   

For every shopper that asks “Alexa, what are your holiday deals?,” Amazon now has answers.    The Internet giant has officially kicked off the holiday countdown with the launch of its Black Friday Deals Store and curated holiday gift guides, along with an array of other digital services geared to attract shoppers this shopping season.   

Zara, the trendy global fashion retailer, will soon assume a place between Macy’s and Nordstrom at the Cherry Hill Mall in suburban Philadelphia.   

Singles' Day, a festival that started in China some 20 years ago to celebrate being single, is fast approaching. And the country’s e-commerce giant is pulling out all the stops this year.   

DLC Management Corp.’s joint acquisition of 16 properties with DRA Advisors this month increased the square footage of its portfolio by 26% and its dollar value by 17%. DLC president and CEO Adam Ifshin aims to increase that dollar contribution in the years to come.    “We don’t buy value-add properties and baby-sit them,” he told Chain Store Age. “We come to them with a business plan and ask ourselves ‘How do we add value?’”