Mass Merchant

Ten Target stores in the San Francisco area are experimenting with a new mobile shopping app called Curbside, which promises to deliver the next generation of commerce.

Curbside launched its mobile app this week to make finding, buying and getting the things shoppers need from their favorite local stores faster and easier than ever before, according to the company. Target is among the retailers whose stores are participating in the Curbside app.

Bentonville, Ark. – Walmart is expanding its role in health care. The retail giant is teaming up with DirectHealth.com, an online health insurance comparison site and agency, to set up counters in its stores where shoppers can speak with licensed agents about available health insurance options. Walmart’s expanding role in health care comes as drug store chains, including Walgreens and CVS, continue to beef up their own healthcare services.

New York -- Uniqlo celebrate the opening of its store at Roosevelt Field, Garden City, New York, on Oct. 3.

The Roosevelt Field store is the retailer’s ninth store in the state of New York, and its 32nd in the United States.

Uniqlo currently more than 1,400 stores in 16 markets worldwide. The company is a brand of Japan’s Fast Retailing Co, whose brands also include Comptoir des Cotonniers, GU, Helmut Lang, J Brand, Princesse tam.tam, Theory.

Dublin, Calif. -- Ross Dress for Less will open two new stores in Illinois on Oct. 11. The stores are located in Hickory Point Mall in Decatur and Times Square Mall in Mount Vernon.  

The new openings are part of the retailer’s 2014 expansion program, totaling approximately 75 new locations during the year.  

Together, Ross Dress for Less and dd’s Discounts currently operate over 1,300 off-price apparel and home fashion stores in 33 states, the District of Columbia and Guam.

New York -- By 2023, online grocery sales are projected to range between $80 billion and $123 billion according to statistics released by Steve Bishop of Brick Meets Click (BMC) in a presentation at The Food Institute webinar "Get In On The Growth of Online Shopping." If realized, at the middle of those two projections online grocery sales would exceed today's sales of the nation's largest supermarket chain, Kroger.

How well many retailers perform this holiday season in store and online will be determined by the shopping preferences of a demographic group that doesn’t typically get a lot of love from marketers.

Elmsford, N.Y. - Party City has promoted Gregg A. Melnick to the position of president of Party City Holdings, effective immediately. Party City Holdings is the parent company of the Party City Retail Group and Amscan Inc., among other entities.  

Most recently, Melnick was the president of the Party City Retail Group. Melnick will partner with all of the key department heads across both the retail and wholesale divisions to provide the leadership to strengthen the brands and create opportunities for greater collaboration.