Retail

Atlanta - InReality, a customer experience strategy and design firm, is offering a retail customer experience measurement tool called Reality Gap Analysis. Reality Gap Analysis delivers a quantifiable assessment of the gaps between a brand's self-perception and a customer's reality.

Plano, Texas – Rent-A-Center Inc. reported declining net earnings for first quarter 2014, even as revenues slightly grew. The company said it plans to optimize its U.S. store footprint by consolidating about 150 stores into existing stores by the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2014.

Net earnings fell 37% to $28.9 million from $46.1 million, while total revenues increased 1.8% to $833.7 million from $819.3 million. Same-store sales dropped 0.8%.

New York -- E-commerce company Birchbox, which provides subscribers with monthly boxes of personalized beauty products for a monthly fee, has launched managed fulfillment operations and small parcel management with third party logistics provider OHL. The new fulfillment center is located in Mount Juliet, Tenn., providing a more centralized location and faster transit times for Birchbox customers across the U.S.

New York – Nine basic attack patterns that vary from industry to industry are the source of 92% of the 100,000 security incidents analyzed by Verizon since 2004.

Back in October, I commemorated my six-month anniversary as technology editor of Chain Store Age with a column looking at how retail IT has been disrupted in recent years. Now that I have a full year under my belt, I thought it would be interesting to look at how customer expectations of retail IT have been disrupted in recent years (and don’t worry, there will be no 18-month anniversary piece). Three paradigm-shifting changes in how retailers must now engage with customers using technology stand out.

Every Man is an Island

Atlanta — Simon Property Group has announced a series of improvements for Phipps Plaza in Atlanta’s fashionable Buckhead district.

The first improvement will make over the interior with a fresh new look. Plans include upgraded LED lighting, repainting, new warm wood accents, an updated railing system, luxury soft seating and lounging areas with Wi-Fi connectivity and chargers, upgraded restrooms and the installation of a hotel-like concierge service center.

New York – Online wedding registry Zola is launching an iPhone app, which will allow couples to create and manage their Zola registry from anywhere. With the Zola app, couples will be able to create and edit their registries while on the go, scan any product onto their registry using the barcode scanner, and use app-exclusive features like Blender, which allows them to browse the entire Zola selection, one at a time, swiping right to add to their registry or left to pass.

Oak Brook, Ill. — Inland Real Estate Income Trust has acquired two shopping centers in Texas, and Florida, in separate transactions: Mansfield Pointe Shopping Center in Mansfield, Texas, and North Hills Square Shopping Center in Coral Springs, Fla.

IREIT acquired the 148,529-sq.-ft. Mansfield Pointe for $28.4 million and the 63,829-sq.-ft. North Hills Square Shopping Center for $11.05 million.