Retail

Columbus, Ohio – DSW Inc. opens three new stores April 3. The stores will be located in Reading, Pa., Olympia, Wash., and White Plains, N.Y.

DSW Rewards is a free loyalty program in which customers earn certificates toward future DSW purchases and receive special member-only offers. Customers can also participate in a Shoe Lover community on Facebook.

San Jose, Calif. -- EBay Enterprise, an EBay company, will open a new fulfillment center in Ontario, Canada, in second quarter 2014. The new 150,000-sq.-ft. facility will support client growth, including The Children’s Place, which recently signed a new multiyear agreement with EBay Enterprise.

New York -- Coming off a disappointing 2013, Toys “R” Us unveiled a strategic plan to position the company for profitable growth in the future. The plan includes improving its in-store and online shopping experience, simplifying promotions, cutting costs, more disciplined inventory management, and more omni-channel integration with stores. Significantly, it not include closing stores apart from those involving standard lease expirations, top company executives said during a media presentation on Tuesday at the chain’s flagship in Times Square.

Duluth, Minn. -- Ascena Retail Group, parent to the Maurices, DressBarn and Lane Bryant banners, announced the 900th Maurices store opening. The Fresno, Calif., store will officially open later this month, joining 899 other stores in the U.S. and Canada.

Maurices will open 60 new stores by the end of its fiscal year in July 2014. In addition to new store openings, Maurices is remodeling or expanding 80 stores this year.  

The company's long-term goal is to reach over 1,200 stores domestically and 100 stores in Canada.

Dallas — Dickey’s Barbecue will open seven new locations this week — in Kent, Wash.; Richland, Miss.; Vienna, Va.; Colorado Springs, Colo.; Clinton Township, Mich.; Yonkers, N.Y.; and Dallas.

The fast-growing 391-unit restaurant chain has added more than 200 stores in the past two years. There are more than 150 stores in development.

Tempe, Ariz. — DSW, Nordstrom Rack and Total Wine & More have leased space at the 1.3 million-sq.-ft. Tempe Marketplace in Tempe, Ariz.

DSW will open a 20,000-sq.-ft. store in mid April. Nordstrom Rack plans to open a 35,000-sq.-ft. store in October. Total Wine & More, the largest independent fine wine retailer in the country, will occupy 20,000 sq. ft. and plans to open in October.

Vestar developed and owns Tempe Marketplace.
 

New York -- Merchant Warehouse, a leading provider of payment technologies, has acquired Opticard, a provider of gift and loyalty programs.

Through this acquisition, Merchant Warehouse will offer deeper mobile and digital engagement opportunities for small and mid-sized businesses through an expanded suite of gift, loyalty and prepaid programs.

New York -- Social media delivers more than wish-list window shopping — it is, essentially, a social-purchasing path for young women that leverages each platform's strength and point of engagement to enhance the shopping process, according to a survey by Teen Vogue. And according to respondents, the future belongs to Instagram. It is the platform most cited as the one that "everyone will be talking about next year," and the clear must-have app this year.