Retail

Armonk, N.Y. – Overall U.S. online retail sales for the week leading up to Father’s Day (June 9-15) were up more than 14% from the same period in 2013. According to the cloud-based IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark, Father's Day average order value was $119.37.

By Jason Christoff, PE, LEED AP BD+C

The way business is executed within the retail construction industry may never be the same. The Great Recession is finally behind us, but it has changed how retailers deliver stores, as well as how architecture and engineering professionals design them. The A/E delivery model is constantly being reimagined to meet the needs of the changing market, but typically not as quickly or drastically as within the last five years.
 

Cincinnati -- Kroger Co. on Wednesday said it plans to withdraw from two multi-employer pension funds and will incur a charge of $56 million in the first quarter as it contributes that amount to restructure its pension obligations. The move is in line with the retailer’s desire to exert more control over employee-retirement programs.

Commerce, Calif. — 99¢ Only Stores has signed a lease for the entire 615,000-sq.-ft. Garfield Corporate Center in Commerce, California, in Los Angeles County. It is the largest industrial infill lease ever signed in Los Angeles County. In addition, the building ranks as the largest freestanding building to be constructed in Greater Los Angeles in the past 10 years.

JLL represented the landlord, KTR Capital Partners, the property’s developer and landlord, in the transaction.

San Jose, Calif. - VeriFone Systems Inc. is making its Way2ride sound-based mobile app for smartphones available to taxi passengers in Philadelphia. Way2ride enables Philadelphia passengers to tap and pay for cab fares in 1,400 of the 1,600 taxi cabs currently operating in the city.

Washington, D.C. - The National Retail Federation (NRF) and the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) have asked an appeals court to overturn a federal judge’s approval of a lawsuit settlement regarding Visa and MasterCard’s credit card swipe fees, saying it was negotiated by only a handful of merchants and would do nothing to bring the fees under control.

Seattle – The new Amazon Fire smartphone, introduced at an invitation-only press conference on June 18, includes features specifically designed to encourage shopping on Amazon.com. Most significantly, a feature known as Firefly can recognize 100 million items, including physical objects such as CDs as well as barcodes and QR codes. It is the first smartphone Amazon has produced on its own.

St. Louis -- Indoor retail mapping platform Aisle411 will provide indoor mapping services to Indianapolis-based Marsh Supermarkets. The retailer seeks to improve the shopping experience for its customers by leveraging the navigation platform via its new Marsh App.