Retail

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) organization’s CEO Summit is winding down in Bali, Indonesia and Walmart Asia CEO Scott Price used the event as a platform to share progress the company has made on a variety of fronts.

Price, who serves as chairman of the National Center for APEC, was among a roster of high level business executive and global political leaders to attend the event which ran from October 1-8. Notably absent was U.S. President Barack Obama who had canceled his visit at the last minute due to the U.S. government shutdown.

New York -- RadioShack unveiled a store remodeled to its new high-touch format, in Manhattan, with an additional Big Apple location set to open on Oct. 12. The format incorporates interactive areas designed to help shoppers improve their technology profile. The chain premiered the design in July, on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

Features of RadioShack’s updated design include:

Newly configured displays highlighting in-demand brands like Apple, HTC and Samsung, as well as mobile carriers such as AT&T, Sprint and Verizon;

Framingham, Mass. -- Staples announced the appointment of John Buchta to VP, treasurer and tax. Buchta adds the role of treasurer to his current responsibilities as VP, tax, and will continue to report to Christine Komola, executive VP and CFO.  

Buchta joined Staples in 2011 as VP, tax. Prior to Staples, he was a partner at Ernst & Young.

Buchta succeeds Lisa Scopa, who has been appointed VP, high growth markets.

Chicago -- Dollar stores are not just for lower- and middle-income shoppers. In fact, half (50%) of respondents from the highest-income households ($150k+) say that they are shopping at dollar stores the same amount this year compared to last year, with 10%  say they are doing so more than last year, according to new research from Mintel. Only 32% of respondents from the highest-income households claim not to shop at dollar stores.

Ridgefield, Conn. —Schimenti Construction Company is building a $1.5 million Panera Bread cafe on Fifth Avenue in midtown Manhattan. The company began the project in September and will complete construction in January 2014.

Panera adds to Schimenti’s roster of fast-casual restaurant clients, which includes Starbucks and Chipotle. A project for another new client, Chik-Fil-A, is slated to begin in 2014.

Global ecommerce and payment processing leader First Data Corporation and Microsoft to simplify retailers ability to offer and redeem local deal offers.

The companies said that First Data’s OfferWise solution has been integrated with Microsoft’s Bing Offers Card-Linked which consolidates local deals from a number of deal providers. OfferWise is an open platform that enables retailers to electronically attach offers to any consumer payment card or mobile wallet to allow streamlined and automatic redemption of the offer at the point of sale.

Boston – Women are more likely to have shopped online in the past year than men (57% compared to 52%), but men are more likely to have made a purchase via smartphone (22% compared to 18%) or tablet (20% compared to 17%), according to a new study from SeeWhy Conversion Academy.  

The report, “The Roles of Gender, Geography and Age in Mobile Commerce,” reveals that among 18-to-24-year-olds, women are actually more likely than men to shop via smartphone (21.6% compared to 21.3%) and tablet (20% compared to 14%).

Fort Worth, Texas – RadioShack Corporation is reportedly planning to raise funds before the end of this year to gain the confidence of suppliers in its turnaround effort. According to Bloomberg, RadioShack currently has enough liquidity to operate through 2014 but intends to raise additional cash through financing.