Retail

As retail store designs continue to rapidly evolve in the ecommerce era, Chain Store Age is looking for the best of the best for its 32nd annual Retail Store of the Year Design Competition.
 

The International Council of Shopping Centers created a terrorist-awareness training program shortly after 9/11. At the time, there were no training programs in place for the shopping center industry.

“We hired George Washington University to develop a program and funded the work with $2 million,” said Malachy Kavanagh, ICSC spokesperson. “We created a 10-module course that is delivered over the Internet. You can learn at your own pace. If you work right through, it will take 14 to 15 hours.”

While we wait for all of the official numbers to come in from the 2013 holiday shopping season — a topic I’ll address in a future column — I thought this might be a good time to expand on one of the points I made about retail downsizing in my 2014 forecast piece.

The CES show in Las Vegas is ground zero for big announcements and Amazon sought to make a splash of its own this week, announcing a commitment to 4K technology and arrangements with some of the biggest names in entertainment to enhance television picture quality.

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Last week, I looked back at 2013 and how the biggest single trend in retail IT was customers using connective technology to take control of the shopping experience. This week, I look forward to the new year of 2014, when the biggest single trend in retail IT will be customer disruption.

In celebration of its 90th anniversary, Kleenex brand is partnering with fashion industry icon Isaac Mizrahi to produce four new designs to the Kleenex Expressions line of products.

"We're thrilled to be partnering with such an inspirational designer and we are excited about his creative contribution to our brand's portfolio," Anna Elledge, Kleenex brand manager, said. "Our teams have worked together to select the final collection to commemorate the Kleenex brand anniversary, and I can't think of a better way to celebrate this 90-year milestone."

Salt Lake City – Overstock.com plans to appeal the tentative ruling of a California trial court, which prohibits the company from comparison price advertising unless done in conformity with new court-mandated practices, which the company says diverge widely from industry standards.