Retail

Michaels is offering a free, interactive “Just Add Wishes” DIY site to help consumers with holiday needs. From Nov. 11 through Dec. 24, kids can interact with a live elf through streaming video.

After hours, kids can play games and build wish lists that parents can share on Facebook. On Christmas Eve, the site becomes a Santa Tracker, including a Santa locator, behind-the-scenes information from the North Pole control tower and the Santa Cam, where kids get to see Santa at work putting presents under trees and filling stockings.

Greenwood Village, Colo. — Red Robin Gourmet Burgers has announced that it will open two new restaurants, one in Secaucus, N.J., and another in the Cincinnati metro area. To help celebrate the grand opening of the new restaurants, the company will donate the proceeds of all sales of its signature Freckled Lemonade during the two restaurants’ first week of operation to Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to finding cures for kids with cancer.

New York -- Chain Store Age invites retailers, design firms, architects and suppliers to submit entries for its 32nd annual Retail Store of the Year design competition. Deadline for submission is December 23, 2013. There is a reduced entry rate for submissions received by Nov. 29.

The competition is open to stores and restaurants that opened between November 30, 2012 and December 6, 2013.

Kmart is planning to roll out lease-to-own financing at stores nationwide ahead of the holiday season. The retailer began testing the program in mid-October and plans to make it available in all stores by Nov. 22.

Customers will be able to take home items priced at $150 and more for no credit, including appliances, mattresses, furniture, lawn and garden equipment, consumer electronics, service plans and others. To qualify, customers must be at least 18 years old, earn at least $1,000 per month and supply a social security or tax identification number when applying.

Framingham, Mass. – Holiday shoppers are seeking omni-channel solutions. According to a new national survey from Staples, two-thirds of consumers say they are equally as likely to purchase gifts online as they are to shop in-store.

The Staples study also reveals that 87% of gift shoppers admit they’ve had problems buying presents during the holiday season and 63% of gift givers report that nearly half of the people on their list are difficult to buy for, causing stress and frustration.

Other findings include:

Meijer wraps up its 2013 growth strategy with the opening of a huge supercenter in Danville, Ill., this week. The 190, 000-sq.-ft. store is the last of six new stores the retailer has opened this year in the Midwest, which represents its most aggressive expansion in recent history.

New York -- Office Depot and OfficeMax announced the completion of their merger late Tuesday and from the looks of third quarter results released the same day the deal should prove beneficial to both companies.

Office Depot said its third quarter same store sales declined 2%, while OfficeMax said its comps dropped 2.8% in the U.S. and 2.2% in Mexico.

The combined company will use the name Office Depot, Inc. and will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ODP.