Sales & Marketing

Petco continues to expand its store portfolio.   The retailer, which operates more than 1,500 Petco and Unleashed by Petco locations across the United States, Mexico and Puerto Rico, will open 12 new stores during the month of March. It will also relocate one store in Ohio.   The new stores include locations in Virginia, Arizona, New York, Florida, Connecticut, Georgia, Colorado, Tennessee, and Missouri.   

Main Street Promenade

Location: Naperville, Ill.

Size: About 182,000 sq. ft.

Owner: Retail Properties of America Inc.

Key tenants: Anthropologie, J.Crew, Soft Surroundings, Ann Taylor Loft, Sur La Table, White House Black Market, and Hugo’s Frog Bar & Fish House

Status: Open and operating, but includes a vacant parcel that has approval for future development of up to 62,000 sq. ft. of mixed-use space

Trending Stores: Adidas has opened its largest store in the world — a 45,000-sq.-ft., four-story flagship on Fifth Avenue in New York City. Sleek and ultra-modern with industrial accents, the store marks the debut of the athletic giant’s stadium retail concept, a format inspired by high school stadiums. It features high-school reminiscent bleacher stands for live-game viewing on big screens, locker room-style dressing rooms, and track and turf sections where customers can try out products.

Starbucks Coffee Company will open for business in Italy for the first time in late 2018.   The coffee giant plans to open a 25,500-sq.-ft. Reserve Roastery outpost in late 2018 in Milan, in the historic, turn-of-the-century post office building in the city’s center. The Milan Reserve Roastery will be the first Starbucks Roastery to open in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, and the fifth, globally. It is the first of additional Starbucks stores the company plans to open in Italy.   

I’ve seen the future of retail. And it’s not all online, not by a long shot.

First, let’s deal with the elephant in the room. Yes, traditional brick-and-mortar retailers are confronted with challenges on multiple fronts. Adapting stores to accommodate today’s digitally savvy and demanding customers is no easy feat.

In the wake of a disappointing quarter, Target Corp. is making long-term investments in its future.   The discounter plans to spend $7 billion in cash during the next three years as it lowers its prices and invests in its stores, with renovations planned for some 600 locations, reported CNBC.   "We can't capture that market share if we're presenting an old, tired store," Target CEO Brian Cornell said.  

Turning historic spaces into contemporary stores

Two big retail names, Dollar General and Abercrombie & Fitch, recently unveiled new store formats that differ dramatically from their traditional concepts. Here’s a look at their new initiatives:

Dollar General

One of the nation’s fastest-growing retailers is putting the focus on convenience, targeting a new demographic with a smaller-store concept called DGX.

Dollar General debuted the new format, which has 3,400 sq. ft. of selling space, in Nashville, Tenn. A second location is set to open in Raleigh, N.C.