Supply Chain & Merchandising

Ikea is entering new territory.   The retailer will open a store on Oct. 11, in Fishers, Indiana. It will be Swedish company’s first location in Indiana, 45th in the United States, and 408th worldwide.    The 289,000-sq.-ft. Ikea includes one of Indiana’s largest solar rooftops, as well as three electric vehicle charging stations. Ninety percent of Ikea U.S. stores have a solar presence.   

A New England-based retailer that has the distinction of being the first curtain catalog company is closing up shop.    Shareholders of The Fitzpatrick Companies, whose subsidiaries include Country Curtains, voted Wednesday to liquidate the 61-year-old business. Country Curtains will begin liquidating operations immediately, and a going-out-of-business sale will be launched in its 19 retail stores (and website) starting on Oct. 5. The stores will close by the end of the year.  

Amazon’s newest acquisition could give a boost to the company’s fashion category — including its growing private-label apparel business.    The online giant has acquired Body Labs, a 3D scanning platform that uses artificial intelligence, computer vision, and body modeling to accurately create an avatar-like image of a customer’s dimensions. The 3D platform provider announced the news on its website.  

Sprouts Farmers Market is in expansion mode.    Sprouts Farmers Market announced it will open nine new locations in the first quarter of 2018. In total, the natural and organics grocer will open approximately 30 new stores across the country in 2018.  

Is Amazon looking for a supermarket partner in Europe?   Privately held French supermarket operator Leclerc has been approached by Amazon over possible logistics partnerships, reported Reuters.    “Yes, we have been approached by Amazon,” Michel-Edouard Leclerc, who heads the company, told Reuters.   

For all the buzz about buy-online-pickup-in-store, not that many retailers are actually deploying the service.   

A home furnishings brand is in rapid expansion mode — something that wasn’t possible five years ago.

Nordstrom has unveiled its new retail concept, Nordstrom Local.     Located in West Hollywood, Calif., the 3,000-sq.-ft. store offers all sorts of services, including on-site tailoring, personal stylists, buy-online-pickup-in-store, manicures — but has no dedicated inventory. Eight fitting rooms (associates can transfer requested merchandise from Nordstrom stores or its website to Nordstrom Local for try on) surround a central meeting space.