Supply Chain & Merchandising

Six months after the Oct. 1, 2015 deadline for migration to the Europay, MasterCard, Visa (EMV) chip-based payment card standard, retailers and consumers are demonstrating a fast rate of adoption.

According to new data MasterCard has released on usage rates of its EMV-compliant payment cards, 67% of U.S.-issued MasterCard-branded consumer credit cards now feature chips. This represents a 51% increase in the number of consumer credit cards with chips in market since the Oct. 1, 2015 liability shift.

The Kroger Co. is reportedly planning to expand its ClickList click-and-collect service to the Lone Star State in summer 2016. According to the Cincinnati Business Journal, Kroger will offer ClickList, which lets customers order groceries in advance and pick up them up at a predetermined time at a local store, at select stores in the Houston and Dallas markets. Those markets contain a total of 214 stores, including some in Louisiana, but the retailer intends to offer ClickList at about 20 stores in each metro area.

Chipotle Mexican Grill is thinking about getting into the burger business.

The fast-casual giant, which is still struggling to recover financially from food-safety problems that surfaced last summer, filed a trademark application for "Better Burger" as part of a business diversification move to open a burger restaurant chain.

The world’s greatest golfers will gather soon in Augusta, Georgia, for the 80th annual Masters golf tournament, an event with has many similarities to the retail industry and one that serves as a source of inspiration as we look to grow the PGA TOUR Superstore.

Around every turn on the picturesque course, golfers are faced with new challenges and opportunities that require them to balance the risks and rewards of their decision-making against their ability to execute shots all while striving to prevail over a field of unmerciful competitors.

“Now Trending” is an exclusive online series to chainstoreage.com, featuring trending topics that impact the retail real estate landscape.

For retail analysts and consumers alike, what’s going on in the apparel sector is fascinating and, in fact, confounding. While the root causes may not seem exactly crystal clear, the implications will be clear and unambiguous.

Philadelphia -- PREIT announced it has completed the sale of four additional non-core malls. This is a milestone achievement for the company that signifies the near-completion of non-core mall disposition effort with one remaining mall being marketed for sale.

Mall disposition transactions include:
• Lycoming Mall in Pennsdale, Pennsylvania, anchored by J.C. Penney, Sears, Bon-Ton and Macy's sold for $26.35 million.

Chain Store Age recently spoke with Stefan Weitz, head of product and strategy at eBay Enterprise, about the changing nature of omnichannel retail and what it means for fulfillment strategies.

How important is it for today’s retailers to have omnichannel fulfillment capability?

Select Comfort, operator of 490 Sleep Number stores, named several executives to key new roles following a supply chain disruption that cause fourth same-store sales to plummet 30%.

Select Comfort named Suresh Krishna to the role of senior VP and chief operations, supply chain and lean officer, effective April 11. He will report directly to CEO Shelly Ibach and assumes responsibilities previously held by Kathy Roedel. She served as executive VP and chief services and fulfillment officer and will retire effective April 7.