Supply Chain & Merchandising

Teen apparel retailer Delia's has debuted a new prototype at Providence Place Mall, in Providence, R.I. The store has a stylish, youthful vibe that reflects its core customer. The design met objectives to increase floor and wall fixture capacity and reduce overall store size while maintaining brand identification.
 
Shremshock Architects & Engineers, Westerville, Ohio, provided design, purchasing and construction management for Delia's store redesign in collaboration with Asset Strategies Group, also based in Westerville, Ohio.

Ann Arbor, Mich. -- Domino's Pizza announced that it joined the SmartWay Transport Partnership, a collaboration between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and industry that provides a framework to assess the environmental and energy efficiency of goods movement supply chains.

Domino's Pizza will contribute to the Partnership's savings of 1.5 billion gallons of fuel, $3.6 billion in fuel costs, 14.7 MMT of carbon dioxide, 215,000 tons of oxides of nitrogen and 8,000 tons of particulate matter.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Meijer will double match every customer's $10 Simply Give donation made Sept. 2 to 8 in support of Hunger Action Month.

The Simply Give Week double match is part of a $1 million donation to the retailer's 2012 Simply Give program, which aims to replenish the shelves of nearly 200 food pantries in its five-state region each campaign.

Certain locations present unique challenges when it comes to building and maintaining stores, and Hawaii qualifies in both instances. Ryno Irwin, CEO of Hawaii Retail Services, Makaha, Hawaii, spoke with Chain Store Age about logistics and demographics challenges in the Aloha State.

York, Pa. -- The Bon-Ton Stores Inc. said that it plans to close its Carson's store in the River Oaks Mall in Calumet City, Ill., when the lease expires in January. 

The department store company said doesn't expect costs tied to the closing to be material.

Bon Ton received the leasehold interests in the store as part of its Northern Department Store Group acquisition in 2006.
 

New York -- The store opening plans of retailers hit a four-year high in July, according to the August edition of the National Retailer Demand Monthly report from RBC Capital Markets and Retail Lease Trac.

Retailers in the RBC database currently plan to open 78,325 stores over the next 24 months, which represents an 11% increase over openings projected at the end of 2011, and a 0.6% increase over June’s level.

MATTHEWS, N.C. — Family Dollar Stores has named Holly Shaskey-Platek to the position of SVP merchandising. She will lead the home, apparel and seasonal divisions and report to Paul White, EVP, chief merchandising officer.

Matthews, N.C. -- Family Dollar announced that it has named Holly Shaskey-Platek to the position of senior VP – merchandising. She will lead the home, apparel and seasonal divisions.

Prior to joining Family Dollar in 2008 as a consultant to provide company-wide change management leadership, Holly spent a total of 25 years with Target Corp. and ShopNBC.