Data & Analytics

By Jeff Fowler, [email protected]

PALO ALTO, Calif. — Aisle411, a mobile retail navigation service, on Tuesday announced that its virtual mapping and navigation smartphone application is available to use in all of Walgreens' 7,907 drug stores nationwide.

With Aisle411's in-store mapping platform, customers can use their smartphones to view maps of any Walgreens store, allowing shoppers to locate products down to a particular section of each aisle. Walgreens is the first national retailer with all of its stores mapped in a mobile application, Aisle411 stated.

New York -- In an effort to reduce vehicle air pollution, Duane Reade, in partnership with Mission Electric, is asking New Yorkers to help determine which of the chain’s stores should be served solely by electric trucks. Combined, more than 30 stores have been identified as electric truck ready in the city’s boroughs of Queens, Bronx, Brooklyn, and Manhattan.

Basking Ridge, N.J. -- Verizon Wireless said Tuesday that its green retail store design has achieved pre-certification in the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Volume Program. 

Verizon Wireless is one of only eight retailers in the United States and the only wireless company to achieve pre-certification from the USGBC, according to the company.

New York -- A survey released Tuesday by the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman-Sachs found that 42% of U.S. consumers expect to spend more on back-to-school items this year than they did in 2011.

With the back-to-school shopping season already well underway as one-third of households reported that they have begun to shop, ICSC and Goldman-Sachs expect the average household expenditure on all types of back-to-school items will be about $300 this year.

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Mobile retail navigation service aisle411 said Tuesday that it is rolling out its virtual mapping and navigation smartphone app for use in Walgreens’ 7,907 drug stores nationwide.

The service will allow Walgreens shoppers to use their smartphones to view maps of any Walgreens store and to locate products down to a particular section of each aisle.

Walgreens is the first national retailer with all of its stores mapped in a mobile application.

NORWALK, Conn. — LogicSource, a procurement services firm which initially focused on printed materials and related commodities and services, will now offer clients sourcing and procurement of materials for store construction and maintenance, including rollout displays, fixtures, lighting, flooring, mannequins, hangers, gift boxes, bags and exterior signage.

Pittsburgh -- Ikea has plugged in the new solar energy system installed at its Pittsburgh-area store in Robinson Township, Pa. The 86,800-sq.-ft. PV array consists of a 694-kW system, built with 2,884 panels. It will produce approximately 852,200 kWh of clean electricity annually, the equivalent of reducing 648 tons of carbon dioxide, eliminating the emissions of 115 cars or powering 73 homes yearly.