Omnichannel

By Steven Kramer, [email protected]

Sporting a physical design identical to the iPhone 4 and a total lack of expected features, initial reactions to the iPhone 4S were that it hardly seemed capable of living up to Apple’s claim as “the most amazing iPhone yet”.

New York City -- Saks Inc. will expand its distribution and fulfillment capacity, adding a new facility in Tennessee in 2012.

The new center will occupy approximately 564,000 sq. ft. of leased space and will be located in LaVergne, Tenn. It will be equipped with a sophisticated mobile-robotic fulfillment system that has been successfully deployed in Saks’ Maryland facility.

Saks expects the Tennessee facility to be operational by August 2012.

Ron Johnson isn’t afraid of making waves. Just as my page-neighbor Jeff Green suggested in his latest column, “A Penney for your Thoughts,” the Apple-CEO-turned-JCP-chief is keenly focused on reinventing a department store dinosaur into a sleek, well-oiled retail machine. And if that means reneging on prior deals, so be it.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens is following in the footsteps of the likes of Target and Walmart in offering a digital edition of its weekly advertising circular that will offer additional items through Walgreens.com and the company's mobile applications.

The Sunday circular — read by more than 50 million consumers, according to Walgreens — also will get a new look and feel, designed to improve the shopping experience.

Coventry, U.K. -- Retail IT services-provider PCMS said Thursday it has launched a pilot of mobile sales devices for Bass Pro Shops.    

Philadelphia -- Urban Outfitters reported Thursday that sales for the fourth quarter, ended Jan. 31, rose 9% to $731 million.

Mississauga, Ontario -- Wal-Mart Stores isn’t about to let the grass grow under its feet in Canada. The discounter plans to spend about $753 million this fiscal year to expand its store presence in Canada, before rival Target Corp. begins its push in the country.

New York City -- Amazon plans to open a store in its Seattle hometown to display and sell its growing line of electronic devices, reported Reuters, which cited industry blog Good E-Reader as its source.

Analysts said Amazon could be inspired by the success of Apple in the retail arena.