Store Systems

According to ShopperTrak, a leading provider of shopper analytics, the busiest holiday shopping days will occur between Dec. 20 and Dec. 24, and retailers should prepare accordingly.

Additionally, with a shortened shopping season and only four weekends between Thanksgiving and Christmas — down from five last year — retailers must be ready to capture holiday spending during a narrower window of time.

San Diego -- Unleashed by Petco, specialty pet supply banner of the Petco Animal Supply. Inc. chain, opens a new store in the Fresh Meadows section of Queens, N.Y., on Nov. 9.

Unleashed by Petco stores include features such as the Pet Deli, which offers a display of assorted fresh and frozen food. There is also a special sample wall where pets can taste test to find their favorite food.

Middletown, Wis. -- American Girl, a division of Mattel, announced its first expansion outside the United States, with plans to open two experiential in-store boutiques in partnership with Indigo Books & Music Inc., Canada’s largest book, gift, and specialty retailer.

Opening in spring 2014, the new American Girl retail stores will be located in Indigo’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre, Toronto, and Robson Street, Vancouver.

First Data Corporation, a leading global e-commerce and payment processing provider, has acquired Perka, a smart loyalty platform.

Perka became a First Data subsidiary on Oct. 4, and continues to operate autonomously as an innovative entrepreneurial company led by its current management and product development team. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
 

Macy’s is poised to have its best digital Christmas ever thanks to a major expansion of ship from store fulfillment capabilities that enable the company to provide an omnichannel experience.

This holiday season, Macy’s will be able to fulfill orders placed online from 500 of its more than 800 stores, a major expansion from last year when ship from store was available at 250 locations.

“The way we view omnichannel is about having stores serve as another fulfillment location,” said Pam Sweeney, Macy’s SVP of logistics systems.

For many retailers, Halloween has become one of their favorite times of year. Spending on Halloween-related costumes, decorations, candy, etc. has grown to the point it represents the second-highest consumer spending holiday, only trailing Christmas with NRF estimates of this year’s spending total reaching $6.9 billion. But while a good scare is all part of the annual Halloween fun, retailers need to ensure their omni-channel customers do not get scared away by frighteningly poor digital commerce features and functions.

Davenport, Iowa -- Von Maur Department Stores has opened its first location in the Northeast. The Midwest retailer opened a 140,000-sq.-ft. store at Eastview Mall in Victor, N.Y., which is just outside of Rochester.

Pittsburgh – Dick’s Sporting Goods opens five new stores across the U.S. on Nov. 8. The stores will be located in Dover, Del., Palm Desert, Calif., West Des Moines, Iowa, Sioux Falls, S.D., and Findlay, Ohio.

Dick’s will operate a total of 554 stores in the U.S. upon opening the five new stores. The Sioux Falls store will be the chain’s first store in South Dakota. This total will include three in Delaware, 32 in California, five in Iowa, and 38 in Ohio.