Store Systems

Pittsburgh — Dick’s Sporting Goods has announced the grand opening weekend of its new location in Oakwood Center in Gretna, La., beginning Sept. 13.

The Gretna location will be the retailer’s fifth store in Louisiana and its 530th nationwide.

Pundits and the media have cast showrooming at various times as either a scourge to brick-and-mortar retailers or as a death knell — another proverbial nail in the coffin.

There’s no question that showrooming, where shoppers browse products in a store and then purchase online, is a threat to retailers like Target that have a significant investment in real estate and physical stores.

However, less publicized is the fact that showrooming is also the greatest opportunity for retailers.

Mason, Ohio -- Pearle Vision will unveil its new store design on Sept. 17 in Legacy Village, Lyndhurst, Ohio. The new Cleveland-area location features a completely remodeled design, which includes everything from a new brand logo and signage to modernized displays and a completely transformed floor plan. The store design is by WD Partners, Columbus, Ohio.

MONTREAL — Dollarama has opened 93 net new stores in the past 12 months, including 22 during the second quarter ended Aug. 4, for a total of 828. This accelerated growth helped drive sales for the quarter, which increased 16% to $511.3 million from $441.0 million in the prior-year quarter.

By Greg Slusser, [email protected]

A case on the California Supreme Court’s docket questions whether or not a common law duty requires retailers to have automated external defibrillators (AEDs) ready to use in stores to treat sudden cardiac arrest, which strikes about 380,000 Americans each year and is the leading cause of death in the U.S.

Bentonville, Ark. – Starting Sept. 21, consumers will be able to receive immediate credit toward the purchase of a new smartphone when they trade in their current smartphone at more than 3,600 participating Wal-Mart stores and Sam's Club locations across the U.S. Wal-Mart's trade-in program offers an immediate credit from $50 to $300 for more than 100 smartphones.

The Pep Boys are remaining cautiously optimistic that there will be an increase in demand for tires this year, following a comparable store sales decrease of 1.3% for the second quarter ended Aug. 3. 

Sales for the quarter increased 0.4% to $527.6 million from $525.7 million for the prior-year quarter. The company’s operating profit for the quarter, adjusted to exclude merger-related costs, was $19.4 million as compared to $15.5 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2012. 

Old Bridge, N.J. — Dollar Tree has retained R.J. Brunelli & Co. as exclusive leasing agent for all of New Jersey, adding areas south of Route 195 to the northern and central parts of the state that the firm has been handling all along.