Store Systems

REDMOND, Wash. — Best Buy has landed a partnership with Microsoft Corp. that will allow the retailer to offer a Windows Store at 500 of its locations in the U.S. and more than 100 Future Shop locations in Canada.

The Container Store has turned to Usablenet, a mobile and multichannel technology provider, to upgrade its mobile Web site so the retailer can provide its customers with a seamless mobile shopping experience.

Redmond, Wash. -- Microsoft Corp. on Thursday announced that it plans to open 500 “Windows Store” shops in 500 Best Buy stores across the country and in more than 100 Best Buy and Future Shop locations in Canada. The roll out will launch in late June, lasting through September.

The in-store shops will sell exclusively Windows-based tablets and computers and other Microsoft products, with support from dedicated staff, in an interactive environment.  

The retail industry is one sector where cash remains king and will continue to be ubiquitous for years to come. Yet despite this, the domain of cash management still remains a major challenge for retailers with cash being expensive to process and secure.

By Niclas Qvist, Pricer

The Target board of directors demonstrated its faith in the company’s cash generating capabilities on Wednesday and agreed to up the company’s quarterly dividend 19% to 43 cents a share.
 
The hefty increase ups the annual payout to $1.72 and moves the company closer to a long-term commitment to increase the full-year dividend amount to $3 by 2017. In addition, the company has established a target of growing earnings per share to $8 over the same time frame, up from $4.26 last year.

Montreal -- Canadian jewelery retailer Birks will introduce a new retail concept in the summer of 2013, with new stores opening in DIX30 Complex, Brossard, Quebec, and in the new Mapleview Mall in Burlington, Ontario.

The new format, developed in collaboration with Sid Lee Architecture, will feature round 1,500 sq. ft. of retail space and be dedicated to jewelry from the Birks Collection.

Grand Rapids, Mich. -- Meijer will open two 190,000-sq.-ft. supercenters in the northern Indiana towns of Portage and Warsaw on June 13. Meijer operates more than 200 stores in the Midwest and will have 32 stores in Indiana. Meijer expects the stores to create more than 500 new jobs.