Store Systems

New York -- OfficeMax has become the latest retailer with a smaller-store, urban format either open or in the wings.
 
The retailer will unveil its smaller concept sometime in 2013, according to Crain’s Chicago Business. The new format will range between 5,000 sq. ft. and 15,000 sq. ft., the report said.

New York -- Starbucks Coffee Co. on Friday opened its first location in Vietnam, following an expanded long-term relationship with Hong Kong Maxim’s Group.
 
The two-level flagship store has been designed to reflect Starbucks’ signature coffee heritage, while embracing Vietnam’s distinctive local traditions and coffee culture. It is located the bustling neighborhood of Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1.

The Hab brings new energy and excitement to one of retailing’s most staid categories: sewing machines and related accessories.
 
Click here to see how they do it.

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreens announced the promotion of Joseph Magnacca from SVP to EVP, effective Feb. 1. Magnacca also retains his title as president of daily living products and solutions.

Magnacca oversees Walgreens merchandising and inventory strategy, private brands, insights and analytics, and the New York-based Duane Reade drugstore chain, which Walgreens acquired in 2010.

Matthews, N.C. -- Harris Teeter Supermarkets Inc. reported that its fiscal first-quarter net income rose nearly 67%. The company earned $22.8 million for the quarter that ended Jan. 1, up from $13.7 million in the same quarter last year. The prior year's results included an $18 million cost to settle some pension liabilities and employee benefits in connection with the sale of its industrial thread manufacturing company.
    

The art of sewing comes alive at The Hab, a one-stop shopping destination in Mumbai, India, for all things sewing. The colorful store offers a fresh and youthful take on one of retailing’s more staid, and slightly old-fashioned, categories, and more than lives up to its motto: “A hipper side of sewing.”

WASHINGTON — The National Retail Federation is hoping to dispel fears that merchants are expected to surcharge customers for using a credit card as theoretically allowed under a controversial proposed lawsuit settlement with Visa and MasterCard being debated in the courts.

New York -- The Container Store is expanding its presence in Florida with three new locations set to open in 2013.
   
The company will open a store in Tampa, Fla., on March 16. The retailer said the Tampa location is its  most requested city for a new store according to its Facebook fans. It will be The Container Store’s third store in Florida, soon to be followed by two additional store openings in Orlando and Boca Raton later this year.