Store Systems

Vancouver -- LightHaus  announced that Foot Locker has deployed the LightHaus Visual Customer Intelligence (VCI) solution to measure customer traffic and sales conversion rates at all of its Champs Sports stores in the U.S. and Canada, as well as its Foot Locker Canada stores. The chain is adopting LightHaus VCI in stores in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Australia.

Boston -- Boot and leather goods manufacturer Frye Co. will open its second U.S. retail location – on Newbury St. in a historic building in Boston’s Back Bay. It joins Frye’s only retail store in the Soho area of New York City.

The 11,000-sq.-ft., three-level flagship store is slated to open spring 2013. It will reflect a fresh vision of Frye’s heritage and commitment to craft, and house specially designed areas showcasing the brand’s product.

More than 450 Macy’s stores will feature branded Finish Line footwear departments as the department store retailer and athletic footwear chain have entered into an exclusive agreement.

The deal addresses a major merchandising deficiency for Macy’s as department store retailers are not generally viewed as a destination for athletic footwear. The deal also accelerates growth for Finish Line which currently operates 638 predominantly mall-based U.S. stores compared to Macy’s approximately 840 locations.

Cincinnati -- Macy's Inc. announced on Friday that Finish Line Inc. would be the department store retailer’s exclusive athletic footwear partner, opening in-store shops in more than 450 Macy’s stores nationwide. The merchandise will also be available online at macys.com.

Under the agreement, Finish Line will be Macy’s exclusive partner for men’s, women’s and kids athletic footwear and Macy’s will be the exclusive host for Finish Line-branded in-store shops.

The holiday season is competitive on many fronts, including which retailer plans to hire the most seasonal workers.

Build-A-Bear Workshop has gone high-tech. The company has debuted a new store design that combines its signature hands-on bear-making experience with innovative technology that’s right in line with today’s digitally savvy kids. The new format, which premiered in Build-A-Bear Workshop’s renovated location at West County Center, St. Louis, also provides more interactive options to keep shoppers coming back.

New York -- A new report from PwC US and Kantar Retail suggests that the retail industry may be transitioning to a 'post-modern' consumer-centric era triggered by the speed of technological advancements, globalization and hyper-competition, both online and offline.

The Retailing 2020 report recommended that successful retailers will need to transform themselves to grow in an increasingly polarized world of greater channel fragmentation that will result in greater non-store retail growth and smaller retail formats.

New York -- Uniqlo on Friday will open its largest mall store in the world, in Westfield Garden State Plaza, Paramus, N.J. The two-level, 43,000-sq.-ft. store will serve as the prototype for the Japanese retailer¹s U.S. mall expansion.

The new Uniqlo replaces an Old Navy store and has its own separate entrance to the parking lot as well as a traditional mall entrance. A large LCD monitor display at the mall entrance will feature special interactive games and other content to engage shoppers.