Store Systems

New York -- Ashley Furniture Industries Inc. plans to open about 50 bedding stores, under the Zzz's By Ashley banner, in 2012, according to Furniture Today. The sleep shops will average about 4,500 sq. ft. each, and will offer a wide selection of mattresses and sleep accessories.

“I think we can open several thousand in the next 10 years,” Ben Thorud, the Ashley executive who is heading the new initiative, told Furniture Today.

Milwaukee -- The Milwaukee office of Opus Development Corp. said that Hallmark Gold Crown will occupy the final space of its Shoppes at Fox River Phase I retail development in Waukesha, Wis.

The addition of Hallmark makes the 273,000-sq.-ft. Phase I 100% occupied, including a 132,000-sq.-ft. Target and a 60,000-sq.-ft. LEED-Silver certified Pick ‘n Save grocery store.

Toronto -- Sears Canada said Thursday it will unveil a new, refreshed store concept in four Ontario locations, designed to illustrate the retailer’s renewed commitment to customer service and store experience.

The four stores – in Barrie, Belleville, Newmarket and at the Lime Ridge mall in Hamilton – will open on May 25, and will the first step to the company’s plans to transform the Sears shopping experience in Canada, said Sears.

I’m just back from the retail real estate industry’s annual confab, the International Council of Shopping Centers’ RECon, in Las Vegas. As part of the event, Faith Hope Consolo, chairman, Prudential Douglas Elliman, hosted a panel discussion of retailers at the Women’s Special Industry Group meeting. Here are some of the more notable quotes from the discussion:

Brenda Godfrey, VP global store development, Starbucks Coffee Co.

Minneapolis -- Target announced it will now offer shoppers the shopkick app via their smartphones. The service will allow shoppers to earn points for shopping at Target that can be redeemed for a variety of rewards.

“In our test launch, Target guests in seven cities had the opportunity to experience shopkick at Target and we received rave reviews. Now guests nationwide can start earning valuable points just by shopping our stores,” said Bonnie Gross, Target VP marketing and guest engagement.

Washington, D.C. -- With more than 60 million Americans forecast to own a tablet computer by the end of this year, retailers say tablets are driving an increasingly larger share of their web revenue. According to the 2012 Shop.org/Forrester Research Inc.’s State of Retailing Online survey, 49% of retailers say their average order value via a tablet is now higher than traditional web sales. Nearly three in 10 (28%) retailers say they are seeing about the same average order value from tablets as their website.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Kmart announced it is launching an in-store bill pay program that will allow customers to pay bills from more than 3,000 companies—everything from electric, gas and cable bills to credit card statements and auto loans.

The program is being offered through the CheckFreePay walk-in bill payment service from Fiserv (FISV). Customers seeking an easy and convenient way to pay bills in person can now visit any Kmart store nationwide.

Dallas -- Davaco announced that the company has set up an operational division in Canada that can support global consumer brands with multi-unit programs in every province throughout Canada.

Davaco established its office near Toronto in 2011 to service immediate client needs, and is now available to provide services for additional clients in the growing Canadian marketplace.