Store Systems

New York -- State and federal authorities in New Jersey broke up a multistate theft ring that stole merchandise from Home Depot Inc. stores by not ringing up all items at self-checkout counters, the Associated Press reported.

The thieves were active in about 70 Home Depot stores, mostly in New Jersey, and also in New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.

ATLANTA — An organized retail theft ring that targeted 70 Home Depot stores in six states has been taken down by multi-agency task force after the arrest of three men in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. Two other suspects are still be sought. 

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Bi-Lo noted last week that three of its locations along the South Carolina coastline had been refreshed in March.

“Bi-Lo believes in offering our customers the highest possible standards and this remodel program speaks directly to that,” stated Bi-Lo president Michael Byars.

The enhanced departments in the updated stores feature improved freshness, variety and quality, including:

San Francisco -- Sephora on Monday unveiled its social and mobile makeover, which includes a new personalized web experience, new mobile website, iPhone app and iOS devices in over 100 stores.

San Francisco -- Westfield announced that Tiffany will open on level 1 of the center, next to Bloomingdale’s, in fall 2012.

The luxury jewelry will join just-opened tea purveyor Teavana, Danish footwear retailer Ecco and men’s apparel store Henri Hubert San Francisco.

Chocolate house Ghirardelli will open a new store -- Chirardelli Ice Cream & Chocolate Shop -- in April, and Marbles: The Brain Store will open in the summer.

Francesca’s Collection is under construction.

NEW YORK— The ax has fallen at JCPenney. The company on Thursday laid off 600 workers from its corporate headquarters Plano, Texas, as its looks to streamline its business model amid a major reinvention of the business. The staff reduction, which equaled 13% to 14% of the headquarters staff, did not include any senior executives, according to The New York Times.

In the 1950s, when science fiction writers dreamed about the coming age of computers, they assumed that like everything else in their experience, computers would get ever larger as they got more powerful. Some predicted computers would be as big as small towns, maintained by thousands of workers.

Obviously, extrapolating from what you know isn’t always the best way to predict the future. It fails to account for the unexpected invention or idea that turns everything on its head.

Fort Worth, Texas -- Pier 1 Imports Inc. on Thursday said that its fiscal fourth-quarter profit more than doubled on increased store traffic and a one-time tax benefit that boosted its bottom line. The chain also announced a new three-year growth plan that includes store updates and investments in technology.