Store Systems

East Palo Alto, Calif. -- Ikea said Thursday it has plugged in four Blink Level 2 electric vehicle charging stations at its East Palo Alto, Calif., store. The initiative is in partnership with ECOtality and represents the eighth EV project for IKEA in the United States.

To charge an EV at Ikea East Palo Alto, drivers pull into a designated parking spot, swipe their Blink InCard (RFID card), and plug the charger into the EV to charge the vehicle.

New York City -- The latest jewel in the portfolio of Mexican department store operator Liverpool took top honors in Chain Store Age’s 30th annual Retail Store of the Year design competition. The company’s 319,000-sq.-ft. store in the Mexico City suburb of Interlomas was named Store of the Year and was also the winning entry in the Department Store category.

Here is a complete list of the winning projects, all of which will be featured in the March issue of Chain Store Age and reviewed at its annual SPECS Conference:

New York City -- Genpact, a leader in business process and technology management, announced the transition services started in 2011 have been completed and IT Help Desk production support services are now fully operational as of Jan. 1, 2012 with Dollar General Corp.

There has been a lot of chatter in our industry circles — really, everywhere — about the recent big announcement from J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson regarding the iconic brand’s plans for the future. Anyone who’s visited a J.C. Penney lately — present company included — can see the brand needs to make some changes. They’ve been losing traction to competitors like Target and Kohl’s in recent years, and, in my opinion, have had some trouble defining themselves in a fairly crowded and competitive segment. Similar to the issues facing Sears, J.C.

New York City -- Amazon plans to open a store in its Seattle hometown to display and sell its growing line of electronic devices, reported Reuters, which cited industry blog Good E-Reader as its source.

Analysts said Amazon could be inspired by the success of Apple in the retail arena.

New York City -- Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market is testing a mobile self-scanning device at its store in Burbank, Calif., according to a report on Fresh & Easy Buzz, an independent blog that follows the chain.

The scanning system, from Motorola, features a hand-held scanner device, which customers carry with them as they shop the store, the report said. Shoppers then scan the product codes on the items they purchase as they shop. The system allows shoppers to keep real time track of their purchases as they shop.
 

Dallas -- 7-Eleven said Tuesday it has completed its acquisition of 55 Sam’s Mart stores in the greater Charlotte, N.C., area, part of the c-store operator’s plan to accelerate its growth in the region.

Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Dallas  -- The Container Store announced it will open six locations in 2012, making this the largest real estate growth year in the company's history and bringing the company's store count to 59 by year's end. 

The new stores will be located in Arlington, Texas;  Las Vegas; El Segundo, Calif., Peabody, Mass., and Westbury, N.Y., with a sixth location still being finalized.