Store Systems

A new retail experience is giving shoppers — and sports fans — the chance to feel like a professional athlete.   Mizuno, one of the world’s largest specialty sporting goods manufacturers and the official baseball gear partner of the Atlanta Braves, has entered the U.S. retail arena with the opening of The Mizuno Experience Center. It is the first retail store to open at The Battery Atlanta, a 400,000 sq. ft. mixed-use development located just outside the Braves’ new home, Sun Trust Park.   

Tough times have caught up with Rue 21.   The struggling teen apparel chain plans to close nearly 400 stores nationwide, the Associated Press reported. The shutterings will leave the retailer with about 700 stores nationwide.   Rue 21 confirmed the news in a post on its Facebook page, calling it a “difficult but necessary” decision.   

Shinola, the Detroit-based watch and leather goods brand with a cool edge, has expanded its presence in New York City.     The company has opened a store in the newly developed Empire Stores center in Brooklyn. The sprawling, renovated warehouse complex is located on the waterfront and is home to tech and advertising companies along with select retailers, including West Elm.    

British online fast-fashion retailer Missguided makes the leap to physical retail with a high-concept, high-impact store at Westfield Stratford City mall in London.   Featuring an “on-air” television studio concept, the 20,000-sq.-ft. space delivers a dynamic live stream of real-time content, fashion and inspiration in a bold environment. It reflects the desire of its young, Snapchat-obsessed core audience for the new by offering a constantly changing space that includes plenty of shareable moments.    

Walmart recently announced that, starting April 19, it would order a discount on select items that are ordered online and then picked up in the store. Here is commentary on what the new initiative means for Walmart in terms of last-mile delivery as well as its competitors.  

A new survey confirms what many retailers are already living: getting up to speed with digitally speaking is a priority.   The most in-demand new technology for retailers is mobile payment capabilities (65%), followed by self-checkout (49%), scan as you shop (44%), click and collect (41%) and in-store customer analytics (37%), according to research from Zynstra, a U.K.-based enterprise-grade IT software provider, which polled 300 IT managers and c-level professionals in the retail space across the U.S. and U.K.  

Two menswear brands founded online are growing their brick-and-mortar operations.   Made-to-measure men’s clothing maker Indochino, which was founded in 2007, plans to open eight new locations in 2017. Three are slated to open in the brand’s home territory of Canada, and five in the U.S.    “This year, we’re almost doubling our showroom network as we focus on significantly expanding our experiential retail model,” stated Drew Green, CEO, Indochino.  

With its profits taking a hit in 2016, Prada Group is placing a stronger focus on digital.   The luxury goods retailer’s net revenue for the year ended January 31, 2017, while revenue across its retail channel plunged13%.    Based on these results, the company plans to focus on more digital initiatives to better respond to an evolving marketplace, according to Prada’s CEO, Patrizio Bertelli.