Store Systems

Furniture manufacturer Herman Miller continues its transformation from a maker of modern office furniture to a lifestyle brand with the opening of its first retail store.     The 6,000-sq.-ft. Herman Miller store is located on the ground and second floors of Herman Miller's flagship building on Park Avenue South in Manhattan. The building houses corporate office space for Maharam, Design Within Reach, and Geiger — all Herman Miller owned companies — along with commercial showrooms for Herman Miller and Geiger.

In October of this year, Periscope By McKinsey conducted online research of more than 1,000 consumers in the U.S. to understand their attitudes towards Black Friday and expected shopping patterns.   

After four consecutive quarters of year-over-year earnings decline, DSW Inc. got back on track in its third quarter.   The footwear and accessories retailer had adjusted net income of $42 million, or 51 cents per diluted share, a 16% year-over-year improvement and 3 cents above estimates.  

Shoppers at select Calvin Klein stores may soon be able to charge their phones while also watching some promotional content.    The specialty apparel retailer is installing complementary in-store phone charging kiosks in approximately nine stores across the United States and Canada, including New York City and Las Vegas. The kiosks, from Veloxity, will be in place just in time for Black Friday.   

Canadian outerwear brand Canada Goose, best known for its signature goose-down jacket with fur-trimmed hood, has opened its first-ever U.S. store.   The 4,100-sq.-ft. space is designed to reflect the company’s roots and Arctic heritage. The works of Canadian artisans are showcased throughout the store, which also features gallery-styled displays of vintage pieces from the brand’s archives and a 3,840-pound marble cash-wrap, carved from a single piece of rock and sourced from a quarry in British Columbia.   

Apple Pay may be transforming mobile payments, but digital targeted messages spur more shoppers’ willingness to pay with their devices.   This message was delivered in a study from USA Technologies. The report measured the impact of targeted digital advertising screens on consumers’ use of mobile wallets – primarily Apple Pay. The impact of 35 vending machines located in New York and Louisiana were measured over a six-month period, between March and August 2016.  

As Black Friday quickly approaches, it is anyone’s game on who will garner the most wallet share — clicks or bricks.    More than three-quarters (76%) of Americans plan to shop over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, and they plan to spend $400 between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, a slight uptick from last year's intentions to spend $369.  

Lowe’s Companies is partnering with an unusual and very tech-savvy retailer to sell “smart” home devices.    The home improvement retailer has teamed up with San-Francisco-based b8ta to launch an in-store shop concept dedicated to demystifying and simplifying the purchase of smart home devices Called “SmartSpot powered by b8ta,” the new concept is currently in place in three Lowe’s stores in California (Livermore, Burbank and Aliso Viejo).