Store Systems

As the loyalty landscape heats up, TJX Companies is renewing its existing program to remain competitive.   The off-price retailer announced a multi-year renewal of its partnership with Synchrony, a move that will continue to support financing for its five-year-old Rewards Credit Card program.   

Inland’s ad tagline says the company’s “always buying.” One of the nation’s leading drugstore chains just found out how true that is.   Inland Real Estate Acquisitions announced that it has acquired 24 CVS pharmacy properties for $116 million. The stores are located in 14 states and add up to 276,466 sq. ft. of retail space.  

Walgreens has joined the ranks of retailers working to get merchandise ordered online into customers’ hands faster.    The drugstore chain has launched a ship-to-store program that offers free shipping to a Walgreens or Duane Reade store for orders made on the chain’s website and mobile app. No minimum purchase is required.    

Stater Bros. continues to grow its footprint in Southern California.   The San Bernardino, California-based company announced that the Ralphs Supermarket in Riverside (California) will be converted to a “Blue Ribbon” Stater Bros. supermarket. (Stater’s “Blue Ribbon” units are energy efficient and environmentally friendly.)   At 46,000-sq.-ft., the Riverside store will undergo an extensive remodel, and reopen under the Stater banner in spring 2017.  

More than 200 million Americans will shop online this year. Statistically, nearly 10 million of those shoppers will be visually impaired, more than 10 million will have a hearing impairment and more than four million of those will have severe limitations to their dexterity. For these shoppers, many goods and services offered online might be out of their reach.   

The great outdoors arrived on Fifth Avenue today. At least that’s what North Face is shooting for with its new global flagship store in the old Manufacturers Trust Company building, a New York City landmark of modernist architecture.   Though the canyons outside the expansive windows on the second floor of store are formed by skyscrapers and not rock bluffs, North Face’s VP of direct-to-consumer retail Erik Searles finds the airy atmosphere a fitting backdrop for the high-end camping and climbing gear being merchandised there.

Warby Parker goes back to the future — design-wise at its new store in Seattle.   The design recalls the classic library-inspired aesthetic of the brand’s first-ever store in downtown Manhattan, and is outfitted with light oak shelving, spacious marble tabletops and brass detailing.   It also features exposed metal ceiling beams, concrete flooring and skylights.   

Apple has re-opened its 12-year-old London flagship after a major overhaul that reflects the company’s updated store strategy.     Located on Regent Street, the redone space has an airy look and natural feel, with an open glass façade, high ceilings, oversized windows and plenty of room to move around. The increased ceiling height allowed for the addition of twelve Ficus Ali trees, complete with planters that double as a comfortable place to sit. Two “living” walls are covered with greenery.