Store Systems

With nearly 1,100 stores in malls nationwide, it appears that 2015 was not the summer of the sneaker for Finish Line.

The retailer reported weaker-than-expected sales for its second quarter ended Aug. 29. The results weren’t awful, with sales advancing 3.5% to $483.2 million and same-store sales up 1.5%. However, gas prices were in free fall for much of the year and the unemployment rate was in decline, which should have left Finish Line’s core customer with money in their pockets and no reason to not drive to the mall.

An ongoing computer glitch has been wreaking major havoc at Walgreens. According to the Chicago Tribune, the Deerfield, Illinois-based drugstore giant was gradually restoring its automated pharmacy system this week after a massive outage on Sept. 22.

Pharmacists at all 8,200 U.S. Walgreens stores had to start manually filling prescriptions on Tuesday morning after the glitch occurred following overnight maintenance. As of the afternoon of Sept. 24, thousands of stores still lacked access to Walgreens’ central pharmacy database.

As of Oct. 1, retailers who do not comply with the Europay, Mastercard, Visa (EMV) security standard that relies on embedded chips in payment cards face a shift in card fraud liability. Many EMV issues have not yet been resolved. Here are three big ones:

Swipe left out
Retailers have been warned repeatedly that if they do not implement EMV-compliant POS terminals, they will bear liability for any fraud resulting from an EMV card transaction.

As an organizer of professional golf tournaments, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida-based PGA Tour may not jump to mind as a retailer. But PGA Tour operates a full-service café at its headquarters and also occasionally offers pop-up cafes at tournament events.

The emphasis on omnichannel commerce has largely laid to rest (at least for now) the debate of online versus offline. Indeed, A.T. Kearney put it best in the title of a recent study, “On Solid Ground: Brick and Mortar is the Foundation of Omnichannel Retailing.”

Teen apparel retailer Hollister will remove the steps from its store entrances following a six-year court battle.

The company, owned by Abercrombie & Fitch Co., has agreed to eliminate the steps that part of the exterior design of many of its stores in order to make the doorways wheelchair accessible, the Associated Press reported. The change is part of a settlement approved by a federal judge.

Between new formats, e-commerce efforts and supply chain initiatives, interesting times are ahead for Bed Bath & Beyond – even if second quarter sales were weak and profits declined.

Shopify is keeping busy these days. The cloud-based omnichannel retail platform is launching a new credit card reader that will allow U.S.-based Shopify merchants to securely accept chip and PIN, tap, and swipe credit and debit cards.

The reader will also accept contactless payment technologies like Apple Pay. The device is designed for Shopify POS, the company’s iPad and iPhone POS used by retail and pop-up stores. Shopify is currently accepting pre-orders, with card readers to ship in the fourth quarter of this year.