News Briefs

Brick-and-mortar book stores are having a resurgence — or at least Barnes & Noble is.

The bookseller expects to open more than 60 new bookstores in 2025. Barnes & Noble said it is experiencing strong sales at its existing stores and has been opening new stores after more than 15 years of declining store numbers. In 2024, the company opened 57 stores — more than it had in the whole decade from 2009 to 2019.

Barnes & Noble will open a store on April 23 in Naperville, Ill., in a space that formerly housed Pottery Barn, just up the street from its former location. The Naperville location is one of four new Barnes & Noble bookstores set to open in April, alongside stores in Florida, Nebraska and New York. 

“We are very happy to return to Naperville, where for 25 years we were a community staple,” said James Daunt, CEO of Barnes & Noble. “Our longtime booksellers are as eager to be back in town as they are to welcome customers into their brand-new Naperville Barnes & Noble.”

The nation’s largest retail bookseller was acquired by British private equity group Elliott Investment Management in 2019. The all-cash deal was valued at about $683 million. The deal followed Elliott’s 2018 acquisition of Waterstones, the largest retail bookseller in the U.K. 

A Midwestern farm and ranch supplies retailer is the latest to deploy an autonomous, shelf-scanning inventory robot at its stores.

Theisen’s Home•Farm•Auto has introduced Simbe’s Tally at three of its stores in Dubuque and Dyersville, Iowa and Jefferson, Wis. This marks the retailer’s first phase of adopting robotic technology to deliver an “even better experience to customers and associates alike.”

Tally robots utilize AI and computer vision to scan the store multiple times a day and read tags on various fixture types, including shelves, hooks, bins and top stock. The robots capture and process images of shelf conditions in near real-time, translating inventory data into insights available on the Simbe platform and mobile app.

Simbe says with Tally’s insights, store teams can ensure that customers’ desired items are adequately stocked and priced right, while also enabling faster fulfillment of online orders. Other retailers who have deployed Tally to its stores include Wakefern Food Corp., SpartanNash and more.

“We are committed to delivering the highest quality shopping experience for our valued customers, and Tally is a powerful tool for taking that to the next level,” said Steve Jensen, chief merchandising and marketing officer at Theisen’s. “Bringing Tally to our Dubuque, Dyersville, and Jefferson locations is an exciting step forward. This technology makes daily tasks more efficient, so our teams can focus on what matters most – taking care of customers.”

[READ MORE: Country Supplier rolls out autonomous robots in stores]

Family-owned and operated since 1927, Theisen’s offers a wide range of products including farm and ranch supplies, pet food, home improvement essentials, and outdoor gear at its 24 locations in Iowa and Wisconsin.

Toys”R”Us continues to expand its global strategy.

The retailer said it will enter the Chilean and Peruvian markets through a strategic partnership with Ripley. It expects to begin operations in the last quarter of 2025. The partnership will begin with a shop-in-shop format, with the initial phase complemented by an e-commerce program.

With a strong presence in Chile and Peru, Ripley operates more than 70 department stores and and e-commerce platform. The company also manages shopping malls in both countries and as a financial services division as well. 

"We are thrilled to partner with Ripley, a strong retailer who shares our vision of creating memorable experiences for families," said Jamie Uitdenhowen, executive VP of Toys“R”Us at WHP Global, which owns the Toys“R”Us brand. "Chile and Peru are markets that value quality and innovation in retail — values that have defined Toys"R"Us for over 70 years. This partnership will allow us to bring our unique shopping experience to families in both countries, continuing our commitment to celebrating the magic of play with children of all ages."

The expansion into Chile and Peru comes after Toys”R”Us has expanded into Mexico, and is getting ready to make its debut in Latin America, with a flagship set to open in Panama in 2025. (A Babies”R”Us flagship is also opening in Panama.)

“This is a great moment for Ripley and for families in Chile and Peru,” said Jacko Alvo, corporate business manager at Ripley Corp. “With this alliance, Ripley will be one of the first retailers in Latin America to integrate this iconic chain into its commercial offering.”

Toys”R”Us has more than 1,500 stores in 35 countries.

A major convenience store/fuel retailer is streamlining store management workflows in 12 European countries.

Circle K, which operates almost 5,000 locations across Europe and is a subsidiary of Alimentation Couche-Tard, is deploying the Quorso Intelligent Management Platform across 12 countries in 11 different languages. The solution consolidates typically siloed store management solutions, such as tasks, surveys, performance analytics, and exception reporting.

"Quorso’s store-first approach, utilizing data to support personalized actions, has received overwhelming support from our store and sales market managers," said Finn Legaard Kopart, head of operations excellence Europe at Circle K. "We’ve initially started on improving sales and cutting waste in our stores but are really excited by the flexibility to target every aspect of operations."

By leveraging the Quorso platform, Circle K intends to enable store personnel to spend more time with customers and on the sales floor, focusing on actions that will drive value for shoppers. This fits in with a store operations strategy the retailer calls "Fast, Friendly, and Customer Ready."

"We are thrilled to be collaborating with Circle K to bring simpler, more effective operations to their teams," said Julian Mills, CEO of Quorso. "Our partnership with Circle K has broadened our ability to work on an international scale and localize the Quorso platform for users across many countries."

Operating more than 6,800 company-owned stores across the U.S., Circle K operates in 29 countries and territories. 

In January 2025, Circle K parent Couche-Tard upped its offer for 7-Eleven global parent Seven & i to $47 billion, and the companies have been in negotiations ever since.

[READ MORE: Couche-Tard expresses confidence about its deal to buy parent company of 7-Eleven]

Target Corp. is now selling wine in paper bottles.

The company is the first major U.S. food retailer to commission a range of sustainable wines in low carbon paper bottles that will save the equivalent of nearly 100 tons of carbon dioxide, according to U.K. packaging company Frugalpac. Target’s Collective Good brand wine assortment, which is bottled exclusively in Frugalpac’s paper "Frugal Bottle," is now on sale in nearly 1,200 of the company’s stores. 

The bottle is made from 94% recycled paperboard with a food-grade pouch to hold the liquid. The pouch is also certified recyclable and is a polyethylene

According to Frugalpac, the Frugal Bottle is five-times lighter than a glass bottle and uses six-times less carbon and energy to produce and dispose. The carbon footprint of a standard glass wine bottle is 15.52 ounces carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e), compared with a Frugal Bottle, at 3.23 ounces CO₂e. 

The Collective Good range is a collaboration between Danville, Calif.-based Latitude Wines, which sourced and imported the wines, and Monterey Wine Co., which filled the paper bottles. All of the wines sold in the paper bottles were grown on sustainable vineyards.

The nation’s largest mattress specialty retailer is enhancing its supply chain operations with AI-based inventory optimization technology.

Mattress Firm Group Inc. is implementing artificial intelligence-driven inventory solutions for demand forecasting, store and distribution center replenishment, and merchandise financial planning from Invent.ai. 

"We were impressed with expected ROI modeling and accelerated time to value," said Deborah Weidemeyer, VP merchandising lifecycle management, Mattress Firm. "These two key factors along with leading science, a simplified approach to better business outcomes and continuous support and learning through the hub model, led Mattress Firm to select Invent.ai as our partner."

Mattress Firm gets new owner

Mattress Firm is rolling out its new omnichannel product protection plan following the recent completion of Tempur Sealy’s acquisition of Mattress Firm Group Inc. The total purchase price was approximately $5 billion, which is about $1 billion more than when the deal was first announced. 

[READ MORE: Tempur Sealy to change its name; completes acquisition of Mattress Firm]

Founded in 1986, Mattress Firm operates more than 2,300 stores in addition to an e-commerce site. Tempur Sealy’s brands include Tempur-Pedic, Sealy and Stearns & Foster, along with non-branded offerings consisting of private label and OEM products. The company’s products are sold through its 700-plus stores and e-commerce channels as well as third-party retailers.