News

Pre-leasing has begun on a $100 million mixed-use complex developed by Forest City Realty Trust that offers retailers an interesting opportunity to serve the bustling Chinatown area of Los Angeles.

The project, named Blossom Plaza, will feature 237 apartments and 19,000-sq.-ft. of commercial space on a two acre tract at the intersection of Broadway and College Street. Leasing the space on behalf of Forest City will be JLL VP Lorena Tomb and associate Danielle Cornwell.

Shopper center operators have a new ally in their efforts to drive traffic called Cowboys Saloon: American Bar & Grill.

Cowboys is a new food and entertainment concept billed as a destination restaurant and country-western venue that is looking to grow rapidly the next few years. Founded six years ago, Cowboys is on a growth trajectory to operate more than 20 locations by 2018, up from the seven locations that will be open by year end.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recognized Staples with a 2016 Energy Star Partner of the Year — Sustained Excellence Award for its continued leadership in protecting the environment through superior energy efficiency achievements.

Staples, an Energy Star partner since 1992, is being honored for the energy efficient achievements of the certification of 612 total buildings, and recertification of 33 buildings in 2015.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the hottest topics in retail technology. While there has been a lot of talk about IoT’s status as a game-changer for retail, there has been less discussion on exactly how it will drive industry transformation.

Here are three specific ways IoT will bring about a new era in retail operations.

Automatic shopping

American Family Association has called on its members to boycott Target Corp. over the chain’s decision to allow transgender employees and customers to use bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity.

The group said it had gathered 172,494 signatures on a boycott petition by mid-morning on Friday.

Whether you're in-store or online, the benefits of a personalized customer experience are undeniable. We want salespeople who can help us find exactly what we're looking for as quickly as possible; we return to lunch spots where all we have to ask for is "the usual." For e-tailers, personalization has traditionally relied upon recommendation engines, algorithms that look to match prior consumer clicks and purchases with like-minded cohorts. And personalization is indeed effective for those e-commerce sites.

Inspired by the history of Hollywood, Starbucks has set up shop at Universal Boulevard, a new main street-styled retail destination at Universal Studios Hollywood.

The façade of the 5,000-sq.-ft. store is broken up into multiple buildings, as if it had originally been the site of several small shops. The interior is fashioned as one grand space. A banquette made of reclaimed black walnut wood curves like a siren’s tale, creating seating eddies.

Duluth Holdings just put a key element of its growth strategy in place, choosing cloud commerce solutions provider Demandware to integrate its physical and digital presence.

Going to market under the banner of Duluth Trading Company, the retailer said it selected Demandware to optimize is digital and omnichannel growth strategies.

Troubled teen retailer Aeropostale Inc. has been dealt another blow.

On Friday, the New York Stock Exchange suspended trading of the retailer’s stock with immediate effect, due to an "abnormally low" trading price.

Aeropostale does not intend to appeal the delisting. It said its shares will instead be traded on the OTCQX Best Market, an over-the-counter market operated by OTC Markets Group Inc. The new ticker is "AROP".

Macy's chose Earth Day to give an update on its ongoing solar power deployments.

The retailer, in a 10-year partnership with SunPower Corp., has deployed SunPower solar systems at, or planned for, 71 Macy's and Bloomingdale's locations in 10 states, totaling approximately 39 megawatts.

Fifty SunPower systems are operating to date, and the company is contracted to install its technology at 21 additional Macy's and Bloomingdale's facilities this year.