News

Casto’s focus shifts to urban projects
Casto has been successful building shopping centers in Ohio for 70 years because it’s not afraid to shift with the times, Don M. Casto III said in yesterday’s edition of the Columbus Dispatch. The company has increasingly joined forces with other developers on mixed-use projects and turned back to its roots of building residences and retail buildings in downtown Columbus, the paper reported.
Pet giant lures former Restoration Hardware exec
Petco appointed retail veteran John Zavada as senior VP and CIO. In his new position, Zavada will lead Petco's information technology strategies, teams and projects, including the company's business process optimization and enterprise program management office. Prior to joining Petco, Zavada served as senior VP and CIO at Restoration Hardware. He also held CIO positions at Guitar Center, Big Lots, Limited Inc., and Victoria's Secret Stores.

Japanese plumbing giant opens luxury showroom

Shoppers can view and try out — but not buy — the innovative product line up from Toto at its new showroom space in New York City. The world's largest plumbing manufacturer is opening a high-design, experiential gallery to display its innovative bath products in Manhattan’s Flatiron district, the heart of the city's home design industry.
Not good for business: Retailers show outerwear amid 90 degree temps

Consumers’ new ‘buy now, wear now’ mentality it putting them at odds with retailers, many of whom are already pushing outerwear and other cold weather gear.
Walmart vet joins online retailer

Photo: Vidya Jwala Overstock.com has nabbed a Walmart VP. The online retailer named Vidya Jwala as senior VP of demand fulfillment, responsible for overseeing the e-commerce leader’s sourcing, merchandising, supply chain and customer-care businesses. Jwala joins Overstock from Walmart, where, as VP of merchandising and operations, he focused on merchandising planning, category management, pricing and costing.
Report: Holiday shopping, driven by digital, to get early start

Gone are the days when Black Friday signified the official launch of the holiday shopping season. In fact, nearly half (49%) of shoppers will have a bulk of their holiday shopping done by Thanksgiving Day, according to a new survey from market intelligence solutions provider Market Track. And digital deals will be the catalyst.
Mattress Firm and Steinhoff — done deal

A South African-based company is now the owner of the largest mattress retailer in the United States. Steinhoff International Holdings NV announced it completed its acquisition of Mattress Firm Holding Corp. As a result of the completion of the transaction, which was first announced in August, Mattress Firm’s common stock will no longer be traded on the NASDAQ stock market.
Store traffic is down and it may not come back. What should retailers do about it?

By any measure, empirical and anecdotal, the number of people visiting retail stores is down. There are plenty of theories about why: it’s the mass movement of shoppers to online; it’s changing consumer preferences; it’s the weather; it’s those pesky, hard-to- figure-out millennials who would rather hunt for Pokémon than bargains at the mall.
Unusual deal gives Aeropostale new lease on life — and it just got better

A first-of-its kind arrangement has saved Aeropostale. A consortium made up of Authentic Brands Group (ABG) and two of the nation’s largest real estate companies — General Growth Properties and Simon Property Group — announced it has finalized the acquisition of the teen apparel retailer. It is the first time that mall operators have participated in a deal to acquire a retail chain.
Warehouse, London