News

Shell Retail adds new life into POS
The fuel retail industry may innovate at a snail’s pace, but Shell Retail is bucking the trend.

Following a year-long proof-of-concept, the gasoline and convenience store retailer is embarking on an iPad-based point-of-sale (POS) deployment at dedicated locations. The robust cloud-based system is designed to centrally manage fuel stations and markets more effectively; ensure compliance with data security standards, and most importantly, improve the customer experience through the point-of-purchase.
New Saks is ‘first of its kind’
Saks Fifth Avenue’s new store in New York City is unlike any other the retailer has opened to date.

Located at Brookfield Place in lower Manhattan, the 86,000-sq.-ft. store is decidedly smaller than most Saks’ locations. It feels more like a boutique than a department store, with some traditional departments, such as handbags eliminated. (Handbags and certain other products are grouped by brand as opposed to category.) It also boasts such new services as a “power lunch” offering.

Hostage By Hanjin: How to keep inventory moving when supply stops

The collapse of Hanjin Shipping, the seventh largest freight carrier in the world, has left $14 billion worth of cargo in limbo. Much of that is literally floating around in the ocean, unable to dock; the rest is sitting idle in ports waiting to be unloaded. For Samsung, that means $38 million worth of electronics and appliances are held hostage in the carrier-bankruptcy case. And HP has 500 containers filled with computers waiting to reach American soil.
Innovative concept changes things up at Santa Monica Place

Out with the old, in with the new at Macerich’s Santa Monica Place, in Santa Monica, California. WithMe, an interactive brick-and-mortar shopping experience that features limited runs of traditional and pure-play retail brands, has opened three new fashion pop-ups in its flagship space at the mall.
Walgreens gives update on Rite Aid deal; ups store divesture estimate

Based on ongoing discussions with the Federal Trade Commission, Walgreens Boots Alliance gave an update on the amount of stores it will need to divest to win approval for its acquisition of Rite Aid. Walgreens Boots Alliance said it now expects that the most likely outcome will be that the companies will be required to divest more than 500 stores, but fewer than 1,000 stores. The company previously said that it expected it would have to divest 500 or fewer stores.
Office Depot rewards ‘mobile abstinence’ among college students

Taking a lesson from B.F. Skinner, Office Depot is taking steps to reward college students for refraining from using their phones at the most critical time of the day — during class. College students are so obsessed, and thus distracted, by their phones that 33% said they checked their device a minimum of 10 times a day, according to a study conducted by the College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Kimco announces $265 million in deals

Kimco Realty Corp. has purchased the remaining 85% interest in a four-property joint venture portfolio, a deal that includes the assumption of $103 million in mortgage debt. The company also announced it had acquired a Whole Foods-anchored center in the D.C. area for $95 million.
Sportswear brand launches PLM

Collaboration is key when it comes to seamlessly creating private-label apparel to sell across branded stores and department store partners. In effort to streamline information sharing across product development processes, GANT is deploying a product lifecycle management (PLM) solution that promises to improve its product-hit rate, shorten lead times, and enhance margins.
Chain Store Age welcomes readers of Retailing Today

Chain Store Age is pleased to announce that its sister brand, Retailing Today, has become part of a larger, more robust Chain Store Age, one with greater industry coverage and retail audience reach. “With the merging of Retailing Today into Chain Store Age, readers and advertisers can expect a comprehensive brand representing the full range of omnichannel retail operations,” said Gary Esposito, group publisher, Chain Store Age.
CEO of Pier 1 Imports stepping down

Pier I Imports is on the hunt for a new chief executive. The home décor retailer said that its board of directors had “mutually agreed” with Alex W. Smith that he will step down as president, CEO and a board member, effective Dec. 31, 2016. Pier I’s board is working with Korn Ferry to find a new CEO.