News

Specialty beauty retailer Sephora is getting a better look at the merchandise its stores will need.

Security technology specialist Tyco International plc is continuing to expand its focus on providing store analytics to retailers.

Tyco has reached a definitive agreement to acquire ShopperTrak, a global provider of retail consumer behavioral data and location-based analytics, for approximately $175 million in cash.

Based in Chicago, ShopperTrak provides customer traffic and related intelligence to more than 1,200 retailers in 97 countries.

Three City Sports stores are being given a new lease on life.

Modell’s Sporting Goods has acquired three prime Northeast locations from City Sports, which filed for bankruptcy protection in October 2015 and subsequently announced plans to close all its stores. Beginning in early 2016, the stores, which range from 7,500 sq. ft. - 9,000 sq. ft. and are located in Philadelphia, Boston and Washington, D.C., will start to transition to the Modell’s format.

Auto chain Pep Boys announced Monday that a $16.50 per share takeover bid by activist investor Carl Icahn is a "superior offer" to a rival proposal by Bridgestone Retail Operations in September.

It's just the latest chapter in the ongoing saga of who gets to acquire Pep Boys, which has 800 locations in 35 states.

Pep Boys says it now prefers to take the offer from Icahn Enterprises and that Tokyo's Bridgestone Corp. has until Wednesday to up its bid.

In the final push to capture last minute sales, Macy’s has resorted to giving away $4.5 million in cash to customers at its stores across the country.

The promotion, which was not offered last year, was announced in a press released distributed at noon on Saturday, Dec. 19. The company said it would distribute $10 gift cards to the first 250 customers at 600 of its stores from Sunday, Dec. 20 through Tuesday, Dec. 22. The cards are only redeemable in store and must be used during the three day promotional window.

Westfield Corp. announced Monday it has sold five of its U.S. shopping malls — totaling more than 6 million sq. feet of retail space across four states — to help fund a property development program. The move is line with the company’s recent strategy to focus on its flagship assets, which include the new World Trade Center mall, due to open in spring 2016.

In many ways, 2015 marked the year the customer truly took over. Retailers recognized that constant connectivity and increasingly sophisticated consumer devices have created an environment where customers decide what they want, when and how they want it, and then choose the retailer who can best meet their needs.

In this environment, retailers scrambled to engage customers in a more personalized and direct way than ever before. Here are the top three customer engagement trends of 2015.

On the Go

Regional supermarket co-op Hy-Vee Inc. is giving customers seamless access to their purchases just in time for the holidays.

Earlier this year, 240-unit, West Des Moines, Iowa-based Hy-Vee launched Hy-Vee Aisles Online, a new service that allows customers to shop for their groceries, pay electronically and choose to pick up their order or have it delivered to their home. The rollout of the program began in select stores in the Des Moines metro area in April and was gradually launched across other markets throughout the summer.