News

Kohl’s is in growth mode when it comes to the retailer’s store base.

Next year, Kohl’s plans to open five to 10 new stores in a smaller 35,000-sq.-ft. prototype, aimed at underserved areas. Kohl’s also plans to open 10 to 15 stores dedicated to its proprietary Fila brand in outlet malls across the country. Additionally, the retailer will open two more Off-Aisle by Kohl’s off-price locations in 2016.

Walgreens Boots Alliance and Rite Aid Tuesday evening announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Walgreens Boots Alliance will acquire all outstanding shares of Rite Aid for $9 per share in cash, for a total enterprise value of approximately $17.2 billion, including acquired net debt.

Moms are now much more likely than ever to complete a purchase via mobile, rather than simply using their devices to compare prices and find coupons.

According to a new infographic from pregnancy and parenting website BabyCenter, in just one year, there has been a 33% increase in moms using their smartphones for making actual purchases. Sixty-four percent of moms say they had completed a purchase via mobile in the last month, in comparison to 48% who said the same in 2014.

Ikea plans to install a solar energy system atop its Las Vegas store, opening summer 2016.

Panel installation will begin this winter, with completion expected in spring for what Ikea says will be the largest single-use rooftop solar array by a retailer in the state of Nevada. The 351,000-sq.-ft. future Ikea Las Vegas, and 1,300 parking spaces, currently is under construction.

Two weeks after publicly stating it had lost $56 million processing payments for Starbucks, Square no longer has to worry about future losses.

Starbucks has selected Chase Commerce Solutions, the global payment processing and merchant acquiring division of JPMorgan Chase & Co., to transition processing of all non-mobile payments and U.S. retail card payment transactions in company-operated stores. Chase will also partner with Starbucks on the rollout of chip-enabled payment terminals.

A new holiday shopping survey reveals major disruptions in holiday shopping traditions, largely due to digital engagement.

Deloitte’s 30th annual holiday survey of consumer spending intentions and trends finds that some shopping traditions are losing their luster.

Key findings from the survey of more than 4,000 U.S. consumers include:

Coach says increased demand for its merchandise and fewer discounts led the luxury goods maker and retailer to report increased profit in the first quarter despite a steep 9.5% drop in same-store sales.

The company said that for the first quarter ended Sept. 26, earnings were 41 cents a share (analysts expected 40 cents). Net income fell 19% to $96.4 million. Sales dropped 0.8% to $1.03 billion in the quarter, missing analysts’ $1.04 billion projection.

Kroger customers who don’t have time to do their own shopping have another option.

At its investor meeting, Kroger officially announced the name of its click & collect program – “ClickList.” Click & collect lets customers select (and in many cases pay) for groceries online. Store employees then gather the items off store shelves for convenient customer pickup.