News

BIG DEALS, FEWER SQUARE FEET
Our fastest-growing acquirers bought fewer square feet than in 2013. But the deals may be even better.

Editor’s Note: The 26th annual Chain Store Age survey of Fastest-Growing Acquirers surveyed retail square footage purchased during the 2014 calendar year.

Retail real estate acquisitions slowed in 2014. The year’s five Fastest-Growing Acquirers purchased approximately 10 million fewer square feet than the top five bought in 2013.

That may be a deceptive observation.
ECRM/Retailing Today Supplier Showcase: Loco Brands

Gene Operle, Regional Sales Manager for Hallandale Beach, Fla.-based Loco Brands, participated in ECRM’s recent Snack & Dry Grocery Event in Jacksonville, Fla.

FIVE STEPS TO COMPLIANCE

Tom Lichford, VP retail technologies, NRF, recommends retailers seeking to achieve compliance with upcoming October 2015 EMV mandate take the following five steps:

1. CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE: “No matter what, start with customer experience,” advised Litchford. Retailers need to determine such factors as whether they will use self-service or traditional POS, customer prompts and screen displays, and how checkout speed will be impacted.
Session Spotlight: Reinventing Brick-and-Mortar

Brick-and-mortar stores are in transition from being viewed as a relic of the 20th century to being understood as the linchpin of 21st century omnichannel retailing.
CELEBRATING CELEBRATION POINTE

Florida’s first transit-oriented development opens fall 2016

It may be hard to imagine that the home to one of the largest public universities in the United States is somewhat undersung. But that’s exactly what the developers of the 1 million-sq.-ft.
CHANNELING CUSTOMER LOYALTY

Sean Claessen, executive VP strategy and executive creative director, Bond Brand Loyalty, spoke with Chain Store Age about how retailers can build customer relationships and loyalty in the era of omnichannel engagement.
Retail veteran named Bartell Drugs CEO

A 30-year veteran of REI has been named as the new CEO of Bartell Drugs.
Water Conservation

The famous poetic line “water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink” may hold more truth than most retailers realize.

“Less than 1% of water is drinkable and readily available, and less than 1% of that is surface water,” Jerry Yudelson, president, Green Building Initiative, told SPECS attendees.
CURATING A NEIGHBORHOOD

Downtown LA’s South Park will emerge as a new retail district

It’s rare enough for any developer — or group of developers and brokers — to plan an entirely new retail district almost literally from the ground up. It’s utterly unique to do so in one of the largest cities in the world.

Yet, that’s exactly what’s happening in Downtown Los Angeles’ South Park neighborhood.
TRENDING TOPICS

Apple’s Spaceship to Land
Apple will open its highly anticipated new campus in April. Dubbed Apple Park, the site is located on a 175-acre site in Cupertino, Calif.
The heart of the campus is a futuristic, ring-shaped, 2.8 million-sq.-ft. headquarters building that’s clad entirely in panels of curved glass. Designed in collaboration with Foster + Partners, Apple Park is powered by 100% renewable energy. With 17 megawatts of rooftop solar, the campus will run one of the largest on-site solar energy installations in the world.