News

Amazon is looking to give Alibaba and JD.com a run for the money on their home turf.   The online giant is making its Amazon Prime subscription service available in China, a country where it has struggled to gain market share.     

Five grocery tech experts chimed in on the recent report that Amazon is planning a major move into the brick-and-mortar grocery store space, and see the potential for up to 2,000 branded grocery stores over the next 10 years.   

Online shopping is expected to reach record levels this holiday season, with some reports suggesting it may even match — for the first time ever — physical store spending.     

REI has opened it largest location on the East Coast, a 51,000-sq.ft. flagship in Washington, D.C.   The store is designed to offer members of the outdoor community a place to meet and plan adventures — and shop for outdoor gear. It includes such features as a 1,052-sq.-ft. cafe, outdoor courtyard with a fire pit and tables, and a community space that offers a robust schedule of free and low-cost classes in-store classes for cycling, paddling, fitness, hiking and camping, climbing, snow sports, photography and wilderness medicine.

To bolster its omnichannel efforts, Lowe’s promoted Michael McDermott to chief customer officer.   McDermott, who currently serves as Lowe's chief merchandising officer, will be responsible for creating experiences that best serve customers and differentiate Lowe's in an omnichannel environment. This includes lead-ing strategies, customer insights, customer experience design and market-ing.   

PREIT’s stated strategic shift to pack its portfolio with more relevant anchors is moving ahead at full steam.   At its Cumberland Mall in New Jersey this month, Dick’s Sporting Goods opened in a 50,000-sq.-ft. space vacated by J.C. Penney. In December, another former Penney’s space will debut as a Round One Entertainment location, and being readied for 2017 openings at other PREIT malls are Home Goods and Field & Stream stores, a Whole Foods Market, and a Legoland Discovery Center.  

Sleepsherpa.com, an online sleep resource that offers reviews of mattresses, bedding, pillows and sleep devices, has entered the physical space.   The company has opened a mattress showroom in Edina, Minn., that allows customers to try out a selection of the online-only mattress brands that have sprung up the past few years and disrupted the traditional mattress-buying model by offering generous trial periods and low pricing.    

The nation’s largest auto dealership chain is expanding its brand into new areas of the automotive retail sector.    AutoNation announced it will debut a new format, a standalone concept called AutoNation USA, that will be dedicated to used-car sales and also serve as service centers, offering scheduled maintenance and repair work along with express service. The company has identified 25 sites to launch the concept, with five expected to open in 2017.     

Office Depot is giving holiday shoppers almost a month-long head start on the season.    The office supplies company is kicking off Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals on Oct. 30 — a move that it anticipates will save its loyal shoppers time and money this holiday season. Deals will be available at stores, as well as on the Office Depot’s website.  

Despite gains in the third quarter, Amazon’s stock fell 6% in extended trading.   The pure-play retailer’s net sales increased 29% to $32.7 billion for the third quarter ending Sept. 30, 2016, compared with $25.4 billion in third quarter 2015. The company credits the jump to $52 million in year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter.