News

Ikea has moved closer to breaking ground on its second location in the Dallas-Fort Worth-area store.   The home furnishings retailer announced it has hired the contractors to build its store in Grand Prairie, Texas. Groundbreaking for the planned 290,000-sq.-ft. store is expected next month. It’s expected to open in fall 2017.   Ikea has chosen Mycon General Contractors, Dallas, to serve as construction manager for the Grand Prairie site work and store development project.   

Photo: Paula Schneider    The saga continues at American Apparel.   Paula Schneider plans to step down as CEO of the apparel retailer on Oct. 3, according to yahoo.com, which cited a report by Women’s Wear Daily. Schneider will be replaced by the company’s general counsel and chief administrative officer, Chelsea Grayson.  

After keeping mum about a potential far-reaching data breach, Yahoo has finally come clean.   The search engine company confirmed today that account information for approximately 500 million users was stolen from the company’s network in late 2014.  

Hudson’s Bay Company plans to open Canada’s largest Saks Fifth Avenue store, in downtown Montreal.    Scheduled to open in fall 2018, the store will be co-located in the same building as Hudson’s Bay, which will undergo a multi-million dollar renovation. The new Saks will take up approximately 200,000 sq. ft. of the existing 650,000-sq.-ft. space.   

It’s no trick: Halloween spending is at an all-time high.   As Americans continue to splurge on their favorite candy and costumes in preparation for the upcoming Halloween season, the National Retail Federation’s annual survey reported that spending is expected to reach $8.4 billion — the highest level in the study’s history.  

Century 21 Department Store is getting into the private label credit card game.   The off-price retailer is collaborating with Alliance Data Systems to launch the brand’s first private label credit card. By connecting customized rewards and benefits to the payment card, the retailer expects to drive engagement and brand loyalty.   

Walmart hourly employees are being rewarded for helping to improve customers’ satisfaction with the discounter’s stores.   The world's largest retailer said Wednesday it awarded more than $200 million in second quarter cash bonuses to more than 900,000 hourly workers across the United States.  

While much emphasis is placed on optimizing the front-of-the-house retail experience, improving back-of-the-house operations can also help retailers better meet customers’ evolving expectations – and intelligent lighting systems may be a key to improving those operations.    

Magnolia Bakery, the Greenwich Village shop that ignited the cupcake craze with its appearance on "Sex in the City," opens this week at Woodbury Common Premium Outlets in Central Valley, New York.   This is the first storefront for Magnolia on the East Coast, aside from its original location. It maintains shops in Los Angeles, Chicago, Honolulu, Japan, Korea, Mexico, and the United Arab Emirates.  

Forget apparel, electronics and gift cards. Free shipping is expected to be the most-coveted wish among many shoppers this holiday season.   That’s according to the “The September 2016 Holiday Retail Report” from Radial and CFI Group, in which 91% of respondents said they would be willing to increase the size of their online order to qualify for free shipping.