News

True Colors: Painting update
In remodels and new construction, paint is one of a retailer’s most effective design tools, both from a cost and overall appearance standpoint. Chain Store Age spoke with Jim Gorman, senior strategic account manager at Benjamin Moore & Co., who discussed trends and offered some advice on how retailers can get the most for their painting investment.

What are some of the trends you are seeing in retail and restaurant spaces in regard to the use of paint?
Winter facilities preparation
From parking lots and roofs filled with snow to sustained below-freezing temperatures, winter brings with it a long list of facility maintenance concerns for retailers. Here are some tips to ensure facilities are properly vetted for cold weather.

Regis Corp. to focus on value segment

The nation's leading salon operator has entered into a major transaction that will reshape its portfolio. Regis Corporation announced it has sold substantially all of its mall-based salon businesses in North America and entered into an agreement to sell substantially all of its International segment to The Beautiful Group, an affiliate of Regent, who will operate them as the company’s largest franchisee.
Boston beckons

Marcus & Millichap’s Q2 Boston market report signals urgency to retailers like the famed lamps Paul Revere placed in the tower of the Old North Church. To wit:
Amazon blends online and offline

Eleven brick-and-mortar stores — and counting. That’s where Amazon Books stands after the opening of its new outpost in New York.

Located on 34th Street across from the Empire State Building in Midtown Manhattan, the 5,200-sq.-ft. store is part bookstore, part high-tech electronics shop, with a cafe for shoppers to linger in.
Publix signs on as anchor at new Alabama center

Thanks to Wernher von Braun, who developed the Saturn V rocket in the Alabama town, Huntsville is known as the Rocket City. Now the appellation is being applied to its population.
Toy retailer prepares for newest business channel — an online marketplace

Toys “R” Us is adding a new customer touch-point that it will use to get merchandise into shoppers hands faster.
Study: Store managers’ roles evolve in the unified commerce era

To effectively service shoppers at store-level, managers need to evolve beyond their sales roles and become “problem solvers.” This means store managers must learn to master the combination of order fulfillment, inventory visibility and staffing to keep up with customer demands, according to the “Voice of Store Manager Survey,” a study from JDA Software Group. The second annual study is based on responses from 252 US-based retail store managers compiled in August.
Canadian athletic wear retailer to make U.S. store debut

RYU Apparel is coming to the Big Apple. RYU (Respect Your Universe) announced plans to open a store in in the hip Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. The 2,800-sq.-ft. store, the brand's first in the U.S., will open in the first quarter of 2018.
A Gap brand reaches for the cloud

A specialty retailer is streamlining its merchandising operations. Gap's Intermix division has become the company's first brand to transition to the cloud. The upscale specialty retailer is leveraging Oracle’s cloud-based platform to drive efficiencies across merchandising and inventory management. The platform supports end-to-end operational efficiencies and empowers the business teams among specialty apparel company Intermix.