News

Design Within Reach has unveiled its new location at NorthPark Center in Dallas.    At nearly 13,500 sq. ft., the space is three times the size of the previous temporary space the company occupied at the center. The retailer partnered with New York-based architecture firm DFA to bring the new store to life.  

PREIT announced that it has fully leased the space vacated by Sears at Magnolia Mall, nine months after the store closed shop at the Florence, South Carolina, property.   Burlington opens in a 46,000-sq.-ft. space there this week. It will be joined by HomeGoods (20,000 sq. ft.) and Five Below (8,500 sq. ft.) in the spring. Also slated to open at that time is a 20,000-sq.-ft. H&M store.  

Looking toward the future, Toys ‘R’ Us’ CEO has established a recovery plan.   In a meeting at Toys “R” Us’ pop-up store in Times Square, chief executive David Brandon outlined the company’s turnaround plan, internally called “Project Sunrise.” From a high-level, it includes integrating its online and in-store shopping experiences, adding faster shipping and better technology and customer service, according to Reuters.  

Amazon is giving Hilton Honors members a new way to redeem their points.    The global hospitality company is joining Amazon’s Shop With Points program, a move that will enable Hilton Honors members to redeem their loyalty points for purchases on Amazon. Hilton is the first hotel brand to join Amazon’s program.   

Walmart is bucking the holiday hiring trend again this year.    Unlike other competitors that are hiring thousands of temporary workers to service shoppers during the holiday season, the discount giant plans to offer extra hours to its current associates. These shifts will staff traditional roles like cashier and stocker, and newly created technology-empowered positions, such as personal shoppers and Pickup associates, according to Walmart.  

To work in retail is to accept the inevitability of déjà vu. But what returns is often never quite the same, as can be seen in the current struggle by many shopping malls to generate enough traffic to remain viable. Let me take you back to the days of my initiation to retail in New Orleans (site of next week’s National Retail Tenants Association conference), when malls began rising in former fields and woodlands and store owners in all regions struggled to manage the change.  

Walmart and Target are among the companies pressuring political leaders to find a solution for the roughly 800,000 immigrants known as “Dreamers.”  

American Eagle Outfitters is entering an emerging global retail market.   The teen retailer is preparing for its debut in India. American Eagle’s expansion will be supported through a multi-year license agreement with the Aditya Birla Group. The Indian conglomerate has an extensive retail portfolio, as well as strong digital and omnichannel capabilities.    The first stores are expected to open in Mumbai and Delhi in Spring 2018.