News

Spotlight on New Formats
Two big retail names, Dollar General and Abercrombie & Fitch, recently unveiled new store formats that differ dramatically from their traditional concepts. Here’s a look at their new initiatives:

Dollar General
One of the nation’s fastest-growing retailers is putting the focus on convenience, targeting a new demographic with a smaller-store concept called DGX.
Dollar General debuted the new format, which has 3,400 sq. ft. of selling space, in Nashville, Tenn. A second location is set to open in Raleigh, N.C.
Ikea marks construction milestone
The iconic blue panels are going up on what will be Ikea’s fourth store in Texas. The 290,000-sq.-ft. store is located in Grand Prairie, 14 miles outside of downtown Dallas. It is scheduled to open in fall 2017. Ikea is bullish on expansion in Texas. The retailer previously announced plans for a store in Fort Worth, and also one in the San Antonio area. Both locations are scheduled to open in summer 2019.

Robots Set to Revolutionize Store Experience

Steve Carlin, VP and general manager of SoftBank Robotics, spoke with Chain Store Age about how robots are helping to reinvent the in-store shopping experience.
What trends are advancing interest in robot technology at the store level?
A few trends have helped set the stage for in-store robotics.
Going Against the Grain

Large-format experiential stores focus on customer experience, convenience
At a time when many retailers are cutting back on brick-and-mortar investments to focus on e-commerce, a few notable ones are taking the opposite approach. They are launching large-format experiential stores to immerse customers in the full brand experience and offer items in each product category, from couches to dresses.
Walmart updates app to speed up in-store pharmacy refills, money transfers

Walmart has updated its mobile app with features that provide for paperless transactions for pharmacy and money services customers. The upgrades will allow people using the chain’s pharmacies and money services to complete paperwork online via their smartphones and skip ahead of other customers when they get to the store by using new designated “express lanes” in those areas.
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.
Project Profiles

Main Street Promenade

Location: Naperville, Ill.

Size: About 182,000 sq. ft.

Owner: Retail Properties of America Inc.

Key tenants: Anthropologie, J.Crew, Soft Surroundings, Ann Taylor Loft, Sur La Table, White House Black Market, and Hugo’s Frog Bar & Fish House

Status: Open and operating, but includes a vacant parcel that has approval for future development of up to 62,000 sq. ft. of mixed-use space
Spotlight on Sign Management Management

Retail signs have undergone a major evolution in recent years fueled by the adoption of digital technologies. Marilyn Brennan, business development manager at Egan Sign, spoke with Chain Store Age about the status of sign management in retail.
What trends are you seeing with regard to retail sign programs?
Analysis: Target needs to balance online growth with store growth

The holidays did not bring much cheer for Target, which saw both sales and profit decline during the golden quarter. Worryingly, comparable sales fell at an accelerated pace, ending up at their most negative point for of the fiscal year. The one bit of sparkle in an otherwise dreary set of figures came from digital where sales grew by a stellar 34%, a pace of expansion well above online growth in the whole U.S. market.
Women’s activewear brand to close stores

Lucy Activewear plans to shutter its retail store operation, and merge with a sister brand. Lucy, which is owned by VF Corp., will merge with The North Face, also owned by VF.