News

Wine merchant acquires taste for physical stores
The formerly online only retailer The Wine Cellar Group isn’t afraid of competition. The company is pursuing its brick and mortar ambitions with a new store in the backyard of Amazon.com and Costco, the nation’s largest seller of wine.

Born online in 1990, The Wine Cellar Group opened its first store in 2012 and has since grown to nine locations. Its newest store will be a Wine Cellar Outlet and is set to open later this year in the Heritage Square shopping center in the Seattle suburb of Issaquah, Costco’s hometown.
Webinar: Data drives store performance
When store managers have timely access to traffic and conversion data, good things happen.

NRF lauds retail supporters in Congress

The National Retail Federation (NRF) is saying thanks to representatives in Congress who back retailers on important issues.
Crossing Over: Bridge Park builds community connection

In Dublin, Ohio, an ambitious new development is taking shape – a project with the potential to literally and figuratively remake the city’s development landscape. The project is Bridge Park, a $350 million mixed-use development that is the central component of a larger 1,100-acre Bridge Street District development plan. The project is the first step in a comprehensive master-planned vision that was formally approved by Dublin’s City Council in 2010.
Amazon ups holiday storage fees

Amazon Marketplace sellers may want to run a little leaner this holiday season.

According to Re/Code, Amazon has notified merchants its third-party Marketplace platform will raise its warehouse storage fees during November and December 2016. The e-tail giant experienced profit-damaging storage space shortages during the 2015 holiday season and is trying to avoid a repeat of the problem.
Victoria’s Secret taps former Nike exec as CEO

L Brands subsidiary Victoria’s Secret has named a veteran of the specialty and intimate apparel verticals as its new CEO.

Jan Singer, who served as CEO of Spanx from June 2014 – March 2016, is now CEO of Victoria’s Secret. Previously, she held corporate VP positions at Nike from February 2004 – June 2014.
CVS says 'so long' to printed receipts

Photo: CVS Pharmacy President Helena Foulkes unveiled digital receipts in a surprise appearance on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live on Friday evening.
Gamification comes to Grand Bazaar Shops

The Grand Bazaar Shops in Las Vegas has added an experiential element to the center, which lets visitors play games and engage with tenants in new ways.

The introduction of new interactive, digital games means guests can now play games on their phones and the center’s website to win prizes redeemable across Grand Bazaar Shops’ retail and dining venues.
Toys ‘R’ Us names AEO exec as global tech head

Toys “R” Us Inc. is creating a new position of CTO and turning to a veteran of American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) to fill it.

Lance Wills will join Toys “R” Us as executive VP, global CTO effective June 13. He will report directly to chairman and CEO Dave Brandon. In his newly created role, Wills will oversee global and IT digital strategy, including governance and infrastructure.
How the West will be won

The tenant mix is neighborhood shopping centers is western states is transforming as centers looking to remain relevant to shoppers and more effectively compete with other types of centers.