News

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf goes wireless
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, a leading specialty coffee and tea retailer, is leveraging wireless technology to retain existing customers and encourage new ones to come into their stores.

The company will test wireless charging with Power Matters Alliance at select Los Angeles locations and plans to deploy wireless charging with PMA in dozens of California stores this quarter, with the aim of expanding nationally and internationally shortly thereafter.
Bare Necessities entices tech-savvy shoppers
EDISON, N.J. — Bare Necessities, an online specialty retailer of women's and men's branded and designer intimate apparel and lingerie, has launched an interactive look book showcasing Wacoal’s intimates to entice tech-savvy shoppers with smartphones and tablets.

Cloud-based services strengthen supply chains

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — JDA Software Group has launched six JDA Cloud Optimize services designed to enable customers to enhance and transform their supply chains.

Moving beyond simply organizing information, JDA Cloud Optimize teams work hand in hand with customers to generate concrete recommendations and offer contextually relevant insights into big data challenges facing every global enterprise today.
Whole Foods Market Q2 profit surges 20%; raises forecast

Austin, Texas -- Whole Foods Market on Tuesday reported that its second-quarter net income rose to $142 million from $118 million a year earlier, beating analysts estimates. The chain also raised its full-year forecast.

Total sales in the quarter ended April 14 increased to $3.03 billion, from $2.67 billion.
Same-store sales rose 6.9%.
J.C. Penney Q1 same-store sales down 16.6%, missing estimates

Plano, Texas -- In preliminary results, J.C. Penney Co. on Tuesday reported that same-store sales in its first quarter decreased approximately 16.6%, a deeper drop than was expected.

The company, which will report full results on May 16, said that it anticipates total sales of approximately $2.635 billion for the quarter, down some 16.4% from $3.152 billion in the same period last year.
Wrap-up coverage of Chain Store Age's 49th annual SPECS

Store Development and Facilities
Store development and facilities professionals from some of the nation's biggest retail and restaurant chains gathered in Dallas to attend Chain Store Age's 49th annual SPECS Conference, at the Hilton Anatole Hotel. The event attracted professionals involved in the design, planning, and construction of stores and restaurants, along with those in facilities management.
Tips From the Pros

Sometimes the shortest pieces of advice are the best. Here are a few nuggets of wisdom pulled from Chain Store Age’s conversations with five leading real estate advisers and technology experts.
Next Steps For Retail Real Estate

Thanks to the recession — and online retail — brick-and-mortar retailers are re-thinking their real estate concepts
Now, as the recession finally begins to lift, brick-and-mortar retailers are studying their real estate concepts and pondering what comes next.
Some will pare store counts, partially in response to online competition. Some will cut store square footage. Others are expanding store numbers and square footage. Some are expanding fulfillment center square footage. Some are not changing. Careful about that.
What are you doing? Is it what you should be doing?
New Conference Series Pushes Networking

At Retail Live!, retailers exhibit, and developers, owners, brokers and others stop by to chat
In the retail real estate landscape, there aren't as many networking options as one might think. Even fewer if you narrow it down to those events that put landlords and tenants in the same room, along with entertainment, face-to-face meet and greets, and mutually beneficial educational sessions.
Chefs On Fire

Young chefs are opening restaurants in urban neighborhoods
In New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Denver — and other major cities across the country — creative young chefs are opening their own restaurants.
"In New York, the trend isn't all that new. Think of Andre Soltner, Jean-Georges, David Chang and others," said Faith Hope Consolo, noted trend-watcher and chairman of Douglas Elliman's Retail Group in New York City.
Le Duff America Ignores the Slow Recovery

Development chief details chain growth
Chain Store Age asked Paul Carolan, chief development officer for Dallas-based Le Duff America, about the bakery-café company's aggressive growth plan in the United States.
The North American subsidiary of Paris-based Groupe Le Duff SA, Le Duff America now manages four brands in the United States: Bruegger's Bagels, la Madeleine Country French Café, Brioche Dorée and Mimi's Café, which was acquired in March.
It's Your Destiny

Destiny USA leads in size and environmental consciousness
Billed as the largest LEED Gold-certified retail commercial building in the world, Destiny USA is more than an environmental leader. It is a shopping and entertainment mecca.
The 2.4 million-sq.-ft. tourist destination in Syracuse, N.Y., is an unexpected blend of luxury outlet tenants with restaurants and big entertainment names in a high-impact setting that includes a sweeping, three-story atrium, a replica of an upside-down city destroyed, and a suspended-rope adventure for the kids.