News

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.
Keeping Track
The use of mobile devices by sales assistants and other associates presents retailers with new opportunities — and new challenges. Of the latter, one of the most critical has do with managing and maintaining the devices. According to one expert, the help desk can't be expected to do it all.

"Every device needs to be configured and supported and managed in some way," said Alan Dabbiere, chairman of AirWatch, a provider of mobile security and enterprise mobile management, in a presentation at the National Retail Federation Conference & Expo.

Finding a New Home

Social media giant Facebook is generating lots of buzz with the debut of its app launcher, Facebook Home, which turns existing Android smartphones into a Facebook-centric mobile device. (App launchers are applications that allow users to customize the home screen on their personal devices and add various other functionalities to it.)
Hointer Is High-Tech, High-Feel

Robotics and smartphone app power Amazon vet's retail start-up

A Seattle-based retail start-up with an in-store backend robotic system and a smartphone app that rivals the convenience of an online shopping cart is generating big buzz these days. Founded and headed up by Nadia Shouraboura, former head of supply chain and fulfillment technologies for Amazon.com, Hointer combines the best of online and brick-and-mortar retailing to take the hassle out of shopping.
Senate approves Internet sales tax; opposition looms in House

Arlington, Va. -- The U.S. Senate on late Monday approved the long-debated Internet sales tax proposal, known as the Marketplace Fairness Act, by a bipartisan vote of 69 to 27. The Obama administration has already endorsed the bill, but before it can become law it must be approved by the House, where Republicans are split on the bill.
Little Debbie gets first makeover since 1985

COLLEGEDALE, Tenn. — McKee Foods, the makers of Little Debbie Snacks, unveiled a new Little Debbie logo, the third version of the logo since the brand was introduced in 1960.

Consumers can expect to see the revamped logo on Little Debbie cartons throughout the coming months. Based on current sales, the redesigned logo will appear on more than 800 million Little Debbie cartons annually.
Just What Madison Ordered

Madison, Ala., city officials didn't want just any development for its last available commercial tract, a 28-acre property along a major thoroughfare. They wanted to bring in retailers currently unavailable in the area.

They approached Target and Brentwood, Tenn.-based GBT Realty Corp., a developer known for its Target-anchored developments.

"Madison told us they wanted Target," explained George B. Tomlin, president and CEO of GBT Realty. "If you help us, they said, we'll participate financially in the development of the property."
Getting Physical: Online Retailers Move Offline

Go offline, young man: That appears to be the mantra of e-commerce merchants these days.
As competition in the world of online retailing heats up — with Amazon's ever-burgeoning dominance posing the biggest threat — more pure-players are taking the brick-and-mortar plunge. It's a reminder, many experts say, of the strong appeal of the in-store experience — even when stacked up against the convenience of online shopping.
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.
Upping the Ante

I visited my first Von Maur store in 1999, a decade after I relocated from southern boomtown Atlanta to Lincoln, Neb., a sleepy college town that only really wakes up on Husker football Saturdays. Today I am back home in Baton Rouge, La., still no bustling metropolis, but the food and football trump.