STORE SPACES

Lord & Taylor has entered into a partnership with make-up icon Bobbi Brown.   The department store retailer appointed Brown as creative consultant, and has launched an in-store shop concept, justBobbi, at select Lord & Taylor locations, including its Manhattan flagship, and online. The initiative is the first Brown has entered into since her recent departure from Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, which she founded in 1991.  

Publix Super Markets is revving up for growth in the organic and natural foods store space.    Publix announced plans to reignite its GreenWise store concept. The grocer launched the format in 2007, and currently operates three stores under the banner. It has not opened a new GreenWise location since 2008.   

Dollarama ended the year with a strong fourth quarter, an increase it credits to higher customer spending.   For the fourth quarter ended January 29, 2017, the Canadian discount retailer’s sales increased by 11.5% to $854.5 million. The chain’s gross margin was 41.4% of sales, compared to 40.8% of sales.  

Hy-Vee shoppers will soon be able to buy new clothes while they grocery shop.    Two Hy-Vee locations in Nebraska will soon feature F&F clothing boutiques through the Iowa-based retailer’s franchise agreement with the British clothing line owned by supermarket company Tesco, reported The Anchorage Press.  

Lord & Taylor is looking to engage shoppers with a new luxe concept dedicated entirely to one of its core categories: dresses.   The retailer has transformed the fifth floor of its Manhattan flagship into a dedicated space for dress shopping for all occasions. Spanning over 30,000 sq. ft., the updated space includes a rotating pop-up shop that launches with one-of-a-kind vintage designer dresses, a concierge service, and The Gallery, a dedicated area for designer dresses.  

Sears Canada Inc. is going all out with its plans for an in-store off-price shop.   The chain will unveil the dedicated shop, called The Cut, this spring, and plans to roll it out to all its 94 stores. The off-price concept launched its own e-commerce website last week.      The Cut will take up from 30,000 sq. ft. to 40,000 sq. ft. inside the stores and will be evenly split between apparel and home offerings, according to Women’s Wear Daily.       

The nation’s largest family-owned and operated retail jewelry chain is opening its first-ever outlet stores.   Rogers & Hollands Jewelers will launch a discount store prototype, Rogers & Hollands Outlet, this April. Two Rogers & Hollands stores in the Chicago area, one at North Riverside Park Mall and one at Golf Mill Shopping Center, will be rebranded, remodeled and reopened under the new banner.   

Target Corp. has unveiled its next-generation store format, which will make its debut in Richmond, Texas, a Houston suburb, in October.   In addition to the new 124,000-sq.-ft. Richmond store, 40 additional Target locations will receive elements of the redesign when they are updated, also in October.      

Hammer & Nails Grooming Shop for Guys, a new franchise that bills itself as the lone male grooming option, is set to open its first 50 locations in Texas.  Dallas and Houston shops are due by summer, and eight more are expected to be operating in the state by year’s end.  

Dollar General on Thursday reported better-than-expected fourth quarter sales and earnings and said it planned to raise compensation and increase training for store managers.   The discounter also said it plans to open approximately 1,000 stores and remodel or relocate 900 existing stores in fiscal 2017.