STORE SPACES

Jeff Katkowsky, VP with Sachse Construction, will share his insights and experiences as part of a panel focused on overcoming obstacles during closeouts at SPECS/2017.  

Target Corp. its updating its experimental concept store in San Francisco, Target Open House, which opened in summer 2015 as a showcase for smart, “connected” home technology.    In a blog on its website, Target said Open House has closed for a significant remodel project. It will reopen to the public on Friday, Feb. 10.  

For more than half a century, Chain Store Age’s annual SPECS conference has delivered one of the retail industry’s most important and impactful events.   

A full-service event design company is extending its brand.   White Lilac has opened its first retail location, a home décor store, at South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa, Calif. The company specializes in large-scale parties, exclusive weddings, corporate functions, and private parties.     The boutique showcases a whimsical collection of gifts, housewares, accessories, furniture, décor and more inspired by White Lilac event designs for celebrity clients, dignitaries and iconic venues.

Connect with retail professionals involved in the planning/design, construction and maintenance of stores and restaurants at Chain Store Age’s annual SPECS show, March 12 -14, 2017, Gaylord Palms, Kissimmee, Florida.    

Shoppers at select Calvin Klein stores may soon be able to charge their phones while also watching some promotional content.    The specialty apparel retailer is installing complementary in-store phone charging kiosks in approximately nine stores across the United States and Canada, including New York City and Las Vegas. The kiosks, from Veloxity, will be in place just in time for Black Friday.   

Nicole Beck, a skilled project management specialist, has joined H.J. Martin and Son as a project coordinator within the company’s fixtures division. In that role, she oversees the installation of functional, appealing solutions for retailers.  

Ikea has brought the horrors of the Syrian civil war home to customers at its flagship in Slependen, Norway.   In a joint fundraising effort, the Swedish home furnishings giant, in partnership with the Norwegian Red Cross, has recreated the small, unfurnished apartment of a Syrian mother and her children in the middle of the store. The space is based on a real-life apartment in Damascus, according to CNN.   

Business is booming in the fast-growing business of medical and recreational cannabis. And the shops that specialize in the trade are taking their game up more than a few notches.      In July, The Clinic, which operates some six stores in the Denver area and is expanding into other states, opened a flagship that shows just how much the industry has evolved from the sterile, sparsely decorated storefronts of just a couple years back.       

Dollar General is planning to unveil a smaller-store concept designed around convenience.   The new format, reportedly to be called DGX,  is due to open in early 2017, with a unit in downtown Nashville, and another in Raleigh, North Carolina.